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Ask HN: How do you get people to care?
I am from Sudan. My country has been experiencing a horrific internal conflict for a little more than a year now, and it's only getting worse by the day. However, you can hardly hear about it in the news, on social media, or anywhere else.
Now, I am not naive. I understand that the exposure a problem gets is influenced by various political, economic, and social factors, the least of which is the number of people actually affected by the issue. So, what I am asking is: what are the most effective and realistic ways to get people to care without political power, fame, or wealth? How can an ordinary person make a difference?
- jschveibinz 2y agoThis is a good start. But you should know that news is not equal to caring. News is about generating revenue. I am sure that there are thousands of people outside of Sudan who are either concerned or working on how to alleviate the problems there: governments, UN, NGO's, non-profits, etc. I am sorry that the beautiful people of Sudan are experiencing this conflict. I hope that the better side of humanity will bring it to an end soon.
- cargohead 2y agoTo be honest, UN organizations have not been of much help recently. Last week, there was a mass starvation near an Ethiopian refugee camp.[1] The refugees left the campsite due to constant harassment, kidnappings, and murders by Ethiopian militias. The UNHCR's response was to urge the refugees to return to the campsite despite the dangerous situation there, or they will withhold resources, which led to the mass starvation. 1- https://sudantribune.com/article286392/ https://sudantribune.com/article286392/
- jarule 2y agoI am from Sudan Well, there's your problem.
- cargohead 2y agoI know, not the most headline friendly country We are working on it
- bell-cot 2y agoBy "people", do you mean "Western mainstream media audiences"? Yeah, that would be extremely difficult. So long as there are no in-their-face consequences (say, the price of gasoline spiking upwards), and no too-obvious "why this is their fault" narratives - the great majority of Westerners really don't care about horrors happening far far away, to people who look quite different from them. Yes, you could call the 1993 intervention in Somalia an exception. But note both the context - trends in World Events were looking very utopian back then, vs. now - and just how badly that Western intervention turned out. With "ordinary person" resources, I'd suggest that you start by trying to document & organize the historical facts about what's happening. That at least improves the records of the tragedy, and of the people and things being lost. While helping you network with other people who really care. And perhaps, just perhaps, that can grow into some real improvement in things. And hopefully the history that you help document can be more than a thin comfort to the survivors and boon to future historians. Try to make it both an easy & authoritative resource for any mainstream Western journalists & activists who get interested, and also useful to any mostly-well-intended Western leaders who want to Do Something. Hopefully without botching it again.
- HelloNurse 2y agoWar in Sudan is a problem of Sudanese people. Compare with war in Ukraine, which is a problem of Europe as a whole, or (future) war in Taiwan, which is a problem of TSMC.
- bunbun69 2y agoI have no idea where Sudan is. I don't know anyone from Sudan either. It isn't an economically important country either for the rest of the world... as such unfortunately people just don't care.
- beardyw 2y ago> I have no idea where Sudan is. Try Google maps. > I don't know anyone from Sudan either. They are people just like you. > It isn't an economically important country either for the rest of the world... So money is everything. > as such unfortunately people just don't care. Some people who have taken 10 seconds to find out where it is but who also don't know anyone from Sudan care about the lives of people just like themselves when faced with such adversity.
- bunbun69 2y agoYes, money is everything. Why would we care about people from poorer countries, or from countries that aren't close to us?
- BOOSTERHIDROGEN 2y agoI too wonder how ordinary people like us in any other country can improve or solve problems that affect us.
- fragmede 2y agoIf you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- sogofet82 2y agoI think doing what you are doing makes a difference. Citizenship journalism, blogging, raising awareness, writing letters to the editor of a newspaper, going to or organising a demonstration - all these things make a difference - as long as you keep doing them and get others involved.