The strategic evolution of the begging economy in Dhaka is fascinating to watch. Since everybody has now seen Slumdog Millionaire with its depiction of the systematic disabling of perfectly healthy children to be used for begging by organised criminals, the fact that we can do this to each other should be no surprise. Actually, it is the ultimate form of a market economy where the biggest economic profits are fairly well correlated with how horrific the disability is (and how old or young the person is), and so that is what people are subjected to. But with the health ecosystem being what it is here I’d imagine most deformities are naturally caused, or accidents on the roads or in workplaces.
In this picture however, the effect is more subtle. The way he doesn’t wear a sandal on the deformed feet, to draw more attention to it. He lives with and off that feet everyday, and has the time to think of something like that.
Posted 2 years ago
