Conspicuous Compassion: Why Sometimes it Really is Cruel to be Kind [Paperback]

 

 

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At last, someone has been brave enough to tell the truth about Britain's growing culture of "ostentatious caring". West argues that public displays of compassion are more and more about showing others what kind of person you are, and not about helping the poor and unfortunate. In fact, "conspicuous compassion" can even be harmful.

This book is a clear statement of what so many of us feel -- I hugely recommend it to anyone who really wants to do some good in our world.

This is quite an exceptional read. Very well written, intellectually rigorous, but clear and concise. It presents itself as being too concise on first glance. When one receives the book, one wonders how it can deal adequately with the subject matter for so short a book. But it is never repetitive. Never puffy with sentimentalism for the `good old days' when society did not suffer from what the author terms `mourning sickness'. Never stuffed with the schmaltzy emotionalism so loathed by the author. There are those who may think it too candid an account of just how far society has degenerated into contrived caring. But then if the book were an alcoholic beverage, it would be a gin and fresh lime: meant for quick, effective consumption. Tinged with bitterness yes, but the tangy aftertaste is unforgettable and very authentic. Complete with acerbic wit. It is an important historical work, aptly cataloguing the destructive nature of superficial kindness. It details a series of paradoxes, such as why we sport ribbons for myriad of causes from pink ribbons for breast cancer to red ribbons for Aids, but how we neglect to wear brown ribbons for the millions who die yearly from diarrhoea. Simply because our own public image is all important. The author is brave enough to direct many of its theses directly at the reader, including advising readers to turn off their TVs and not to engage in personal guilt trips for such massive historical tragedies as the Irish Famine. On that last point, whilst I did find the book very refreshing, I found the treatment of the Irish Famine to be too pithy. What is perhaps most impressive about this book is that it does not pander. Not to any public figure nor to any race, nor to any hip religion. It wants to be above trendiness.

My main criticism would be: there is not enough recognition of how people are subconsciously supplanting traditional religion. West does give very sound acknowledgement to how breakdown of the community has left people scrounging for a sense of belonging. And the blurb on the back does use the religion metaphor for `mourning sickness', when it explains, `its collective minutes' silences its liturgy and Mass'. But in the case of the actual people West writes about, the majority would, in former times, have been very active in their Christian Churches. Instead of obsessing over the deaths of the Soham girls, they would have meditated on the deaths of child martyrs and would have displayed crucifixes in their homes. Instead of pointless agonising over what might have been, people would have been more open to `the will of God'. For Catholics, instead of colourful ribbons, they would have worn Miraculous medals or, (dare I mention the unfashionable colour) brown scapulars. But while the `conspicuous compassion' of today has no long-term benefit, there were those in a more Christian age, who believed that the religious practices detailed above, was done with the view of obtaining blessings from the Almighty. I first developed an interest in this book, when I saw the cover: a picture of the ocean of flowers for Diana. There was an account in an Irish newspaper, detailing how Princess Diana now holds a place in Catholics' hearts that was once reserved for the Virgin Mary. Whilst West's `Conspicuous Compassion' does not make arguments for the decline of Christian culture, it does document meticulously, what I believe is the result of the abandonment of Christian culture: the rise of contrived compassion. It is simultaneously a thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening read.

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