Editorial: Grumbling amid grief at Notre Dame

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, right, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, left, and other officials Paris walk by Notre Dame cathedral on Thursday. Photo / AP

Editorial

EDITORIAL

When world attention is focused like a laser on one event, there's usually a predictable backlash.

Before long some people will point out inconsistencies. They will complain that other things they believe are worth your time and attention are missing out.

So, when funds instantly started pouring in for the crippled and beloved Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, there were dissenters on social media. Couldn't Puerto Rico, still struggling after a hurricane in 2017, do with more financial support? Were there any billionaires out there willing to help Flint, Michigan, with its years-long water crisis, or the families of Grenfell fire victims in the UK? All this for a building?

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof tweeted: "I'm thrilled that people have raised US$1 billion to restore Notre Dame. But it seems shortsighted that we can't raise 10 per cent as much to reduce the risk that Congo's Ebola outbreak will spread around the world."

On one level this reflects the valid frustration communities and their sympathisers feel at the struggle to draw attention and funds to a problem once the first blush of media spotlight fades.

Other under-funded places or problems are also competing for those resources. So are cash-swallowing essentials of everyday life such as social services. And perhaps some causes have greater difficulty because they mainly affect a disadvantaged group or a far away society.

The competition for dollars further gets knocked about by haphazard, disorganised official spending priorities and the steady global rise in influence of the 1 per cent. The Notre Dame fire fund initially jumped from zero to €500 million after decisions made by just two tycoons and two companies.

Guardian economic commentator Aditya Chakrabortty tweeted: "The Notre Dame exposes the paradoxes of austerity politics: Macron preaches cut for French people, yet swears a national effort to restore a cathedral. Billionaires squeal at paying higher taxes, yet can throw millions at this. We haven't moved far from the rich buying indulgences."

The grumbling amid the grief for Notre Dame is also recognition that few projects would have the emotional power and global reach of the sadly flame-blackened grand lady by the Seine.

It's an edifice many millions of people have visited and entered in awe, marvelling at its stonework, bell towers and rose windows. It's been a constant presence for 850 years. It's a direct link to Medieval times, and a witness to history and many passing human lives.

There's never a simple solution to fundraising. In this connected era, emotional online tales are the surest way to tap into impulsive generosity from a world of strangers for a needy case. Still, there is no way of controlling how people react emotionally to one thing over another and there are always worthy causes. As Jesus said when his disciples quibbled over the value of anointing oil, "The poor you will always have with you."

But fundraising efforts always benefit from a sense of familiarity or a personal connection. Bob Geldof knew famous faces would raise the profile of the starving millions.

With Notre Dame, for many people the emotional connection is stored within them — in memories of the cathedral, of Paris, and of France.