UP | uncultured project

[Since writing this post, the contest has closed. I ranked second with over 900 votes. Feel free to check out my videos on YouTube. Thanks for those who voted. First place went to LuddenMedia. They're great guys - check em out.]

To try and help gain viewership for the YouTube videos I’m putting up as part of The Uncultured Project, I made a submission to a contest run by sxephil (one of the most viewed channels on YouTube). I called this video, “To Phil, From Bangladesh”.

Turns out, I got nominated into the top-five. If you like to help me gain a broader viewership – why not consider voting for The Uncultured Project. You can vote at this link there is a poll on the left hand side where you can vote for The Uncultured Project. [Update: Contest Over, I came in second with over 900 votes. Thanks for everyone that voted!] This has already helped me boost those viewing my videos. It has also raised some important questions about my reasons for submitting The Uncultured Project to this contest.

1. What happens “When I Get Back”? I want this project and the YouTube channel I created to always remain meaningful. I have a lot of footage I haven’t been able to edit and upload to YouTube yet. I can do that much more easily back home where I have things like a high speed internet connection (and hot and cold showers). When that footage runs out, I plan on taking a hiatus/break. Better a break than becoming less meaningful.
2. Why do I want more viewers? Whether or not these videos get popular, the work I am doing here is (hopefully) making a difference. But, ideally, I would like to pay it forward. I was inspired to do this project by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. Maybe these videos can help inspire someone else to try and make a difference? And the more people who view these videos, the better the chance to pay it forward. It is also a sad state of affairs, when there is so much suffering in the world – you will be hard pressed to find it covered on the news for more than 30 seconds. If it can’t be talked about on the news, maybe it can be talked about on YouTube.
3. Am I getting the guilt vote? If so – I hope that stops! The Uncultured Project is exactly about trying to break the bubble that is the standard reaction to talking about these issues. The standard reaction is first guilt, than sadness, and then trying to avoid the issue. The issue of global poverty is too important to avoid – so we have to try and change our reaction to it. Instead of feeling guilty – we should feel hopeful that poverty can be ended in our lifetime. Instead of feeling sad, we should feel inspired to try and help eliminate extreme poverty.

[UPDATE: I made a mistake, you vote by using the poll on the left side - not in the comments!]