A brief lockdown excursion today, just to investigate the Galataport, which we’ve never really walked around. Most of it is shut off of course, but the mosque, which was under scaffolding for restoration and the installation of a public convenience, was now visible (though shut) and some of the other buildings, like the art gallery etc, are starting to take form. There was a soup kitchen in a little park, and about a hundred worn looking homeless men – many grizzled or middle aged and generally fairly respectable looking – were eating their plates of beans and rice. No women, but I suppose women living on the street would prefer not to hang out where the men do.
I read an article in the Economist today about rag pickers. One of the rare articles that took them not as objects of pity, to be rescued, but as real contributors to society and the economy. It even almost advocated for unionisation. Certainly, with good safety and work practices, it feels like a really important job. But instead we try to automate or otherwise take out people’s contributions – separated recycling, automated sorting, etc. Anyway.