As it's International Human Rights Day today, I thought that I would pick up on something that Jae wrote:
After reading on Gert's blog that she is off on holiday to Egypt, I want your thoughts on what I think of as "ethical holidaying". I would never go to a country I felt was morally corrupt, such as Egypt where about 50 men were arrested for being suspected as gay (please note that to top it off they almost certainly AREN'T!!). I felt bad just visiting Italy. I think of it this way. Would you go for a holiday to Nazi Germany, when you know they are killing Jews? Would you go for a holiday to Jamaica where they chase gay men into the ocean, and wait on the beach until the gay man drowns, or they simply kill him on the steps of a church? I am not trying to say that YOU shouldn't go, just saying I couldn't. Just interested in your thoughts.
That is a very difficult one to answer. There are a number of trite answers eg whether or not I go to a country makes absolutely no difference to their human rights. Name me a country that doesn't leave something lacking in the human rights field - in my lifetime I have visited USA, Canada, Ireland, Italy, France, Greece, Switzerland, Cuba and Spain. And there's the UK, as well. Some have better human rights records than others, but I don't suppose even Canada is a paragon. Or, my going to a country is not an endorsement of their government, a government that is not always endorsed by its population
There is also the sanctimonious answer: it is only by Western Liberals visiting countries with a bad human rights record can they progress. Or, I go to countries to find out more about them, not merely to sit on a beach topping up my tan, or seizing photo opportunities.
Or there is the argument that it's easy to sit in an armchair pontificating, but a lot harder to do something about changing the world.
But they are all lacking something.
Arguably, all tourism is ethically unsound. All non-sustainable transport is unethical. I suppose if I were ethically pure I would never go on holiday, except by bike. But I am not ethically pure. That can be said for most of my consumer habits. Most of my clothes are made in Third World countries, and I don't enquire about the conditions of the workers who produce them. I don't go out of my way to buy Fair Trade chocolate or coffee. I smoke. Much of my food is pre-packaged, and not locally sourced. I don't pretend to be ethical.
When I was younger I considered living a life free from capitalism. But I realised I couldn't. Not just because I lacked the moral fibre, but because I can't see how it is possible. Going back to nature, being self-sufficient still requires the financial means to rent or buy property.
I have already decided that I am taking 2003 off from Politics. What I shall do instead is study more, especially on development issues. I don't know what the implications of that are. I'm unlikely to up sticks and go to a developing country.
I think that the points that Jae made are valid. But I also think that the world we live in is complicated. My Indian manager is going to India for Christmas, my Nigerian colleague to Nigeria. I have friends living and working in Russia and Zimbabwe - one of the Russians, is in effect, exiled from his home country of Singapore because he's gay.
When it boils down to it, I am a member of Western society and I want to see the world. Not very ethical.
