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From: doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee)
Newsgroups: net.travel
Subject: Re: Hedonism, visiting poor countries
Message-ID: <489@terak.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 8-Apr-85 12:17:09 EST
Article-I.D.: terak.489
Posted: Mon Apr  8 12:17:09 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 11-Apr-85 04:24:23 EST
References: <1452@decwrl.UUCP> <2351@mit-hermes.ARPA>
Organization: Terak Corporation, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Lines: 18

I don't see the point in avoiding travel to countries which are rife
with poverty.  Sounds to me like burying one's head in the sand, to
keep from having to face reality.

I too was struck by the poverty in the Caribbean, and was startled to
see the amount that exists on the US Virgin Islands.  I'm not naive;
I know that there will always be some poverty everywhere.  But "some"
wasn't the word I'd use for St. Thomas.

But I can't see hiding from it.  They're poor and I'm not.  It's a fact.

What I can (and did) do is to buy from the locals.  The money didn't
mean much to me, but it meant a lot to them.  And it encourages them in
the work ethic, rather than the "welfare ethic".

Refusing to go to poor countries only makes them poorer.
-- 
Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!doug