I’m no utilitarian, but you have to hand it to them – their case needs answering. You can give to Haiti in other ways, but people won’t give anything like as much. On a holiday, you might easily spend 100USD per person per day. A family who stays for just a few days will have contributed much more to the local economy (and in a more sustainable way) than if they decide to make a donation. And what other ways are there to contribute? Buy Haitian goods? Lobby for more government aid to Haiti? I don’t think there’s anything you could do that would bring the same level of benefit as simply taking a holiday there.
Instead of seeing the uncomfortable disparity between the wealth of the holidaymaker and the poverty of the Haitians, why not see a holiday there as a sign of solidarity with them in their time of strife?

Actually, I wouldn’t go on holiday to Haiti ever, because it’s an unstable, violent country, which has stripped its forests and destroyed its own environment. But I don’t see now as a worse time to go than any other.

We’ve been alienated from the suffering of Haiti for so long, what does it even mean to ask that question?

Thieves of virtue much?

JSG:

Good point. In real life, Confucius actually tried to have that guy executed (well I think he actually succeeded) — so much so did he seem to think that he (more so than anyone else) was the major obstacle and threat to virtue. If I remember right, his disciples were disturbed and could never quite figure out what he had done.

Of course, Haiti’s not the only place – we’re alienated (and insulated) from much. At the very least, the situation does at focus a spotlight on the alienation. In any event, I was surprised by the uncritical tone of the CNN piece. It had a “don’t worry about it” tone. In Haiti’s case too, I think, there’s a “the historical nature of their poverty is the result of their own stupid choices” narrative, and since “we” don’t make stupid choices, we don’t sympathize with their situation. Earthquakes, on the other hand, can happen to anyone, so we sympathize (for a while).

Phil,

I suppose you could see it that way, or even use that reasoning as part of the trip. Of course, there are empirical questions (like how much does Haiti’s economy even benefit from visits to these almost privately owned areas), but I think one thing the situation reveals is that a split on how people think about ethics. Is it just a matter of the eventual consequences (utilitarians) or does it require something more (like feeling the right way, or following the right principles, or whatever). In this case, the article seems (on fast reading) to suggest that it doesn’t even matter how you think about the situation (you could even want to get a ghoulish glimpse of the devastation from ship side): as long as your practices can be interpreted as helping in the long run, everything is morally okay.

Granted, my opinion is based off D.C. Lau and he had his issues, but my understanding is that the historical references where Confucius off’ed the dude were from Legalists texts appropriating Confucius in the same way the Zhuangzi name-drops because, well, look at this douche-bag!

Granted, as an ardent fan of Yangming, I kinda like that bit. Right? I can either go, “Summary executions? Are you kidding me? Did you totally miss everything Confucius and Mencius said about human beings, ever?” or I can go, “Yeah man, rock it! Confucius wasn’t reluctant to lay down the LAW when it was necessary. Rock on! Rock on.”

So, given your knowledge, which historical Confucius are we talking about here and how likely is it that he was actually an action superstar worthy of a Chow Yun-Fat portrayal? Or, how likely is it for then, as now, for it to be totally awesome to present him/them as such irrespective of the reality of the situation?

JS:

My source is Annping Chin (from her last book on Confucius). It struck me as a particularly nasty story at the time. Whether it’s apocryphal — I’m not sure. She seems to embrace it, and she knows more about it than me.

I’m not sure how the story sits with me. I don’t so much see a serious issue with squaring C/M’s views on executions (and humanity) per se, but if Chin is right (and my memory isn’t failing, which is always possible) there was really nothing on this guy. Well, other than the fact that Confucius thought he was a thief of virtue and so he had to be made to sleep with the fishes lest he lead the ‘little ones’ astray.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Xunzi, so on some level I’d have no problem saying rock on when necessary, but this one seems like one of those cases that people get worried about when they hear “well, you know, we don’t _really_ need all that pesky human rights crap — just make sure that you’ve got virtuous people at the top and then let everything sort out as it should.” Well, okay – but…er…

By the way, I was actually hoping for Jet Li personally.

I’ve actually taken this cruise the section of Haiti where this ship docks is separate from the Country and is in essence it own little enclave for this particular cruise line, It’s called LABADEE and is no where near the epicenter of the earthquake… in fact most Haitian nationals are not allowed on the property except a few who are allow to sell paintings and trinkets… So in this case Trickle down economics does not apply… However the Cruise Ship company claimed they were dropping off badly need supplies, if this be the case good for them…

Ed:

That’s what I suspected (that it’s privately owned). So the argument for the trickle down is not even particularly strong.

By the way, I gave you a shout out in the “Pnwing Cheesecake” thread, if you get a second — look down towards the bottom.