I could use a more explicit three-letter word in the post title but I fear the software censors employed by our federal government will again block this web site from its bureaucratic readers. On this topic, I was quite taken by this passage:
"Ingrid," I commented, "If you really think she [the Haitian woman who was propositioned for money] needs a choice then I suggest you give her one. Why don’t you offer to pay her thirty dollars not to come to my hotel room, but to go back to her son and cigarette stand?"
That is from Naked in Haiti: A…Morality Tale About Tourists, Prostitutes and Politicians, by Dan King. This book has received very little notice but it’s a more interesting look at human commodification than anything you’ll find coming out of Harvard or Princeton. I can only say that the author really seems to know what he is talking about, if you get my drift. This work would not have been approved at university institutional review boards. It’s also one of the best books on "life on the ground" in Haiti, at least provided you can tolerate the author’s numerous salacious yet nonetheless totally anti-erotic descriptions of his activities.
The author goes to Haiti, of course, not for the art, but because he wants to buy from women who are not (otherwise) "selling." Of course that means that the level of poverty is quite desperate, as in Cuba, where the same phenomenon is common. And often the women sell to benefit their children or parents, not themselves; surely some percentage of them are disgusted by what they end up doing.
If you’re wondering about my point of view on the whole question, I am sufficiently Paretian that I don’t find the exchange aspect of the relationship, or the passing of money, objectionable per se. (Assuming, of course, that neither age nor coercion is a concern, and often both are.) But it is still better, on the buying side, not to do it. Once you are aware of the kind of human stories behind the other side of the market, I would think it is hard to maintain an unflagging interest in the proceedings at hand. Nor do I think it would improve what happens in your life next. Yes the transaction does benefit the seller in many cases, but apply the Modigliani-Miller theorem and rebundle your action into a different blend of charity and erotic self-satisfaction, all toward The Greater Good.
Or so I think. If you offer your thoughts, please be polite in your rhetoric.
I thank an anonymous MR reader for the pointer to the book.
Perhaps this is an even more crass way of looking at an already crass topic, but I hope there will be at least some talk about genetics/fitness/gene drift in the discussion to follow. Maybe more knowledgeable folks can chime in.
The gist of this is: those with wealth owe some of their wealth to good genes. In general they selectively reproduce with other folks with good genes. This can lead to inequitable distributions of good genes. Where we can increase equity with little cost its usually good to do so. Those in desperate situation often have bad genes to blame in part. Where a person has a choice between children with good genes and bad genes, and they can have children with good genes at low cost this is generally a decent outcome.
Services provided can lead to gene transfers.
I realize this is contentious, but intergenerational effects should form part of this discussion.
@invitedGuest,
First, Institutions are probably more important than genes in explaining wealth (especially across countries) . If Bill Gates were born in a small tribe on a pacific island, he probably never would have saved enough money to pay for the services of the cheapest wh.re in a Port-au-Prince bordello (and i guess they are not very expensive). Second, genes are pretty well distributed across the world (unlike good institutions): if you travel a little, you’ll see that the average kid in the street in Bombay is in no way less smart than the ones on Main Street(they are less educated, which makes a big difference). Third, even if you believe in the genes story, the ones that end up in the bordellos are probably not the most selected ones (tie this to the second argument and you’ll find that the transfer might be negative).
Isn’t this just the invisible (or not so invisible) hand working its magic? It can’t possibly be exploitation.
Very interesting. Tyler, are you confident that the narrative is accurate and unembellished? I did some perusing in the Amazon “inside the book” feature and was rather amazed to land on a section where Ingrid the thin, blond 30-something Norwegian social worker appears to be auctioning off her own sexual services to the highest bidder within days of calling our hero “scum” for being a sex tourist. Good reading to be sure, but I don’t know if I’m buying it. In the end, is Ingrid verifiable?
I saw similar stuff in Indonesia. In the poor village next to the gold mine I was working in, every girl (even those who had never “sold” before) had a price. It was usually too low. I informed a few of them that the Aussie and South African mine workers who were their customers would willingly pay a lot more. They thought they were gouging at $10 per encounter, and were dumbfounded that they could charge ten times more, easily.
OTOH, I had long and convoluted conversations with hookers in Bali as to why I didn’t want to purchase their services – and it wasn’t because I preferred boys (their first guess) or couldn’t afford it (their second.)
I was gallant enough to pay them the $15 (plus drinks) to merely spend a couple of hours at a bar with me, since they were the only locals who were interested in actually having a meaningful conversation (and their English was beter than the average Indonesian’s).
Tyler,
I had the same question as Archit Shah.
Modigliani-Miller: Regardless of how profits are financed, in the absence of transaction costs they will be equivalent in value (it doesn’t matter whether by debt or equity). Or at the very least, present value will be equivalent.
Tyler is making an analogy with “utility” for “profits” and “self-satisfaction” for “otherly satisfaction”. You will still have the same level of utility if you go to the virtual market rather than the, ahem, “human capital market” (if you will).
Make substitutes like a firm. Transaction costs are low and taxes are not an issue here.
“”If you really think she [the Haitian woman who was propositioned for money] needs a choice then I suggest you give her one. Why don’t you offer to pay her thirty dollars not to come to my hotel room, but to go back to her son and cigarette stand?”"
I liked that comment. Great excerpt.
If you have $25 to spare and want to give someone in the developing world a helping hand, try Kiva.org P2P microloans — also endorsed by Oprah and Bill Clinton, for what it’s worth. Not exploitation and not even charity.
You can buy and gain very cheap mesos.
Every success is based on continuous efforts. It is not possible be done over nigh.
naughty tourism is just something that some people do because they can afford to do so… and because the education system did not do its job as it should have been done… where is the morality? where is the common sense? that should be answered first before talking about naugthy tourism…
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