[Expat] slum tourism in Bombay and Rio

[ken lynch]

indeed, it's a weird phenomenon.  With the pressure to keep it from
being unfettered voyeurism, it seems the dynamic is probably good.
how else are these tourists going to understand this reality, but at
least first see it?

But the subtext of, "lets go so we know how much better our lives are"
is a pretty shitty and unnuanced way to go about gawking.  in this,
it's the tourist's poverty keeping them from seeing the slum's larger
reality (a reality that's not 100% bad).  To this day I still meet
short term travelers outside of America looking for reasons to support
their self perspective of being #1.  still one of the bedrocks of the
American and western identity and happiness.  It's easy to sell hope
to someone's vanity, so I expect that part of trend to continue for
now.

I don't like how it reaffirms the slum kid's reality that they are
somehow inferior.  But how else are these kids currently going to see
westerners, and get a real good live glimpse outside their narrow
world?

So in the end, I hope that it's a transient phenomenon.   A fad that
will either evolve even more in the direction of better mutual
understanding, as the article implies its going.  or it will fizzle
out.  but in creating another opportunity to change things from the
current situation, I welcome it.

Love,
ken


On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 1:24 AM, Jordan Fletcher <jfletch787 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Interesting article
>  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/travel/09heads.html?8dpc
>
>  In a related vein, I highly recommend checking out "Marching Powder",
>  re: prison tourism in bolivia.
>  http://www.amazon.com/Marching-Powder-Friendship-Americas-Strangest/dp/0312330340
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