So it's ok to buy an amazingly cheap fast-fashion dress or other stuff produced by near-subsistence labor in these countries, or have them do your payroll, transcribe your insurance applications, etc in BPO farms, but not to actually visit them in person.
The sentiment of the article is not that there is anything wrong as a white male going to visit these countries. Its how westerners behave while they are over there and the way they interact with locals. By all means go visit in person, just take the time to learn a bit about their culture. People seem to treat SE Asia like its a giant amusement park and not a group of countries where large population live every day.
It's the first time I used "flag" on HN. It's quite difficult to understand the conclusion of the article among racist remarks and anti-white-male sentiment.
I'm British and been in and around Asia about 18 months now. I agree with the article's sentiment. I might even take it a step further to say that such tourism is a metaphor for the West's relationship with Asia. I'm currently in China where the majority of my, and I suspect your, material possessions where manafactured. It is such an alien culture to me yet it is fundamental to how I live my daily life no matter where I reside. This disparity reminds me of the article's distaste for Westerners mindlessly enjoying SE Asia. Perhaps in a way it's as if the entirety of the West is having a "holiday" in China?
There certainly are a huge number of westerners who go visit Asia and treat it like its Epcot Center in Disney World like a zoo that exists for their pleasure. These are real working cities with distinct and ancient cultures that should be respected. Too many westerners take advantage of the genuine hospitality offered by locals and never take the time to educate themselves, instead spending the whole time partying.
I spent a few months working as a tour guide in Vietnam and you are absolutely correct about the difference in economic conditions of the local and the western white men that come. In the job I had which was a mix of educated western backpackers along with locals, for some reason the westerners automatically got paid more than the locals, despite them working twice as hard. For us, the job was a fun break/opportunity during a stay in SouthEast Asia. For the locals it was means to support their family. I will say they did their jobs every day with a huge smile on their face and happy as anyone I've met in any part of the world.
Pretty tasteless of the author to headline the post with a picture of sex tourists when talking about regular tourists and expats. I'd like to see some evidence of the "long-talked-about sexual appetite for women of color" given that most people marry somebody of their race. I will make sure to not cross her path, yikes.
>white man who makes $100s/day at Facebook bragging about frugality at the expense of a Filipina living on cents.
(Ignoring the idiotic racism), what is this even supposed to mean? Does she prefer that the Facebook employee go to Australia instead so the Filipina gets nothing?
>from an industry that seems to have a professional appetite for white men (~88% male, ~70% white to be exact)
Funny how that 'professional appetite' matches the graduates from universities.
I don't think that is the point of article.
Point is one should not brag about it like one is so rich.
If you are so rich go to Ibiza.
Spend 100$ for entry to Ibiza club, and 500$ on two drinks.
Hook up with gold diggers that would laugh at 100$ k/year salary.
That is something to brag about. But really rich people don't brag about such stuff. Description from article is about poor mindset, which does not change when you get big salary.
[+] [-] jacknews|8 years ago|reply
If you're male. Or especially, male and white.
I see.
[+] [-] jonballant|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dvfjsdhgfv|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tombh|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jonballant|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jonballant|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anothergoogler|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] purplezooey|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] usmanshaikh06|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dima_medvedev|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pathseeker|8 years ago|reply
(Ignoring the idiotic racism), what is this even supposed to mean? Does she prefer that the Facebook employee go to Australia instead so the Filipina gets nothing?
>from an industry that seems to have a professional appetite for white men (~88% male, ~70% white to be exact)
Funny how that 'professional appetite' matches the graduates from universities.
[+] [-] ozim|8 years ago|reply
If you are so rich go to Ibiza. Spend 100$ for entry to Ibiza club, and 500$ on two drinks. Hook up with gold diggers that would laugh at 100$ k/year salary. That is something to brag about. But really rich people don't brag about such stuff. Description from article is about poor mindset, which does not change when you get big salary.