Live Talk: Slavery in Our Times

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  Posted By: Gen_This!!! @ 04/12/2008 3:06:06 PM

  Tracing a thread between articles from the past several issues (yes I religiously read all my Newsweeks cover-to-cover) I wanted to raise the question of what any of us can ethically do to eradicate the exploitation of women. Obviously like any other American, I cherish the liberties and rights of every citizen and am outraged to hear about situations like Elena's--which Emma Thompson wrote about last month in the March 17 issue--the increasing number of opium brides in Afghanistan???last week???and the "concerned citizens" of Iraq who are not only essentially extorting the U.S. but also enforcing medieval and discriminatory practices towards women???current. Frankly, I would like to see this sort of abuse stopped permanently. And yet, I inevitably realize that forcing our cultural norms on places such as the Middle East, though seemingly right, are in a sense no less victimizing to those we would be dominating by forcing them to abandon their cultural norms to appease our consciences. My question then is how can we discuss these injustices seriously without inflating ourselves into a neo-imperialist version of 19th-century Britain's "Great White Hunter," and how can we seek justice for the victims of sex slavery (in all its shades of meaning) without caging ourselves in the hypocrisy, racism, nationalism and culturalism of a "White Man's Burden" philosophy?
  
  On some level I suspect that Nietzsche's well worn phrase applies more immediately in situations like this. As we self-righteously glare at the Abyss of culturally inherent abuses, it???s not only staring back. It's practically undressing us with its eyes.

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  Posted By: Gen_This!!! @ 04/12/2008 3:05:12 PM

  Tracing a thread between articles from the past several issues (yes I religiously read all my Newsweeks cover-to-cover) I wanted to raise the question of what any of us can ethically do to eradicate the exploitation of women. Obviously like any other American, I cherish the liberties and rights of every citizen and am outraged to hear about situations like Elena's--which Emma Thompson wrote about last month in the March 17 issue--the increasing number of opium brides in Afghanistan???last week???and the "concerned citizens" of Iraq who are not only essentially extorting the U.S. but also enforcing medieval and discriminatory practices towards women???current. Frankly, I would like to see this sort of abuse stopped permanently. And yet, I inevitably realize that forcing our cultural norms on places such as the Middle East, though seemingly right, are in a sense no less victimizing to those we would be dominating by forcing them to abandon their cultural norms to appease our consciences. My question then is how can we discuss these injustices seriously without inflating ourselves into a neo-imperialist version of 19th-century Britain's "Great White Hunter," and how can we seek justice for the victims of sex slavery (in all its shades of meaning) without caging ourselves in the hypocrisy, racism, nationalism and culturalism of a "White Man's Burden" philosophy?
  
  On some level I suspect that Nietzsche's well worn phrase applies more immediately in situations like this. As we self-righteously glare at the Abyss of culturally inherent abuses, it???s not only staring back. It's practically undressing us with its eyes.

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  Posted By: Gen_This!!! @ 04/12/2008 2:48:14 PM

  Tracing a thread between articles from the past several issues (yes I religiously read all my Newsweeks cover-to-cover), I wanted to raise the question of what any of us can ethically do. Obviously like any other American, I cherish the liberties and rights of every citizen and am outraged to hear about situations like Elena's--which Emma Thompson wrote about last month--the increasing number of opium brides and the "concerned citizen" of Iraq who are not only essentially extorting the U.S. but also enforcing medieval and discriminatory practices towards women. Frankly, I would like to see this sort of abuse stopped perminantly. And yet, I inevitably realize that forcing our cultural norms on places such as the Middle East, though seemingly right, are in a sense no less victimizing to those we would be dominating by forcing them to abandon their cultural norms to appease our consciences. My question then, is how can we stop these injustices without inflating ourselves into neo-imperialist versions of 19th-century Britain's "Great White Hunter," and how can we seek justice for the victims of sexist cultures, without caging ourselves in the hypocracy, racism and culturalism of a "White Man's Burden" philosophy?
  
  On some level I suspect that Nietzsche's well worn phrase applies more immediately in times like this because in this case the abyss is not just staring back. It's practically undressing us with its eyes.