Thursday, August 7, 2014
What Hard Work Will Get You
As you toil away, crafting Extended Essays, holding down jobs, completing chores, caring for siblings, helping at home, and generally being responsible folks, take a few minutes to consider this article. Read and write through the lens of what you know of colonialisms past and their accompanying oppressions. Think, too, about the natures of education and culture and what moral compromises accompany them--are those concessions ever justified? How does moral relativism play into this discussion? Post a thoughtful response to the article, considering more than one perspective and including at least one knowledge question. Your post is due, please, by your local noon on Wednesday 13 August. This is your last post of the summer. Thank you all for all of your hard work.
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Reading this article, the title struck me as interesting to begin with. "Slaves of Happiness Island," reminds me of many situations happening currently within the world, and also of past situations. The concept of colonialism has always struck me as twisted but also quite beneficial, a catch 22.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of many workers moving from countries in the Middle East to Abu Dhabi, moral relativism is a huge concept. As the interviewed men said, they are mostly all there to make money for their families back home to thrive. Simply put, these men are using their best moral judgement and carrying out whatever must be done to obtain it. In these men's culture, family is the most important thing. They are malnutritioned, over worked, and underpaid to persevere for their family. Colonialism affects these workers in unimaginable ways far from my privileged life. Although our situations are vastly different in intensity, I have a greater appreciation for their struggles after acquiring my first job this summer. Being the new person at work has introduced me to a whole new world of treatment and status ranking. Like these men, because it's my job, I must continue on working knowing that it eventually benefits me even if the current situation is intolerable. Long work hours and grueling physical work has taken its small toll on me, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be one of these workers in Abu Dhabi.
All in all, colonialism's inspiration is progression, that is the main driving force or purpose. When put into context, colonialism is further bettering Abu Dhabi (in this case, for its tourism). This is where another perspective comes into play.
On the other side of the story, on the corporate money making side, these workers are not seen as individuals. Although the workers are the foundation for the progression, they are just step one for the higher tiered bosses and managers. Moral relativism for the people in charge is based on better the city of Abu Dhabi as a whole, not on an individual person basis. When look at through this lens, morals cannot be compared as equals, they are relative to the culture with which they associate with.
Situations such as these are incredibly tricky, as there is no clear right or wrong moral decision to be made. In fact, every thing can be viewed at through multiple perspectives. In my opinion, basic human rights is where my moral judgement comes from. Although society's progression via colonialism is intensely important, the workers deserve credit for their hard work, and at the least, they deserve a happy comfortable life. They may be living on a world class island (in the making), but clearly something is morally wrong.
My knowledge question: To what extent can morals be altered or influenced by background knowledge and culture?
Reading this article, I related these workers in Abu Dhabi to a lot of the workers from other rural areas in my city Shanghai. These workers from less-developed cities contribute a lot to the development of Shanghai. However, they endure somewhat the same situation as those workers in Abu Dhabi. They don’t have much money to live a good life; they are far away from their family; they are discriminated by the native Shanghainese to some extent. Both of theses two groups of people endured great pressure from work, from the society, and also from their family. The local people in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi all know what these workers, who they discriminate, have brought to them, but honestly, in my opinion, there is no way for the local people to treat those migrant workers equally.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I only know about the education in Shanghai. An educated person here would definitely do not like uneducated people who would cut the line, who would spit on the ground, and who would do other impolite things. Usually, the migrant workers are less educated and they don’t really care about their manner since they grow up in the countryside. Once they are seen doing such impolite things, it is really hard for the Shanghainese not to disrespect them. In the education we receive, no one is taught to hate or discriminate people but he or she is taught who are the people they should respect. Growing up in this kind of environment, the children can easily distinguish the people who are respectful and who are not. After reading the article about Abu Dhabi, it is said that there is some sort of a hierarchy in UAE. Foreigners are 90 percent of the residents and are divided into two groups, “expats” and “migrant labor”. For generations, foreigners live there but there is not way for them to get citizenship. From this point, it is easy to find out that UAE is really exclusive. Citizens in UAE share the culture of not opening up to foreigners and not sharing their rich resources. This can somehow explain why the migrant labors in Abu Dhabi don’t get high salary. The citizens don’t want to share their fortune. According to the culture in UAE, the concessions are justified because for generations, no one has given much to the foreigners. In their perspective, there is nothing wrong with what they have done.
Relating to the slavery in the US history, there were also plenty of reasons why slavery was beneficial. Here, the moral relativism comes into play. The slave-owners said they would not have achieved what had got if they had not use slavery. Some of them even thought they actually saved the slaves from Africa. However, from modern people’s perspective, slavery is morally wrong that no one has the right to deprive anyone’s freedom. As long as someone sees benefits from slavery or other moral compromises, he or she can make up a billion reasons to justify those concessions.
All in all, it is impossible to avoid these kind of social issues. The extremely distinct backgrounds make human beings so different that they cannot always get alone peacefully and equally. The only thing we can do is to understand each other better and see the world from different perspectives.
KQ: To what extent can the knowers’ culture and education affect their view towards other people who have different backgrounds?
While reading this article, I was very shocked to learn of the types of conditions that these workers in Abu Dhabi must deal with. When reading what the men had to say about how strenuous and unfair their work was, I instantly thought that there was no moral justification for what has been happening to them. I thought that their horrible living conditions, unfair wages, and bad treatment were completely immoral; I believe that from the perspectives of the workers and their families, this is true and their situation is completely immoral. However, as I started to think about it from the perspective of the country as whole and the future of the country, my opinion became a bit different. As a country, Abu Dhabi would benefit greatly from any advancements made to their nation. Every building that the workers are contributing to is helping to better the economy of Abu Dhabi. They attract tourists and create a better image for the nation.
ReplyDeleteThis is where moral relativism plays such a big part in this controversial topic. As I said, the economic contribution of these buildings that the workers have built has a positive impact on the country as whole, but the issue is, does this morally justify the conditions of that the workers must work in? Many workers were not paid and many were treated with disrespect; and this does not just affect these men, it also affects their families that they are sending their money back to. Moral relativism raises the conflict between whether the issues that the workers face should just be considered sacrifices for the betterment of their nation or if they should be given concessions for what they have gone through.
Personally, I do not think that it is fair, by any means, that these men have almost been tricked into doing so much labor for so little pay and respect. They face such difficult conditions and are treated so badly. Many have no many and have lost their passports and dignity. I can not even imagine how terrible it must be to work in the hot sun all day and doing so much manual labor and to barely get paid or have decent living conditions. To me, this is immoral. However, to the leaders of their projects and of the country who are thinking about the future of the nation for years and years to come, this sacrifice may seem moral to them. This country does have a lot of challenges ahead of them besides building buildings; they need to enhance education as well, so I just do not think that the future of their nation should be built upon repression. This repression is suppressing their culture.
KQ: To what extent does experience and culture affect perspective?
This article reminds me of the house maids in Rwanda. Most of the homes in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, have maids that are hired for taking care of all the chores. This is because many people can’t take care of their households since they work a lot. For instance, young children need caretakers to cook for them, and take care of them when both of their parents are at work. In this case, the maids are needed to take care of them. Although these maids have a lot of work to do including taking care of the children, cleaning, cooking, they are paid very little money that can’t even provide for them all their needs. On top of that, these maids are scolded, and generally treated harshly by their employees. Most of them get to spend like 2 weeks with their family for the whole year since their work condition does not allow them to stay off for long. They are treated with very little respect and undermined by their employers and the society in general. In most cases, you will find the house owner yelling out their names or dubbing them names that are so disrespectful such as, “Kadogo” which means “little man” in Kinyarwanda. These maids suffer a lot; both physically and emotionally just like the workers in Abu Dhabi or even more.
ReplyDeleteI would personally say that maids in Rwanda are needed so much because most workers in Kigali spend little time at their homes. In addition to that, the little time they spend at their homes, they are too tired to do their chores and be able to take good care of their kids. These maids are partly responsible for the development of Rwanda since without them, a lot of people wouldn’t have enough time to spend at their work. Another important thing to note is that, if those maids got a big salary, a few Rwandans would afford to employ them which means that most of the children would be raised without caretakers or one of their parents would not work in order to take care of them. The same applies to those workers in Abu Dhabi, despite the fact that they are not paid well, and treated badly; they are so influential in the development of the country. This kind of justifies the conditions that these workers are in to some point even though I also find it morally wrong to some extent.
Long ago, the kings and other chiefs in Rwanda had workers that were in charge of taking care of their households and chores. These workers were paid nearly nothing and yet they worked extremely hard, were disrespected, and put in other harsh conditions. Even though most of those workers were honored and happy for working for those great chiefs, they were not happy for their working conditions and yet they still had to work because they had no other choice. They had to work in order to earn a living. Today, most of the maids in Rwanda are kind of treated the same bad disrespectful way and they still can’t avoid their working conditions because most of them are uneducated to find a better job. Most of the house workers or maids have been undermined in Rwanda for such a long time. It seems like undermining house workers or maids and treating them with disrespect in Rwanda, is a tradition that Rwandese live with because it has become normal. Even house workers have been used to the fact that they are undermined and that they are treated to some extent with disrespect. Most of the Rwandese have not yet realized that maids should are like other workers, and hence need to be treated the same respectful way. These maids can be undermined according to the Rwandese tradition. However much immoral it may be, it seems to me that it is justified by the Rwandese tradition.
To what extent does a knower’s tradition help him/her to define the morality of his actions?
This article reminds me a lot of what I saw and experienced in Bolivia. In a place colonized by Spain and Portugal, the indigenous Bolivian people constitute the majority of the poor. They live in rural areas, where three in four people are poor (see below for sources). These indigenous people are looked down upon in Bolivia’s social circles and the economic inequality runs rampant throughout the country due to lack of job availability and education for those indigenous peoples. The difficult part to creating a solution here is that the stereotypes regarding these people are deeply ingrained in the descendants of the original colonizers, the Spanish and Portuguese. These stereotypes insinuate that the indigenous peoples are not smart enough for, not hardworking enough to have, and not worthy to keep the jobs available. We can recognize these stereotypes more easily as they are mirrored in our own society towards minority groups including Native Americans and African Americans.
ReplyDeleteAside from this issue of fairness in the face of economic, cultural, and political inequality, there is the issue of what one should do about it. And this leads us into questions of moral reletavism. In other words, how do we figure out when potentially well-meaning steps to benefit a group like the indigenous peoples in Bolivia may in fact be harmful, or that this may depend on the perspective that one has. For example the issue of whether the schools that indigenous children attend should focus on the native language, or Spanish. Obviously by focusing on the native language they will be furthering the culture of the indigenous peoples, but possibly at the expense of helping them economically prosper or integrate into mainstream Bolivian society. This is not an academic question, its actually an issue that the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, who sides with the indigenous people, in considering now.
I have a few questions I’d like to consider regarding the initial problems with trying to find solutions to the issues of oppression, inequality in education, and culture differences. Let’s consider this quote from George Orwell’s Animal Farm: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Just, keep that quote in your head for a solid two minutes as I try to explain where I’m going with this.
1) Is there justice in giving more to a group who has contributed more in the first place? 2) Does the answer to that question depend on where your biases lay in specific situations? 3) Do your biases sometimes, but not always, reflect the moral code you have accepted as your own, through your own culture and experiences? 4) Therefore, is moral relativism the key to understanding the reason why there is no solid answer to the initial question in this paragraph?
If you answered yes to questions 2, 3, and 4, then I agree with you. And then I can explain the irony and truth to George Orwell’s quote. It’s ironic because from a completely objective perspective, the above quote is nonsensical. But as humans we don’t have the ability to be completely objective and therefore the above quote has meaning and truth when it shouldn’t. In other words, this quote illustrates that how we define what is similar to others or what is different in others actually influences the perspective that we bring and can in fact lead us to make judgments about what is important, thus understanding whether we identify with indigenous people who want to become part of the economic mainstream, or instead native americans who wish to retain their culture is actually all about acts of self-definition.
As I read this article there were many thoughts that came to mind. The first thought was that there is usually more to the story that one sees and that behind every successful story there are many people that suffer. Sadly, this is not an isolated case and we see repeatedly in history and today where many people suffer for modernization and development. We see a similar situation where thousands died building the Great wall of China similarly the same casualties were seen in the building of the Suez Canal where the bodies of workers were simply thrown in the water as they died on the job. Whenever someone has a vision there are many who suffer the consequences of making that vision complete and as we enjoy these developments and buildings we hardly ever give credit or recognition to the horror story behind them. As expected it is usually the poor and unfortunate ones that get exploited, like the young man mentioned in the beginning of the article who was simply trying to feed his family.
ReplyDeleteAs I contemplate, I have to liken this situation to that of slavery in the United States. It is the exploited labor of African slaves that built this country from ground up by their labors for the exportation of cotton. This is a true success story as America now boasts one of the most thriving economies in the world. Likewise, there is a horror story behind it. Not only were slaves affected by the creation of this country but the offspring has suffered tremendously and will continue to suffer from the backlashes of slavery. A race simply scarred for a lifetime: where we suffer from colorism, low self-esteem, self hate and an unhealthy mentality over all. I can personally attest to this. Most young girls like me feel that lighter or whiter is more attractive and as a result hate the color of our skin. Others hate the texture of their hair and try earnestly to try making it more European. This is simply because our ancestors subconsciously created a standard of beauty that carried on to my generation. This is because during slavery, if a black person had a lighter complexion and straighter hair, it would simply mean that they were more closely related to the white man and this gave them a higher status in life. Sadly, there are still parents who favor lighter children because of this trend that has been going on for years. Still no direct concession has been given from slavery. In this case no amount of money or opportunities can reverse the effects of slavery. I think that this is also a fitting example where moral relativism comes in to play. There are many people who prior to meeting black people always hated them or feared them in some way or another. This is not because of personal experience but because of the culture they were raised in. However, after having personal experiences with black people they were able to make a decision for themselves.
On the other hand if we were to look at the situation from a different perspective some people’s moral conscience tells them that it is okay to exploit people’s ability for their own purposes. In their minds they feel as though they are doing the less fortunate party a favor. A similar sentiment was shown in American slavery. This sentiment was known as paternalism. In this case slave-owners thought that it was morally just to restrict people of their freedom because they provided them with a place to sleep and a little food.
My knowledge question is, to what extent is knowledge about morals dependent on an individual as opposed to their culture?
The construction of the Panama Canal caused great controversy in the Americas in its early stage. Many of the workers were being brought from either West Africa or poverty stricken areas in the Caribbean. The colonial powers who were in charge of the work along the canal did nothing to contribute to their well being. They were given minimum wages, deplorable living conditions and many of them died due to harmful water borne diseases from its construction. Apart from this many of the workers would not benefit from the construction of the canal. In comparison with the workers in Abu Dhabi, they were poor and came from places with an inferior educational system to that of the colonial powers. They shared the similarity of leaving behind their families in order to move towards better life. Colonialism contributes to the ideology of a better life. Once a superior nation tries to take over or colonize an area, many inferior individuals will either be forced to gravitate to that area in order to achieve the superiority or greatness of colonial life. Once a stronger power moves towards an area, weaker powers will do the same to eventually gain praise from that stronger powers status from their inferior counterparts.
ReplyDeleteThe most shocking and obvious realization is that these same individuals who move towards the colonial life to achieve greater opportunities end up doing that for other individuals. These inferior workers reap loosely while others gain abundantly. The question of morality in this situation is found on two parts. For the workers they are trying to move towards creating a successful enterprise. They focus on their output and meeting all means to achieve it. The fact that the workers do not protest against their conditions but accept it and are even proud of it would make it seem almost morally correct or justifiable to their employers. For others on the other hand to criticize the employers and pose questions of morality based on how they treat their workers is another issue. Yes they view it as unjust but at the same time these are the same individuals reaping the gains of these facilities produced by those ‘exploited’. For the workers who are coming from inferior cultures, areas of poor educational and economic statuses, to work for a superior business regardless of the fact that others more fortunate may see it as immoral may be a blessing to them.
I’m forced to question morality and consider moral relativism. Are we saying that if one comes from a certain inferior culture they should be subjected to doing certain things because of their decreased self value by society? Consider African slavery, the Holocaust, all these individuals were subjected to certain lifestyles because of their low status. These individuals are exploited severely but forced to not complain. They are placed in positions to do something to benefit their exploiters but in the end reap the benefit of nothing. Another consideration is that for the Western cultures this practice is immoral and viewed as slavery, for other cultures it's a means of maintaining livelihood. Moral relativism greatly influences this discussion because we are presented with several cultures to consider and perspectives to view. The workers with inferior backgrounds morally sees it as an abundance of opportunity, the employers see it as working to achieve their goals, outsiders such as the western cultures view it as wrong and manipulative. My question is how can morals be commonly justified if there is no universal way of knowing or common perspective shared amongst everyone?
With her article, Molly Crabapple blew my mind. As if it weren’t enough with everything else that is going on around the world today, this article introduced me to yet another impossible-to-believe truth. Like most of my classmates, I began this article with an immediate sympathy to the workers. After paying hard earned money to find job recruiters, these men were promised to earn enough money to live on as well as send back home. As a read through the opening paragraphs I was livid. How is this okay? Why is it that so many people are sitting in air conditions offices with $1,000,000 watches, stealing money from other billionaires, while men such as Tariq are slaving away under the sun; it doesn’t seem fair or is it justified.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I realized that this is not the first time this situation has occurred. Right now I am in Russia, Moscow, where I grew up. As a child I was very oblivious to many things one of which was the Tadjiki workers in Moscow. Much like the men that Crabapple talks about, these men moved from their motherlands in search for a better life with more money. After doing some research I realized that the situations where almost identical. The men were promised secure jobs and pay on arrival to Moscow, however the reality was different then expected. These men are put in charge of building skyscrapers with unbearable hours and living conditions slightly better then those of the men in Abu Dhabi. What I realize now is as I walk by these men on a Sunday they can be found sweeping the streets and in the midst of a heated bargaining session in the market; sunday is there off day. Just like Tariq and Ibrahim these men have to work extended hours to earn enough money to send home, even if that means working beyond their already intolerable hours. Although the heat is far more bearable in Moscow then it is in Abu Dhabi, the same cannot be said for the winters. Although the situations are not identical, they are similar enough to see that there is something wrong here.
On one hand, a moral relativism could be to sympathize with the large companies. In order for Abu Dhabi to thrive it needs to bring in a heavy cash flow, which would be the aim of Saadiyat. The tourist attraction would bring in tourist, money, and, depending on its success, job security. In order for that to be achieved, the Saadiyat needs to be built by someone. How can we get the most of our workers while paying them the least amount possible? Unfortunately, like others have already pointed out, this has and will continue to happen.
KQ: How can a moral right overpower a moral wrong?
KQ: To what extent does perspective influence ones moral understanding?
It never ceases to amaze me on how greedy people are. Honestly, how can we be surprised? This kind of conflict happens all the time with extremes to slavery and labor camps during the Holocaust. Not only to those extremes, but to indentured slaves in India, and even interments camps if one wants to take the perspective of freedom being taken away. Wouldn’t you say that America kind of does the same thing with immigrants. When my family and I were driving to a college visit we stopped for gas. While we were waiting for the gas my dad was talking to the man who distributed the gas and found out that, back in India, the guy was a lawyer, but for some reason when he came to the “land of opportunity” he could not find a job. Interesting. People are manipulated and taken advantage of in powerful countries with a lot of money. For example Shanghai, China (as Cathy explained) in the rural areas there is a similar problem. Wow, look at that; America has money, China has money, UAE has money, and these are only some of the powerful countries who exploit and manipulate immigrants into hard, unlawful labor.As long as the work gets done there is no consideration of what is moral and just.
ReplyDeleteSomething that could really benefit the workers is education. Most of them probably haven't made past high school, so they did not get the chance to learn about what they really should be making and how the companies should listen and act on the workers needs. If they had high education they could probably sue the companies for mistreatment, but they may not know they can do that. Especially with companies telling the workers that they can not ever leave and forcing them to work until the companies hearts content. When in reality the workers are not servants, they have the power, but they may not realize it. Also with an education comes better opportunities for higher positions in the workforce.
I don’t really see how there could be another perspective to this issue, unless someone is incredibly cruel and has no value for human life. If others were to put their feet in the workers shoes there would be no other perspective because he or she would experience what the workers experience on a daily basis. Maybe I am not being open minded, but I don’t see how someone could condone this treatment.
KQ: How does our knowledge of reason affect our capability of detecting what it ethical?
Here is Qianqian's post:
ReplyDeleteIn response to this article, I can only say that I am shocked. Yet, I don’t know if I’m more shocked at this injustice, or at my naivety in thinking that this sort of justice is not present in the twenty-first century. Because to me, indentured servants belonged in the last century, or at least they had nothing to do with the much-revered Louvre. Maybe I shouldn’t be shocked, because although I thought the Louvre was a respectable institution of the arts, it does in many ways mean that it is a humanitarian institution. Even if it is, there is no way for the Louvre to guarantee the condition of its workers in Abu Dhabi, where moral values are not quite the same. In the end, I realize that it isn’t reasonable for me to assume that an artistic and educational institution would automatically adhere to what I define as moral. My question is that can our ideals of reason change depending on where we are in the world? Do we become influenced by the setting in which we make our judgments?
We too often associate education and culture with what is right and moral. In reality, that is not necessarily true, because education and culture are sometimes where the most concessions in moral are made. In my mind, there is no way to justify these concessions, but again, it is too unreasonable to expect education and culture to only have good sides? In this case of the Abu Dhabi Louvre, no concession is needed, the construction can finish, and at the same time, provide workers with fair work and pay, because that’s what they expect of their work.
Sometimes, actions could be justified in politics and history, because there are many factors and sides to one issue, and we must consider carefully the consequences of our actions. Politics also tend to be more utilitarian, whereas I think education and culture is considered more idealistic.
Tariq said that he wanted the head of the Louvre to see the conditions that the workers live with, so I can’t help but think about this through that perspective. Despite with being concerned about publicity and bad name for the new branch, would he be angered by the treatment of the workers? Most importantly, would the head of the Louvre consider this treatment of the works justifiable? If the answer is yes, then how?
It never ceases to amaze me how far people believe the human race has come over the years, and yet, to me, we've barely gone anywhere. Time and time again we hear stories about the disgusting mistreatment of people because of their differences. You would think we would be smart enough, being the "superior race", to look at the horrific events in our history and work to make sure they are never repeated. Yet there are people in the world treated as bad as the slaves and housed as if the Holocaust still disrupts the world. It is incredible to me that there are people still stuck in refugee camps, with their freedom stolen from them. To me, it is simply evil to draw people to near impossible manual labor with the promise of large sums of money, only to leave these workers with barely enough to survive. To lie to these people in this way is to steal from them. Their life is stolen right from under their feet.
ReplyDeleteWhile I find all of this barbaric, I do understand that education impedes and shapes morals. There is the famous belief that discrimination and hate are not two things we are born with but rather we are taught. I completely agree with this; however, in my opinion, it does not justify anything. To me discrimination is still wrong, even if it is the only thing that someone knows. I understand that some people are taught from the moment they can comprehend thoughts, that anyone different from them is wrong. Especially as children, people think that what they are taught, whether by parents, elders, or teachers, is what the universe is taught. They don’t realize that other beliefs circle the world as well. However, it amazes me that as these people grow, they can’t see that what they are doing is hurtful and wrong. Look at Mosab Hassan Yousef in our history reading, “Son of Hamas.” He seemed to be set in his ways until he looked at the world through a different lens. While at first his only goal was to destroy the Israelis, he allowed himself to open up to the other beliefs of the world and saw that Hamas’ attacks were not exactly justified. I believe that everyone has this opportunity to see the world through a different lens than what they were taught, some just choose not to take advantage of it.
To others, hateful ways are justified because it was the belief they were brought up on. To these people, hate of differences is as normal as putting on clothes to go out in public. It is simply something that their elders have taught them time and time again. They can’t be blamed for something they believe is right. These people don’t care that hurting others is not acceptable in other families or other countries around the world. To them, the others are wrong. I mean, how do you explain to someone that a belief they were brought up on is wrong. It is wrong to those of us who believe that acceptance is right. Explaining to these people that discrimination is wrong is just as useless as explaining to people like us that it is right. We can’t be blamed for what we have been taught is right.
KQ: To what extent does culture change morals.
Yasmin writes (pt 1): When reading this post, the first eye-catching remark was the title, “Slaves of Happiness Island”. This title seems almost like an oxymoron, how can slavery and happiness work together when they are of such contradicting backgrounds? I later began to understand through this article the unfortunate truth behind the title, and in fact, behind almost everything created in the world that we sometimes take for granted. For starters, though it is a very negative statement to make, the truth is that our world is one where money and wealth strongly determine a person’s future, lifestyle, and their ability to receive the basic necessities to survive. Some people are blinded by the luxuries that are available to them such as actual houses and enough money in the bank (whether it consists of millions or just a few hundred) to buy groceries and food on daily basis. These people, ourselves, are the ones whose tend to forget that hard, immoral labor is unfortunately the foundation of our world’s success. To me, there are no words to describe the inhumane act and cruelty of those who turn hardworking, destitute, and desperate people into slaves, indentured servants and even child workers. These people, poor, freedomless, and lacking the “simple” things in life such as food and water, are the hard workers which our world completely overlooks. When was the last time one of us got dressed and thought: “ it is a strong possibility that one or a few of the world’s 168 million (and possibly more) child laborers spent days in hazardous work areas to make these clothes for me to wear so that they can eventually get food to eat”? (Statistic from http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/child-labour/lang--en/index.htm#a1) The fact of the matter is that slavery, and indentured servants, while less known and talked about, and less frequent, still do exist in our highly developed and technologically advanced world. The history of the country where my family is originally from, Guyana, closely relates to this. In Guyana, when it was first taken over by British, Dutch, and French powers, the people who made up the population were slaves from Africa and indentured servants from India, making my own grandmother’s grandparents indentured servants who endured such harsh treatments like these poor men in Abu Dhabi. It is hard for me to believe that such treatment can still be found in our world today when it seems as though our world has enough money and human right activists to make a bigger change, though it may simply be that we are doing what we can but the problem is much bigger than the ability we have to control it.
ReplyDeleteYasmin (pt 2): While my perspective is that such strenuous and inhumane work to put dedicated and completely helpless people is wrong and completely immoral, it is true that these are the people whose hands have created the luxuries that we have been blessed with. While I do not support slavery or indentured servants, I do understand how colonialism is a tricky subject and how these workers, underappreciated for their work, of course, are the ones who literally build countries to their success. These men and their hard work are what will make Abu Dhabi eventually strive. So, while the persepctive of the higher powers in Abu Dhabi are visible, I still do not believe they are justified or humane as they are still in many ways, deeming the lives as poorer people as less important and do not treat them as humans should be treated.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that education has a lot to do with this issue from all sides of those who are a part of it. Education is the true key to success in my opinion, so if the leaders of Abu Dhabi educated themselves on a better and more moral way of getting their grand architectural designs taken care of, and if the poor workers or future workers were to recieve education in other trades and for jobs that did not require such horrible conditions, and if the rest of the world was constantly informed about this dilemma, maybe this problem would find a solution one day. However as Ibrahim shows through his own experiences, education can be both a blessing and a curse as he withdraws majority of his knowledge from his bosses and speaks broken English as if he was not fluent in 5 languages.
My KQ is: In what ways can a lack of education and knowledge of a society be credited for unfortunate events that persist throughout centuries?
Grace writes: Native Americans have been oppressed and the question thus becomes is it morally correct to "rectify" the mistakes made in the past by giving them the right to have advantages over other people now? This sounds terrible and I'm playing the devils advocate, but people with Native American blood get huge benefits in relation to jobs, and college. I understand that this is not out of pity, but more for preservation. However, there may be an essence of guilt hidden in some people. It is a way of making up to them, and all the abuse we have put their people through. We are all human, what are the consequences of moral relativism (having different moral codes and ethics depending on your culture)?"
ReplyDeleteMoral relativism definitely plays into it, because as the oppressors we have ideas about just and unjust behavior based on what we have given to the Native American people. One could argue that we brought riches and education to America, the Europeans who oppressed the Native Americans gave so many more people better lives. These concessions, though, didn't help the oppressed.
KQ: The question thus becomes "How does emotion affect moral relativism, both for the worse and for the better?"
Reading this post, I couldn't help but think of the frequently overlooked situation involving Native Americans and discrimination against them. Before Europeans came to the ‘New World’ and settled, millions of people were already living in the place that Columbus so-called ‘discovered’. Instead of being honored for sharing their land with the Europeans, they were treated with disrespected and were oppressed by the Europeans and colonists. Over time, Native Americans were killed, targeted, and pushed out of their living areas to be put on dry plots of land that were useless to the colonists.
ReplyDeleteI find the discrimination against Native Americans in the United States similar to the oppression of workers in the United Arab Emirates because the harm that it causes is of the same nature. In both cases, innocent people are forced to succumb to a larger culture. Workers of the Arab Emirates like Tariq left their homes in other places cultures to work for a bigger, wealthier culture that does not treat them fairly. In the same vein, Native Americans are treated harshly all around the United States of America, yet they are refused to rely on the popular American culture because of their power to wipe them away. These two situations are also the same in the sense that for the most part, they are blanketed. Most people know the United States of America as a powerful, rich country that is the land of the free and home of the brave. Not many are educated on these topics because they aren't drilled into the minds of people like how concepts like ‘America the land of equality and justice’ are. Honestly, I was not aware of the depth and harshness of the United Arab Emirates conflict, and that goes to show how hidden thing like these are. The United Arab Emirates is known for being a fast-developing, wealthy Middle Eastern Country, but behind the development are the unseen workers making these things happen. Behind America’s power was the Native Americans’ primary decision to allow colonists to settle on their land and create that power.
However, looking at these two huge situations from the perspective of the powerful people (the United States government and United Arab Emirates government), society is a competitive place. There is almost always a ‘little guy’, or a less powerful person. They are indeed appreciated because they are the foundation for growth. The weak are needed to create power. In my opinion, this point of view is corrupt and unjust. In these situations, I think that there is an obvious moral ‘right’. THe workers in The United Arab Emirates should be paid more due to the fact that they are highly important in the country’s power. Native Americans should be treated with respect and honor instead of neglect. Some knowledge questions that I thought of relating to this topic is:
To what extent does the concept of oppression cause destruction in society? To what extent does the concept of oppression cause success to society?