* Cishore (flickr)

Part of being a responsible traveler is knowing what’s going on in the world around us. We’ve all heard about the recent protests in Burma, but what is it actually all about. What are the historical precedents, and what has led the country, it’s government, and it’s people to this point?

I am certainly not an expert on Burma, but I have spent some time attempting to better inform myself on the country’s current plight. I have put together a brief summary of the Burma’s modern history, which describes the current situation of the country, and what it’s people are protesting and fighting for. Read on for more information regarding the Burmese struggle:

1948 / Burma becomes an independent nation:

On January 4th, 1948, the Union of Burma (as it was then called) gained independence from the British Empire. The country formed an independent and democratic republic, that even supplied the United Nations with it’s first “non-Western” Secretary General, Pantanaw U Thant.

1962 / The end of democracy and the beginning of military rule:

In 1962, General Ne Win led a successful military coup of the democratic government, and assumed power transforming Burma into a military dictatorship. He led the country down the “Burmese Way to Socialism”, an isolationist path focused on self-sufficiency and the nationalization of practically all private industry.

Nationalized companies are managed or rather mismanaged by military personnel, who slowly run them into the ground creating mass inflation, and leading the country to the brink of economic collapse by the late 1980’s.

1988 / More mismanagement, and the first strike back:

Economic troubles were exacerbated in 1987 by a highly questionable move made by Burma’s leader General Ne Win. Ne Win decided, “he wanted only 45 and 90 kyat notes in circulation. This was because they were divisible by nine, which he considered a lucky number” (BBC News).

He decided to cancel all other monetary notes, and consequently stamped out many Burmese’ life savings overnight.

The economic crisis spurred protests by Burmese students, who were then joined by other citizens and the highly revered Burmese monks, all of whom were fed up with the incompetent and seemingly quack policies of the Burmese military regime. They protested for the dismantling of the military government, and the embracing of democracy.

Protests continued until the 18th of September when, as anticipated, the government decided they had had enough, and broke up rallies by firing on a crowd of protesters and carrying away others - never to be seen or heard from again.

The BBC reports that human rights groups estimate at least 3,000 people were killed in the government led attacks on protesters.

1989-2007 / False reform and widespread poverty:

Following the 1988 protests, Burma’s military government attempted to appease protesters by opening up the economy to market forces. However, the reform was far from genuine as government officials limited actual change by shrouding privatized industry with bureaucratic red tape and by transferring the most important industrial sectors (food production/distribution) to military run companies.

Despite the hollowness of these economic reforms, protest settled down and the country passed quietly through the next decade and a half. However, while the rest of Southeast Asia was experiencing historical economic growth, Burma’s leaders seemed incapable of lifting the country out of poverty. While the government seems content spending roughly half it’s budget on the armed forces, UN reports show that government spending on healthcare and education are among the lowest in the world. 31.8% of children under 5 are malnourished and the average income is under $300 per year - 70% of which goes toward the purchase of food.

Unphased by growing poverty, and increased costs of food staples such as rice, eggs, and cooking oil (up 30-40% by the end of 2006 - BBC News), the Burmese military regime continued to make highly questionable policy decisions. The country, rich with natural resources, has recently profited from rising oil prices and has received an influx of cash. However, the government seems unconcerned with reducing poverty or investing in the country’s infrastructure, and instead spends government funds purchasing nuclear reactors from Russia, and embarking on a high priced relocation of their nations capital to an inaccessible region of the jungle. The countries current head of state, General Than Shwe (who leads an extremely lavish lifestyle - See video of his daughters extravagant wedding), is even believed to take national policy advice from astrologers (who suggested he move the country’s capital out into the jungle).

August 15, 2007-present day / Dramatic raise in fuel prices, and the second strike back:

On August 15, 2007, in another questionable policy decision, the Burmese military government implemented a dramatic increase in fuel prices, and did so without any notice or warning. Petrol and diesel fuel doubled in price, while compressed gas increased by 500%. The tremendous price raise resulted in increased costs for public transportation and trickle-down price increases for food staples.

Again, frustrated by the government’s blatant disregard for public welfare, demonstrators took to the streets. The government took quick recognition of rising public unrest, and attempted to quiet protesters before the movement could build momentum. They used force and arrests to break up rallies across the country, until September 5th when at least 3 Burmese monks were injured as the military attempted to break up a rally in Pakokku. In Burma, where roughly 90% of the population is Buddhist, seeing three monks injured during peaceful protest was extremely upsetting. The monks gave the government until September 17th, 2007 to apologize for their brash actions.

September 17th came and went without any apology or admission by the Burmese government. This resulted in mass protests by monks across the nation. A highly revered and respected population among the general Burmese citizenry, the monks quickly gained support from the general citizenry who are tired of living under what they consider to be an oppressive and incompetent government.

All of this now leads us to today. The Burmese monks and citizens continue to protest for democracy, while the government continues to strike back, cutting internet and other communication links with the outside world and using arrests and violence to intimidate protesters.

Further Reading:

• NY Times: More Than Just a Fighting Force, Myanmar’s Military Is the Nation’s Driving Force
• BBC News: Should it be Burma or Myanmar?
• BBC News: Where the World Stands on Burma
• Brave New Traveler: Tales From the Road: Focus on Burma

Sources:

• BBC News: Q & A: Protests in Burma
• BBC News: The Hardship that Sparked Burma’s Unrest
• BBC News: Burma’s 1988 Protests
• BBC News: Burma’s Hardline Generals

Shira Golding (flickr)

Yesterday I was looking through the NY Times’ online Travel Section, and ran across a feature article entitled “An Air Travel Activist is Born”. The article is about a middle-aged women named Kate Hanni, who was stranded aboard an American Airlines flight, on December 29, 2006, for 3+ hours. Apparently there was some confusion amidst American Airlines and the flight was not cleared for take-off. Instead of letting the passengers off the aircraft, they were forced to stay in their seats for over 3 hours (as is airline policy).

The article the continues on to tell how this event lit a fire under Kate Hanni, who supposedly “had never even written a letter of complaint in her life” (NY Times). She compared the entire ordeal to “imprisonment” and went on to form an activist group to promote airline customer rights (Flyers Rights.com).

My Thoughts:

While I applaud Ms. Hanni’s pro-activism in the matter, and the fact that she is getting out and fighting for what she believes in, I have to question the perspective of the group. The NY Times article provided statistics that roughly 1200 flights have been delayed for 3+ hours from January-July (2007). There are an average of 28,537 commercial flights per day (2005) which would come to roughly 5,992,700 flights from January-June 2007 (a low estimate, as flights have increased since 2005). From these numbers we can conclude that about 0.02% of all US flights over this period (January-July 2007) have experienced 3+ hour delays.

Again, I don’t want to condemn Ms. Hanni for fighting for what she believes in, but I do wonder if this cause is really worth all the time and effort she and her supporters are putting into it. We all know there are thousands of pressing issues facing humanity both internationally and at home. Global warming, genocide, HIV/AIDS, abysmal human rights practices, and poverty to name a few. It’s also no secret that for pretty much all of human history we have tended to ignore the plights and struggles of others, as well as the long-term threats facing humanity. In general we as humans are more interested in tending to our own short-term affairs than taking on global issues in the name of others or even ourselves.

However, Ms. Hanni and her group are NOT guilty of this affliction to indifference. They are not out in search of personal gain, money, or fame. The NY Times article even states that:

“Ms Hanni, 47, essentially put her life on hold to take on the airlines, leaning on her husband to earn more and spend more time looking after their children so she could battle the lobbying might of the airlines”

This kind of devotion is truly commendable, but in my opinion the cause is not worth a fraction of the effort they are putting into it. I remember hearing it all through school, “fight for what you believe in”. But in today’s world, all activism is not equal. Our neighbors around the globe are dying everyday, environmental degradation has the potential to completely transform the world we live in, however Flyers Rights and so many other organizations like them are working day and night so that the average American doesn’t have to worry about the minute chance they will be stuck on a plane for an extra 3 hours.

I can only hope that SOMEDAY these will be the most pressing concerns facing humanity, but for now I think it’s important to put activism in a global perspective, and encourage tireless champions like Kate Hanni to collaborate their efforts on arguably higher priority initiatives.

Zen Rock Garden in Portland, Oregon: orclimber (flickr)

All to often in life we find ourselves rushing to meet deadlines, forgetting the now to consider the future. It’s almost an inevitability in our society that we live in this way.

But what about travel? Time on the road is what you make of it. If you want to rush around the globe, and never hear a word in between, so be it.

However, for most of us this is not the way, so it’s important to recognize that travel can be a time to consider the things that really matter in life.

A time to learn about yourself, and about others. A time to truly open up to your surroundings without bias or opinion, and absorb.

You may not be able to do it at home, that’s reality; but you can consider it on the road, that’s life.

Proverbs from:

• OneProverb.net
• The Quote Garden

If you haven’t already heard of the 11th Hour, it’s a documentary, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, being released across the United States today concerning the rapid and unsustainable environmental degradation our planet is currently facing. The documentary is meant to shock viewers with powerful images and statistics of all the damage we have already done, but in the end it’s goal is to inspire hope and action to really take control of our situation, and “become the the generation that changes the world”! The following description comes from the 11th Hour’s promotion team:

“The 11th Hour examines the human relationship with Earth from its earliest glimmers of innovation, to the challenges humanity faces in the present, to the possibilities of the future”. – 11thHourFilm.com

I think films like as this one are fantastic. Sure, we hear about global warming everyday on the news, and people have been preaching environmental degradation for the past 50 years. But films like the 11th Hour seem to be far more effective in motivating the masses.

It seems that global warming and environmental degradation are topics that have really captured everyone’s attention. A recent Worldchanging article even goes so far as to say that we have seen a global rebirth of community civic action similar to that in the United States during the 1960’s and 1970’s. I think they are right, and that’s a big deal! People coming together around the world (on their own mind you, often with little to no pressure by governments) to fight for the preservation of our planet!

My Concern:

My only problem with all the attention the media and society now pay to environmental issues in general, is what happened to all the other World Crises we used to be concerned with. What happened to:

• Darfur
• HIV in Africa
• Political instability in Africa
• World healthcare
• Continuous human rights infractions in countries like China
• Sweatshop labor
• Global economic disparities
• Poverty in general
• Fresh water rights
• The drug trade
• Rogue states such as North Korea and now Burma
• Global immigration

Have we already solved these global problems? Have we already marked them off our list of global crises and are now ready to move on to environmental degradation in our march to save the world?

Or is environmental degradation just the current “flavor of the week” in world crises, one that we’ll happily move on from in a couple of years when the buzz is dead and we realize that making any kind of dent in global crises requires decades of unfaltering attention?

Just yesterday I stumbled across a couple of articles written last month regarding the practice of charging “tourist prices” in developing countries. The first is by Ben Groundwater of the Sydney Morning Herald, entitled “Tip the Scales: Can Excessive Tipping ‘Ruin’ a Destination”, and the second is from one of my daily reads The Traveller’s Point Blog, entitled “Why Getting Ripped Off is Alright”. These two articles were written over a month ago, but I think the debate is an interesting one, so I wanted to revive it here.

The two posts I have linked to above discuss the common practice of charging inflated prices to foreign tourists in developing countries. Both articles argue that there is nothing wrong with paying inflated “tourist prices”, and that the practice should even be seen as a type of “social justice” for the historical exploitation and current economic disparities that the developing world must endure.

The two articles don’t make this point explicitly, but commentators even took the idea so far as to say that it is unethical and even “sickening” for wealthy Western tourists to haggle with impoverished locals in developing countries.

I, however, disagree completely. I proudly admit to haggling with locals while traveling in developing countries. I WILL NOT pay inflated prices simply because I am a tourist, and will haggle until the price is lowered back down to the local standard.

Why do I haggle? Is it because I’m greedy?

Well to explain my stance I have to get into a little bit of basic economics, so please bear with me:

Like it or not, we live in a capitalist world. Now a capitalist system certainly has its faults, but for as long as we continue to use it, we must abide by its rules or inefficiencies will develop. Under a capitalist system prices are set by the market interaction between consumers and suppliers. Suppliers naturally want to charge the highest possible prices for their goods, and consumers naturally want to pay the lowest possible prices. This results in an equilibrium price that is high enough to please suppliers, but low enough that consumers are willing to pay it. However, this system only works when both parties follow the rules, meaning suppliers charge the highest possible prices, and consumers demand the lowest possible prices. When this does NOT happen, inefficiencies develop that spread through the system like a virus. In the case of tourists paying inflated prices, this creates inefficiency from the consumer side. Now I keep using the word inefficiency, but what does that actually mean? Well, in this case the inefficiency is that tourists are creating “false demand”.

The Sydney Morning Herald article describes a situation where the writer willingly paid an Indian vendor 5 times the price of a samosa, then tacked a 100% tip on top of that. His thinking was, “I am relatively wealthy when compared to this samosa vendor, why shouldn’t I pay him more?” The problem here, as I said above is this attitude creates “false demand” from the consumer side. Now do I think that by paying more for a samosa this writer is contributing to the downfall of the Indian economy? No, but when this attitude is multiplied by millions of tourists, this “false demand” is transformed into the “illusion of easy money” which is a real effect that can be seen today in dozens of developing economies around the world.

Please bear with me as I explain further. The problem with “false demand” is that it creates a spike in a previously stable pricing curve, that suppliers are extremely quick and eager to follow, or in other words the “illusion of easy money”. If this samosa dealer can continue to sell to foreign tourists for a 1200% mark-up, why not target foreigners exclusively for his product? In fact, why even limit himself to samosas? Why not start entire businesses targeted at tourists? Our samosa dealer recognizes the fact that he does not need to be price competitive or even product competitive when selling to foreign tourists, because they will “feel sorry for him” and pay what he charges (competitive or not), so why not take advantage of this?

Does it sound like I’m exaggerating? Let me continue. Anyone who has been through a developing country within the past 3-5 years has undoubtedly seen dozens of advertisements for locally run Eco-Tourism projects in that country. Now some of these projects are well organized, well managed, and priced competitively, in other words they are capable of competing at the global level. However, the vast majority are run by inexperienced locals, who have slapped together an unorganized, overpriced project, and are basically relying on “foreign tourists feeling sorry for them” as their means to profitability.

It doesn’t stop with a few communities starting Eco-Tourism projects either. The concept has filtered down into the education system. Take my current country of residence for example, Ecuador, Eco-Tourism is now among the top 5 most popular majors among University students in Ecuador. Why? Because it’s easy money! Why would you bust your ass studying to become an engineer, teacher, IT specialist, or health professional (professions that could directly advance the Ecuador’s infrastructure and the well being of its people), when you can study Eco-Tourism and take advantage of all the money the Gringos are handing out.

Basically, what I am saying is that paying “tourist prices” does not stop with the street vendor. As can be seen in a number of developing countries around the world, it distracts from a traditional “bricks and mortar” strategy to development, and creates a modern day “gold rush” to get a piece of the tourism pie.

Now you may be thinking, so what if tourism in developing countries is inefficient and is based on accepting handouts from foreign tourists? Money is money, they can use it to further develop their infrastructure and advance into a developed nation.

Well, I agree, money is money, and to be honest there is very little that money CANNOT fix in the world of economics and business. However, the concern associated with building a tourism industry based on inefficiency is what happens when tourists no longer feel sorry for you. What happens 20 years down the road when India ranks among the most powerful economies in the world, and foreign tourists are no longer willing to give their money away? Their tourism industry, which has been built on inefficiency, will not be able to compete with well managed and competitively priced international tour operators, and will likely fail.

Conclusion:

While I do absolutely believe that the concept of “tourist prices” has a detrimental and real effect on developing economies, I don’t anticipate it is a practice that will end any time soon. It is simply another obstacle that developing economies will have to overcome in the modern global economic environment.

However, I DO NOT see anything wrong with Western tourists wanting to pay the same prices as locals. In my opinion it is not “sickening” or unethical, it is simply playing the part of a responsible consumer in a capitalist world.

The traveler’s moral dilemma is an issue that all travelers, from backpackers to luxury travel enthusiasts must deal with at some level or another.

The basic idea is that travel/tourism is an exploitative process. Travelers visit sites around the world looking for new experiences, however each new experience involves some level of exploitative consumption or either human resources, environmental resources, or both. In effect the traveler takes something from local ecosystems or communities, without sticking around long enough to give anything back.

The effect itself is obviously quite difficult to quantitatively define, and there are many sides to the argument. Most members of the traveling community, myself included, believe that tourism can be incredibly beneficial to all parties involved if practiced in a responsible manner. However, what does that actually mean, to travel responsibly? What does a responsible traveler do that an irresponsible traveler does not? How can you effectively determine if your unique travel footprint is having a positive effect or a negative one?

These are difficult questions to answer, and ones that I plan to write about in the future. Today, however, I would like to help get the idea of the Traveler’s Moral Dilemma out there, and invite all breeds of traveler to give a little more thought to the concept and how it relates them and their travel style.

The following links contain some great food for thought regarding the concept, and I recommend all my readers check them out, and always keep the Traveler’s Moral Dilemma in the back of your mind:

• Where the Hell is Matt: Traveling Matt’s personal struggle regarding the ethics of travel.
• Privilege and Responsibility: The Role of the 21st Century Traveler: Brave New Traveler article on the responsibilities of the 21st Century Traveler
• The 9 Paradoxes of Modern Tourism: Another Brave New Traveler article exploring the contradictions of modern tourism.
• The True Cost of Travel: World Hum interview with Leo Hickman (author of The Final Call) as he recounts his experience exploring the ugly side of tourism around the world, and gives his opinions on the future of travel.

It’s a common response, after traveling the world, many travelers want to give something back to the communities that so graciously hosted them throughout their journey. This often comes in the form of a monetary donation, but it is important to realize that all donations are NOT equal. Some donations go to wonderful, need-fulfilling, sustainable projects, while others go to unplanned, poorly managed projects, that will likely fail within the next 5 years. Sound like an exaggeration? Well it’s really not. A big problem facing the international development community is not just lack of funding, but mismanagement of the funds that they do have. Just look at this article by World Changing regarding a recent donation by Bicycling Magazine and Kona Bicycles to Botswana, Africa. The donation, in large part was a failure, and a waste of money that could have gone to other programs that really do help poor communities in Botswana. The main problem was simply that Bicycling Magazine and Kona Bicycles did not do any of the necessary research before implementing their project, and committed the cardinal sin in international development, introduced a project that did not have strong local support.

What is a donation?

Before you can make a responsible donation, you have to understand what a donation is. A donation is a purchase, like any other. The only difference is that, with a donation, you are not purchasing a good or service for yourself, but rather for someone else. In most cases this involves donating money to a development organization with the assumption that they will put your money to the most possible good. The problem here is that most people assume that all development organizations are extremely competent, experienced, and make informed decisions. However, the reality is that development organizations are run by the same type service workers that run law offices, banks, or even your local barbershop. Some of them are outstanding, dedicated, and experienced workers who are extremely good at what they do. But the majority are simply average workers living from paycheck to paycheck. Therefore, your goal as a responsible donator is the same as any other responsible consumer, do your homework and ensure that you make a donation to one of the really outstanding organizations that will give you the most bang for your buck.

How to find an Exceptional Project to Donate to:

• Learn: The very first step is to learn as much as possible about the community you are interested in helping. Talk to locals as well as outsiders that have been living and working in those communities for years, and try to get a feel for the real problems facing the community. What are their strengths, weaknesses, what social, or political obstacles need to be overcome, what has worked in the past, and more importantly what has failed in the past?
• Research the product: Research the work that is currently being done in these communities to determine what your different options are as a donator. Most donators simply unload their money on the first organization they find without first researching what all the other options are. Don’t make this mistake, approach this purchase like you would any other, and research the market as opposed to making an impulse buy.
• Assess Need: Is the work being done actually necessary, or does it just sound nice? Building playground equipment sounds like a nice idea, but when people are chronically malnourished and dieing of AIDS, it may not be the best use of your money.
• Assess Competence: Development work is NOT easy. If it were, we would have solved problems like poverty, overpopulation, and environmental degradation a long time a go. The reality is that these are extremely complicated problems, that require complex, and creative solutions from very dedicated and experienced workers in the field. As a responsible donator, you MUST research these organizations. You need to determine who has been around for a while, who is actually in touch with the community, who is realistic, and who has been successful in the past. You will likely find that the number of organizations that meet these 4 requirements compose a very short list, so don’t make the mistake of donating to someone who does not.
• Consider Sustainability: If you can narrow your choice down to one good development organization, you will probably find that they are very concerned with the sustainability of their work. If the modern international development field has taught us one thing, it is that one time aid donations DO NOT work. With any development project a long term plan must be calculated to ensure that systems are set in place and that people are trained in a sustainable way, so that the entire project (and all funding involved) does not fall apart 5-10 years down the road.