(Privelege Was Re: [lbo-talk] Re: Maoist cleanup drive hits Nepal gays)

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Mon Jan 8 10:45:22 PST 2007


On Jan 8, 2007, at 12:58 PM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:


> The biggest privilege we all have, queer or non-queer, is the
> privilege of being born in a rich and peaceful country, having access
> to tap water, flush toilets, and things like that. Till last spring,
> few in America or anywhere else in the OECD nations -- even leftists
> or queer leftists -- took any interest in the Nepalese, GLBT or
> straight, except such outfits as MR, RCP, AI, and HRW, which have
> political and professional interests in the developing world. That's
> because the fate of Nepal, good or bad, let's face it, doesn't matter
> to the Americans or anyone who lives in a rich country.

Were you concerned about the fate of Nepalese, or do you include yourself in this condemnation? You often sound like you're speaking from a high horse when you write things like that, so I'd like some clarification on your altitude.

There's only so much one can care about in this world. South Koreans aren't poor, but I don't devote a lot of my time to thinking about them. Ditto Singaporeans. Belgians even. We may be cued to think about things we hadn't previously noticed if they're in the news. Maoists have brought Nepal an attention it didn't necessarily have before.

Doug



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