Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:
“You find out really quick who you are.”
-Scott Gaines
Before I can explain this week's quote, I must preface it by asking you a question: Do you NOT do drugs, sell drugs, participate in prostitution, pedophilia, rape, murder, and other acts of human extortion because you feel that they are morally absent, or because they are against the law?
That was the question my good friend Scott asked me on Saturday when he came down to visit me. You see, Scott has been overseas. He taught English-as-a-Second Language in Korea, and also visited Japan, Indonesia, and Cambodia. He brought pictures with him of his adventures. All were beautiful, except for Cambodia.
I would love to go into the history of the country, but an explanation of why they are in such dire straights would take too long. Suffice it to say that the Vietnam War and a subsequent ruthless dictator were responsible for the murder of 2+ million Cambodians and the literal collapse of the entire country. Only poverty remains. The corrupt government maintains no laws.
However, there are many tourists. The gorgeous countryside and rich history of the country attract millions per year... but that's not all that attracts them.
The people make an average income of $30/month in Cambodia. Some people are so poor that they build raft-huts that they float out to sea and sleep on, because they have no land for a "bed." With that kind of income, the locals are pretty much desperate to get the tourists to spend money there, so that they can "make ends meet." Therefore, drugs and prostitution run amuck.
What's so ironic about all of this is that the Cambodians, according to Scott, are the most friendly, hospitable, cordial people on the planet. They have nothing, but if they see you, they will invite you into their "homes," fix you a splendid meal that probably equates to two or three for them, and leave their own "beds" that you might have a place to sleep. The dirt will suffice for them for the night.
The prostitutes don't like their jobs. They do it because they desperately need the money. Scott says these girls (and boys) actually have life plans... college, moving away from Cambodia to somewhere that they can actually have a life, and start a family. The only thing they know to do to get out of their poverty is to sell their bodies. They're not like hookers in the States... no, these girls want more than a one-night-stand. They want a way out. They want a life worth living.
To the point of the quote: Imagine what you would do if you were a tourist to this country. The most severe poverty surrounds you, but, because you have money, you can sleep with people, purchase drugs, and have a great fling in a tropical paradise. Yet, you could also drop enough money for one of the prostitutes to buy books for school, and keep her off of the streets for a month. You could buy her a meal that consisted of more than rice. You can genuinely help people that feel so helpless.
Do you really observe your "rules" and preach your "morals" because you truly have them, or do you just not want to go to jail? If you were in Cambodia right now, and you faced the decision of whether you would help this girl out by paying for her school and buying her good food, or sleeping with her for a couple of bucks, facing absolutely no societal consequences whatsoever for your actions, what would you chose?
Scott said it best. Exploiting the poor sounds so horrible in this simple message, yet when people show up to this 3rd-World country, “You find out really quick who you are.”
Which begs the question: Do you not do evil because you are good, or, do you not do evil because it’s against the law?
…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!
