Hansel: Hotel Rwanda

In my opinion, first world countries have no particular responsibility to intervene when such political insanity occurs. What I picture America doing in such a crises is similar to the scene in which the United Nations officers threw his beret to the ground as he finds out that just the foreign nationals are to be evacuated. Another scene that looks similar to what I believe would happen if America intervened is the one in which the United Nations try to carry the refugees to safety only to be thwarted by the Hutu militia. My third scene that compares with America’s hypothetical involvement in Rwanda is the scene in which Paul calls Mr. Tillens, the Dutch owner of the hotel. We see Mr. Tillens in another country in a completely different situation. This mirrors how I feel most American civilians would feel about Rwanda. As discussed in class, Americans see Rwandans as the lowest of classes due to their different lifestyle. Thus, Americans do not care about the Rwandan genocide. I would also like to refer back to my first point: first world countries have no particular responsibility intervening when such political insanity occurs. I prefer a strong isolationist policy where it comes to intervening with foreign affairs. Interventionist policies are often fueled by imperialism. America believes that they are some sort of super power who can make everything better with the sweep of their hand and some AK-47s. We  believe that we can show countries the magic of democracy and crony capitalism and their country will be fine. In addition, we believe this with countries who have things that we need. Rwanda is not a particularly large exporter of things that United States consumes. Therefore, we do not very much care what is going on. Possibly if Rwanda had oil, we would have been over there cracking skulls and saving lives in no time. I would really like to say that first world countries with the resources should go and assist Rwanda in their times of struggle, but I know it would wind up getting botched somehow, instead of a simple act of charity or a sort of country companionship. 

Hansel: Human Trafficking

Image acquired from http://theinspirationroom.com

I do not believe the question should be as to what should the government do to put an end to human trafficking, but it should b “What should citizens do to help put an end to human trafficking?” I feel this way for two reasons.

The government will never be able to put an end to human trafficking, or any crime for that matter. This is why we should be careful when recommending policies. There is no perfect society in which things that most people see as bad do not happen. For that reason, I changed the question to include the word “help.” Anyone can do things to help human trafficking. Nobody can end it, even the government.

Going hand and hand with the idea that the government can help end human trafficking is the broad notion that government has to do something to help it. Why does government have to step in? Isn’t that just giving the government more power, which it will inevitably abuse? The Bush Administration instituted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act which set up standards and offices to combat the modern slavery. After fours years of the instituted program, advocates for the program were disappointed. What I don’t understand is how they are surprised. Is the United States government supposed to step in other countries and regulate their abductions and kidnapping? If we are consistent in our opinions on foreign affairs, than that appears to be an absolutely dreadful solution. Trying to add government regulations will not solve the problem, but just add more trouble for the government and increase spending.

Thus, the questions still remains, “What should citizens do to help put an end to human trafficking? I must admit, I did not know very much about human trafficking before we watched the film and read the articles. This, I feel, is the very issues. Not enough citizens are aware of this problem. The solution to this is not in government regulations or foreign affairs, but in the action of the citizens. We must fight human trafficking from the bottom-up, not from the top. If we continue to make citizens aware of this modern slavery through films, charities, private companies aiding the fight against human trafficking, then it will begin to appear in the public eye more often. Just look at environmentalism. It is still a problem, admittedly, but multiple corporations have taken aim in making things such as vehicles and house cleaning products that are more environmentally friendly in the midst of the growing concern for the environment. What I’m saying, basically, is that if we want change, we must cause it ourselves, and not depend on the government to solve all of our problems.