Danger Abroad! -- Our concerns Are Often
Another Display of Our Xenophobia
Written by the late Mike Reddin, Former Senior tutor to the General Course at
the London School of Economics. In the field of International Education Mike was legendary for his quick wit, as well as his provocative and insightful commentary. His message of having a sense of perspective about the real dangers of the world is still timely. Essay courtesy of Michael Simons, Scranton University and reprinted with the permission of the author.
The headline "Small
Earthquake in Peru: Not Many Dead," written by bored sub-editors on a
London paper, suggests in its understatement something that is nonetheless
true; to those of us so unused to them, earthquakes sound horrendous, while
those born and brought up along the San Bernadino Fault are positively blasé
about them. Millions of tourists flock each year to what Dave Barry
describes as "the most heavily armed place on earth" -- Miami.
Most return alive.
It is reasonable to be
concerned about danger--but not to over-anticipate its occurrence. It is
unreasonable to assume that it's more dangerous "over there" than it
is "here" (wherever your here is). New Yorkers who are murdered
mainly get murdered in New York, most within or near their own homes and mostly
by acquaintances. The same is true for Londoners in London: it's just that
the odds for the Londoner are substantially less. In short, concern about
the danger of foreign travel, study or work, is all too often little more than
another display of our xenophobia--a sure sign that we need to get out and
about.
Unfamiliar places are commonly
assumed to be inherently dangerous. Some of this distorted perception may
have to do with home-trained media (including those, like CNN, which look
international but are better described as "national media abroad")
which reports ordinary events (political disputes, strikes, grief) as if they
were universally significant.
Truth is, the overwhelming
majority of travelers will encounter nothing more dangerous than a burger that
has passed it sell-by date. It depends on whom you are, where you are,
and what you're doing. Northern Ireland, after 25 years of civil unrest, has
chalked up fewer violent deaths than most major U.S. cities in one year.
Moreover, some dangers (like
blizzards) are indiscriminate, most dangers are reserved for particular
groups--women, whites, blacks, the elderly, BMW drivers, or the small and
frightened. In going abroad, you may be moving away from your regular
persecutors and into a world where you're not on the regular list of victims.
The bizarre truth is that almost anything is less dangerous than staying
at home. The act of travel itself is relatively safe. Few of us
will disappear in transit between Amherst and Wimbledon.
Further, it may also be
worthwhile to think of yourself as potential danger. Space travelers are
cocooned in sterile suits not just for atmospheric convenience, but to protect
the new environment with which they will be in contact. When you go to
country X you may risk disease Y, but you may be bringing your hosts disease Z.
Sometimes the deal is a bad one for all parties. Indeed, in the new
sensitivities of eco-tourism being there at all may be a guilt-laden
experience: you and your lifestyle may be the environmental hazard.
So, it's worth putting danger
in context and looking at it from more than one perspective. In what
capacity to you plan to visit--student, tourist, imperialist, job seeker, a
bearer of gifts, or a predator? In what capacity did your predecessors
visit--friends or foes, allies or enemies? Did last year's trip by your
college choir result in friends for life or the local bar being razed to the
ground?
It takes the advice of friends
or experience to learn that most communities have a right and a wrong side of
the tracks. But even a fully funded USIA is not going to put out
sufficient advisories to cover all eventualities. Again, the visitor is
less likely than the resident to experience danger. In many places it is
a matter of local and national pride that you as a stranger are better served,
and better protected, than the natives. So, what gratuitous advice would
I offer to the prospective traveler seeking to minimize danger?
Well, avoid major wars and
countries where the airport is entirely staffed by armed men wearing Ray-Bans.
Don't go to Bangladesh in the rainy season unless your program is above
flood level; get malaria shots if malaria is prevalent--but if it isn't, don't.
Finally, remembering that it
was one of Britain's great naval heroes, Admiral Lord Nelson, who, when faced
with the overwhelming might of the French navy, raised his telescope to his
blind eye and asked, "Ships? I see no ships." And he was
certainly victorious. I do not suggest we close our eyes to danger, but
it might be worth recognizing that not everybody else in the world is gunning for
us (literally or metaphorically) and that there are usually considerably fewer
threats to our health beyond the horizon than just around the corner. So
passports ready, go for it. And think, what am I getting away from?
One would be in less danger
From the wiles of a stranger
If one's own kin and kith
Were more fun to be with. (Ogden Nash, 1902-71)
