In developing nations, such as Vietnam or Cambodia, it is a common sight to see Westerners ‘volunteering’ in schools or orphanages. A pertinent question thus arises: do the volunteers believe they are creating a positive ripple effect, or are they fore players of a mammoth scaled industry known as voluntourism?
Auteur: Shambhavi Chouhan
Uber has established itself as a corporate giant with a business valuation of hundred billion dollars, spread over 70 nations. Recently, a video surfaced of Travis Kalanick, the CEO and founder of Uber. His own driver spoke out about facing poverty as a consequent product of the rigid company policies. Kalanick sneered back: “Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own shit.”
Two decades ago, a doctoral student at Stanford named B. J. Fogg predicted with frightening accuracy a world where human behavior would be controlled by machines. Checking our phones 150 times a day, are we sure thoughts are our own and not products of carefully planned propaganda by the creators of these applications?
Art is an expression of undefined freedom for individuals and often the first to be attacked in war. Genocide today has also shaped itself into a phenomenon termed as ‘cultural genocide’: the systematic destruction of a specific culture. “As we passively watch, the citizens of Afghanistan struggle for basic expressions of cultural freedom such as even keeping pets or wearing makeup.”
The unthinkable only becomes remotely thinkable till it happens. Donald Trump successfully captivated the frustration of an average white American and this backlash reverberated across the world. Just like many others, I became a passive observer throughout the Trump phenomenon which was marked with xenophobia, hatred and pure disrespect.