In response to "Come on..."

by Bella
(Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia)

In response to Mike (comment titled "Come on...") who said: "...If you could buy your hearts desire, or even a quick pleasure (tour a prison), for a cheap price, you would, and if you say you would not, i call you a liar..." I have this to say:

First of all, your comment assumes we are ALL tremendously shallow people. Some of us really aren't "into" quick (aka shallow) pleasures and I hardly think a prison tour could be someone's "heart's desire" but then again, you never know... Let's just say it's just not up there on MY list of things to do before I die.

I believe that just because you CAN have access to something doesn't necessarily mean you should MAKE USE of that access.

If doing drugs, stealing something from a store, beating someone up, raping someone, or killing a person gave you a "quick pleasure" would YOU do it? Those things do give some people pleasure and they do them. Does that make it right or justifiable?

Thankfully I had one of those moms who used the old adage "if everyone jumped off the bridge would you?" and taught me to consider others as well as myself ... so no, I wouldn't take this tour at any cost - even free.

At some point in our lives dear Mike, we all have to learn to act responsibly, ask ourselves whether or not our actions will cause those around us (in this case the prisoners and their families) pain, suffering or humiliation, and learn to put that built-in self control mechanism we were all created with to good use. Self control is, after all, not a curse.

To your other comment - I totally reamed the prison director and officials and think they are complete jerks for allowing this to happen and worse: fomenting it. I was elated when the government replaced them. I think making buku bucks off of this tour is just disgusting (same goes for the author of the book and soon-to-be-released movie). So no, my article clearly does NOT place all the blame on tourists.

I do, however, believe that when you travel to another country you are a GUEST in that country. In addition, we are ALL ambassadors of our countries no matter where we are from and would ALL do well to act accordingly - no matter where we travel.

Hugs and good vibes to you. Bella.