How an egoist travels

The Irish couple’s reactions to Morocco are typical of many Europeans visiting the third world: they are focused entirely of income inequality and political freedom. They are of course convinced that their solutions (usually based on whatever it is that they have at home) are the best and must immediately be applied here and now and tisk-tisk at every instance in which local conditions differ from those at home. (Construction workers in tents?! Fie!)

They are not entirely wrong: democracy and capitalism do seem to work everywhere better than any other system; and respect for human rights is everywhere better than the lack of the same.

But they are also blind: there are more matters in life than income inequality and political freedom. The further away one gets from dire poverty the less income inequality matters; or the less it should matter – after all, how many cars does one actually need? And political freedom, once acquired, tends to be important once in a blue moon – at elections, around some burning political issues (such as wars and presidential sexual dalliance).

Once the political and economic basics have been achieved, other issues become more important: the amount and quality of one’s free time, the quality of one’s relationships, extracurrical concerns like clubs, sport, literature and art. It is because these things matter to me more than my income relative to that of others, that I come to places like Morocco to learn: the food, the music, the manners, the clothing, interior decoration, a new way of brewing tea; I am less inclined to teach. Maybe because I am more humble; or perhaps because – I am more selfish.