[bobthechef]

There is some confusion here. There is no moral obligation of the sort that you are claiming .

Speak to a tour guide in these countries and he will tell you that many tourists from western countries that don’t have a culture of bargaining vastly overpay for many things that are marked up precisely because the locals know tourists don’t know any better. Even if they did, they would still make a profit.

People in the “global south” aren’t stupid. They are much better at playing the bargaining game than westerners. You are no match for their hustling. They will tell you when they cannot go any lower and will not sell for less than that amount. Even that amount is bound to make them a nice profit. It’s not like you’re fleecing them or coercing them into loss. They will not sell below what they can afford. Why would they?

If you want to be generous, be generous, but even generosity can be misguided and foolish, even condescending in its presuppositions (westerners often have patronizing views of the “third world”). Charity has its place. (Look at the effects of mitumba in Africa or free rice in Haiti for example of misplaced charity.) Ethically speaking, justice does not bind us to refrain from bargaining because there is nothing unjust about it.

[dotancohen]

  > Look at the effects of mitumba in Africa or free rice in Haiti for example of misplaced charity.

What are the problems with mitumba in Africa or free rice in Haiti? I'm not American so maybe these are cultural references that I'm not familiar with.

[jtc331]

I’m not familiar with the details of these specific examples, but I imagine it’s parallel to the problems created by Toms giving away shoes in Africa that they’ve shipped in. They actually do a lot of harm because they’ve displaced local economy —- from shoe makers to the sources of material for the shoes etc. In an effort to be charitable they’ve actually destroyed livelihoods and taken food off of people’s tables. If they really wanted to do charitable good they could employ the shoe makers and use local raw materials for those shoes.