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YouTube Video: "Dear White Beg-packers..." (See Staff Post)
- Thread starter Segafreak
- Start date
Just because you don't see or understand it, doesn't mean it isn't there.
I have no idea what I said that deserves your ire, if anything your participation in this thread only seems to further reinforce my initial statement.
I think most of these have all their return tickets sorted. They just want to fund extra parts of their trips or some extra booze etc.
And to the people who ask why single white folks, the majority are indeed white. Or at least they are of Pan America/European nationality. You won't find people from other countries doing this nonsense (I have yet to bump into one).
Might just be my prejudice but I generally assume that it's a lot of well off white people who do this because they want to "experience" poverty. Most other people probably get enough of it at home I would think?
Kind of like how the rich had the "Live like a refugee" thing at Davos. It's just another fun/fascinating thing to experience for them.
Kind of like how the rich had the "Live like a refugee" thing at Davos. It's just another fun/fascinating thing to experience for them.
This is the most inexplicable part. I'm wild guessing their biggest source of income would be... other tourists? I could totally see scenarios where tourists would rather give to poor white kids stranded in such an exotic place than the actually poor locals.
One of my old friends from high school I keep in touch with does this. Her favorite bit of advice is "Always pack a sharpie. The really big ones. Don't worry about having gas money to get home. Just make a sign." Not in foreign countries like the video but I imagine if she ever went overseas she'd do the same.
The reason it's demostrably more safe to do this as a white person is a result of white privilege. The fact that this doesn't occur to you is also white privilege.
The same white fragility/defensiveness was on display, is the point. The video explains itself.
It's not in any way lol.
Watch the video.
I think it depends where you're traveling to. When I was in the US the first time at 17 my cards were blocked for 2 days, and I never felt unsafe or in danger. During a trip to Dubai I pretty much had the same and I had zero issues (even stores in malls would give me credit!).
My best friend worked 6 months in Mumbai and had armed guards stationed outside his office. You need to have a degree of respect for the place you're visiting. If you're going where people are well off and safe, you can take risks. If you travel to a place that's harsh for the people who live and die there you can't expect them to make sure you're better off than anyone else.
But it's not though because it changes the meaning. "Travelling beg-packers" would be a pleonasm; this is not.
Is it just a pleonasm though? Wouldn't that then imply that "yes, all bag-packers are white"? Most of 'em probably are, sure... but shouldn't you be addressing all of them rather than arbitrarily singling out a race, even if it probably covers most of them?
I'm guessing they're singling out white folk to make a point about white privilege, but the problem here isn't white privilege. The problem is beg-packing, white privilege merely shapes the demographic that engages in said practice. Or in other words, if white privilege weren't a thing and anybody could "safely" beg-pack, beg-packing would still be just as lame.
The vast majority of them are white.
The distinction between "white beg-packers" and "beg-packers" isn't a meaningful one, imo.
Additionally, as white people, they enjoy certain (you might even say "white") privileges other groups don't have, both in their own countries and abroad.
Singling them out is absolutely fair.
See above.
Hardly arbitrary, I'm fairly certain the white majority of beg-packers is overwhelming. Kinda wish we had statistics..
Also, the hypothetical "no-privilege scenario" isn't relevant imo, privilege exists and contributes to this.
Yes it is, no it is a big part, and what's the point of your headcanon where white privilege doesn't exist lol
Yall fragile as fuck
As an avid traveler, beg-packers are complete scum. I've seen people in ultra poor countries with signs begging for money propped up by a $1500 DSLR camera. Fuck them.
Yeah, I'll happily discuss the evils of colorblind multi-race beg-packing once we fix the little privilege issue, that is a huge part of the current situation.
I never said white privilege doesn't exist. In fact I obviously think it does exist, if you actually even tried to comprehend my post.
No, the problem is what the video shows: the white privilege combined with the begpacking.
That's the topic they chose to focus on, because it literally is an issue.
The last sentence of your post I quoted was a big lot of nothing
Hey if racism didn't exist wouldn't it be swell ? Why can't we just pretend racism doesn't exist !
I think he just used the word headcanon a little differently. Clearly meant your hypothetical scenario where its not an issue.
I think the issue was that "headcanon" is usually used for something you think exists, no?
The very notion that white privilege has nothing to do with this phenomenon makes me want to roll my eyes so hard.
My dudes, stop and actually listen to what we (the posters who live in countries rife with beg-packers) are trying to tell you.
If you can't do that, at least watch the video.
My dudes, stop and actually listen to what we (the posters who live in countries rife with beg-packers) are trying to tell you.
If you can't do that, at least watch the video.
Lol, I think you'll be ok.
Is "freedom not to be referred to as a foreigner when you're a foreigner" a form of white privilege?
Meh, not always. Like anything, it can be used as a derogatory term or just to mean (white) foreigners. I use it all the time.
White people doing this because their privilege makes it easy, and their privilege blinding them to the issues of doing so in poorer countries is the phenomenon and it is happening.
Hence the video.
And reports from people IN THESE COUNTIES in this actual thread.
Surprisingly haven't seen any of these people in Tokyo but spotted a few when I went to Hong Kong though didn't see any in Taipei.
Who mentioned white people? It's the same thing with the word "gaijin", which can refer to all ethnicities, not just white.
Also, that's precisely my issue. Why not use the word foreigner when speaking English? What's the purpose?
It's just young people looking for adventure, and young people travel on the cheap because they don't have a lot of money.
It's not like backpackers looking for freebies are only a thing in asia. People do this in europe too.
Not that i don't get the critisism that going begging as a rich westerner is maybe not the best of looks.
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But White privilege is a thing, and white begpackers exploit this, hence the video.
Why so riled?
I think he is referring to using a non-english word (while speaking english) for foreigner. Like some weebs do: "You don't understand anime you gajin"
What the fuck are you talking about? Of course there's plenty of Europeans and Americans that aren't white. We're talking about the white ones though, because they seem to do this much more frequently than people who aren't white.
I would posit that it is White privilege that enables beg-packing. Non-Whites won't get the same allowance to busk/begpack before the police start bothering them or the locals start complaining. Look at how non-White foreigners are treated in these countries. e.g. Nigerians in India or Filipinos in Korea. I've seen people asking for monetary help near colaba causeway in Bombay. The White looking tourists get sympathy, the non-white tourists are assumed to be slinging drugs. As for non-westerners, just the barrier for entry to foreign countries is much higher. Pre-arrival visa applications/interviews, proof of funds and employment in origin country, pre-arranged travel arrangements, etc.
Trump's putting kids in cages and all that. Can't get mad about one foreigner (myself) referring to another foreigner by the word used for foreigners in the country I'm discussing (myself) at the time.
Edit: and as a living embodiment of white privilege (myself) of course this is white privilege
I am not saying you should get mad. He just thinks it is weird that an English speaking person speaking English is using a foreign language for the word foreigner.
not to rain on everbodys white bashing but i kind of feel like this has got a 70s hippy road trip angle. hitchhiking while living hand to mouth used to be a thing, at least in the states. but taking money that might otherwise go to local poor is unfortunate though.
I think it takes a special amount of shamelessness to beg in just about any way. I don't think I could ever do it in terms of asking for money. If I did, it'd be like, can you spare any water? Do you know where I can get help? Begging is begging (for money) no matter if it's because of drugs or traveling it's always for something other than actual help. Because there are usually means to get actual help.
I mean, at the end of the day, people will always want money for nothing, and if they keep doing it it's obviously successful enough. Why work when you can get money for free by sitting and looking sad? You can't fight greed, and anyone with the complete lack of self-awareness to do this sort of thing isn't going to be swayed by a YouTube video or a stern lecture. It's on locals (and, probably more often, other tourists) to stop supporting the idiots.
It's always more difficult when you're in places without any real social safety net, though, and begging is the only way to survive. So you can't make a blanket "don't give anybody money" statement... just use your best judgement and, if you're a white tourist, realize that the "fellow tourist" beggar is probably the one least deserving of the charity. A lot of people probably put on blinders for the suffering of locals.
It's always more difficult when you're in places without any real social safety net, though, and begging is the only way to survive. So you can't make a blanket "don't give anybody money" statement... just use your best judgement and, if you're a white tourist, realize that the "fellow tourist" beggar is probably the one least deserving of the charity. A lot of people probably put on blinders for the suffering of locals.
The replies in this post...woah. White fragility on override. Besides the OBVIOUS historical legacy of colonialism and how this is something that's most easily done by someone who's caucasian and caucasian looking (because trust me, as a black dude when I travel my return ticket is most definitely checked because the West made sure those stereotypes are pushed worldwide), you also have the bigger idea that it's an easier sell being a 'poor' white person than a 'poor' minority to actually make this a successful grift.
Plus just the fact that a bunch of these cities are pretty homogenic so it's relatively easy to point out the racial makeup of most of the perpetrators.
Id go into the fact that this is pretty much the same textbook as old school colonialism where the world's superpowers at the time (surprise, European countries) would take advantage of the natives assumption that they were harmless and possibly might have been in need before massacring em, but I don't wanna cause any more tears.
But hey, lets avoid the poor grandmother making $50 bucks a month giving one of em in a moment of pity to a kid with a trust fund waiting for em in the states, and talk about how those darkie youtubers unfairly stereotyped these con men and women.
Plus just the fact that a bunch of these cities are pretty homogenic so it's relatively easy to point out the racial makeup of most of the perpetrators.
Id go into the fact that this is pretty much the same textbook as old school colonialism where the world's superpowers at the time (surprise, European countries) would take advantage of the natives assumption that they were harmless and possibly might have been in need before massacring em, but I don't wanna cause any more tears.
But hey, lets avoid the poor grandmother making $50 bucks a month giving one of em in a moment of pity to a kid with a trust fund waiting for em in the states, and talk about how those darkie youtubers unfairly stereotyped these con men and women.
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It's not that weird. English as a language is littered with words pilfered from other languages to describe things it already had perfectly adequate words for.
So it is not weird to use to word 'Gaijin' for foreigner when speaking in English (as an English speaker)
Ok.
All according to keikaku I guess
I agree with you that it's weird, but the people who use "gaijin" or "farang" and other terms don't usually use it in a hostile way. Even if they do, it's usually easy to read when it is being used in a negative way and isn't any worse than "stupid foreigner", so there's no real reason to worry about it. Zackie is just using that term because he likes it I suppose 🤷🏻♂️
I know that tone can be hard to discern when it comes to forum posts, but trust me... I'm definitely not riled about this topic. In fact I'm nice and relaxed, sipping on some tea after getting off of an easy night's work. The only time I've gotten riled in this thread is when I felt someone was blatantly not reading what I actually wrote, which I think is something that anyone could relate to.
White privilege absolutely enables beg-packing. But "white privilege" is white people being treated fairly/generously whilst minorities get unfair treatment, so trying to address white privilege in conjunction with beg-packing is a bit odd... Are we trying to argue white people shouldn't be treated fairly/nicely? Are we trying to argue that it's unfair that minorities can't beg-pack? Because if we're just trying to argue that beg-packing is shitty, white privilege isn't really making it any shittier.
Fair enough. For the record, the gist of my hypothetical no-white-privilege scenario is better expressed in my response to whatsinaname, but I'll summarize with this rhetorical question: We're trying to argue that beg-packing is shitty, not that minorities should be able to beg-pack too... right?
My point wasn't "Hey if racism didn't exist wouldn't it be swell?", my point was that the video's point isn't "Hey if racism didn't exist wouldn't it be swell [if minorities could beg-pack too]?". The issue with beg-packing isn't that only whites can do it safely/comfortably, it's that anybody does it at all.
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