Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Cheating
The other day I was sitting with some Gambians playing cards and I was astonished by the prevalence of cheating. Everyone was cheating, no one was being particularly discrete, and no one really cared. I mean if the cheater was caught people would laugh and say no no you shouldn't do that and the action would be undone, but the relevant thing to note is no one really cared. Definitely got me thinking about what this might mean for the bigger picture...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Another very interesting observation with possibly broad ramifications. It is amazing what you are perceiving about the culture. It is the kind of information that a skilled author could use as background for developing the characters of a novel.
I do not think you can use the same brush stroke to paint the wider society based on the unethical behavior of a few isolated individuals. It is undeniably true that cheating in any malignant form should be frowned upon, but we should not be short-sighted to examine the context in which it is done and the intent of the actors in question. Cheating in the card game amongst the Gambians is not any different from the permissible ethical violations in a poker game or the adversarial strategies used in politics. I apologize for any bias in my opinion, but as a Gambian, I am aware of the ills of my society, but nevertheless, I detest to my society observed in such a general way.
First of all I wanted to say thank you for commenting on our blog. One goal of our Peace Corps experience is to facilitate cross-cultural learning. In addition, it is a vehicle for us to express our thoughts and feelings to our friends and families at home. Peace Corps is a life altering experience so we try and convey as much as possible to show others how this experience is affecting us. Conversations like this are undoubtedly are helpful in both regards.
Second of all, I wanted to emphasize that at no point was I attempting to make a generalization that would apply to all Gambians. I was merely describing a situation I observed and my immediate reactions. I am very sorry that I may have offended you or any other reader and going forward both my wife and I will try and be careful in avoiding writing things that can be interpreted in ways other than what we intend.
Post a Comment