Saturday, February 23, 2008

International Crime

Lancet, the prestigious British medical journal, ran an article attacking the "poaching" of African medical personnel.

No, it's not real poaching. No one is shooting or trapping these folks. But they are... offering them jobs, with better pay and working conditions, in other countries.

This creates a problem for the people who live in these countries. So where does the fault lie? With the African countries themselves and their disastrous economies? Not according to this article, which claims that the fault lies with the rich countries that "lure" these folks away:
"The practice should therefore, be viewed as an international crime."
Chain those African doctors down!
They can't be allowed to roam around
From place to place however they please.

Surely everyone agrees
As a moral matter beyond debate,
That they are the property of the state.

UPDATE: Eugene Volokh has now weighed in about the Lancet article:
Once you take the view that it's an "international crime" to urge or to help someone exercise his rights, you've undermined his practical ability to exercise his rights, and you've also gone a long way towards denying his moral entitlement to those rights. That is the road to serfdom, with each medical professional being the property of the lord of his manor (the local government, though of course speaking on behalf of the people).

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