Good grief. I actually read (most of) that article. that's 5 minutes of my life I'll never get back. Have a look - the densest pile of moral righteous sludge I've seen in a long time.
Chile scored highest in environmental protection among the Ethical Destinations
Great to see large scale open cut mining in the altiplano can be carried out to such high standards!
Palau is promoting energy efficiency through an innovative financing scheme that provides subsidies for citizens to build new homes, with choices of energy-saving features.
That's some financing innovation! Wonder where the cash comes from? All those unethical donor countries? And looks like they are going to use clothes lines for drying clothes.
Newcomer Tonga aims for a 50% reduction of diesel importation by 2020 by promoting solar home energy, and has instituted a National Development Plan to address both the economic and ecological environments. In 2015, Ha’aapai will become Tonga’s first island to institute organic farming.
OK, as long as they have those aims and plans then. No need to actually have done anything yet.
As mentioned earlier, no country is perfect, and one issue that plagues nearly every country on our list is a high level of gender-based violence. Chile has the highest rate in Latin America, and in Samoa it is so commonplace that most people simply accept it as a way of life.
Simply :shock:
In Tonga, the legacy of a feudal system still raises concerns about corruption and transparency. Since the 2010 democratic elections, however, the new government has worked to implement suggestions from the international community and make improvements in the areas of social welfare and human rights.
Again, great to see the government working on it.
In its yearly report on civil and political rights, Freedom House granted perfect scores to Cabo Verde, Chile, Dominica, Lithuania, Palau and Uruguay. Mauritius, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu follow with the second highest score.
Wonder where Freedom House ranked Australia?
Even some of the countries that did make the list— Dominica, Mauritius, Samoa and Tonga—still have antiquated laws that penalize same-sex relations. But because these laws are very rarely (if ever) enforced, the countries were not disqualified.
So just make sure you don't inhale.
Unfortunately, Mauritius—which has earned a spot on our list two years in a row—has yet to make any real progress in protecting native monkeys from capture and export to animal-testing facilities in the West. Approximately 10,000 monkeys are captured or bred for export each year in Mauritius, and undercover investigations reveal that the monkeys’ treatment prior to export is fraught with abuse and neglect.
Monkeys don't count much towards the index, it seems.
Under "Destinations of interest":
Once again, we’re including Cuba. More than 50 years after the Revolution, the Socialist experiment launched by Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Ché” Guevara is being reimagined—thanks in large part to President Raúl Castro. Each year since 2011, Jeff Greenwald, Ethical Traveler’s Executive Director, has visited the country with “person-to-person” delegations.
Anyone wanna hazard a guess at what any of that means?
"A re-imagined" Socialist experiment? (I guess that might be along the same lines as Boris Yeltsin "re-imagined" Lenin's little experiment.)
"Person-to-person delegations" ??? (Is that what used to be called a "meeting"?)
