Mr. Rich apparently was or currently is a sex tourist. That means he goes to poorer countries to have sex there, mostly through the exchange of money. This has caused quite a stir, at least on places like Reddit.

Here is an example comment I would like to examine more closely:

also how is not taking advantage of women in poorer nations NOT scummy?? Its one thing being horny and another thing saying "Belorussian women are willing to sleep with you for drinks and $6"?? The fact you cant tell the difference probably means youre fucked up

I think this comment reflects the general negative sentiment against sex tourism quite well. The comment appears to portray the women Mr. Rich was with as victims. Is this characterization justified?

First of all it must be said that due to the lower cost of living, $6 is significantly more valuable in Belarus than is the US.

Second, it should also be obvious that this is a voluntary trade. The woman in question is free to decide whether or not to accept Mr. Rich's offer. She found the offer attractive and therefore accepted. If Mr. Rich hadn't gone to Belarus and made the offer, the woman would suffer from opportunity costs because she would be deprived of an attractive offer.

Thirdly, the agency of the women in question must be regarded as nonexistent if one wants to portray them as victims, such things are often done by feminists. If men and women are equal, even in terms of intellectual capacities, then both parties (men and women) can decide whether an offer is fair and beneficial or not. Only if one considers one party (women in this case) to be intellectually inferior could one view such voluntary exchanges as one-sided. The women Mr. Rich interacted with were ultimately free to choose whether or not to accept an offer.

Fourth, it must be stated that Mr. Rich is not responsible for the fact that these people are relatively poor (on a global scale, Belarus is a rich country). If he hadn't made an offer, the standard of living of these women would not have improved.

Based on a harm based assessment, Benjamin Rich (or any other sex tourist) clearly did nothing wrong.

Note: I'm really not interested in celebrity drama, although I have mentioned Mr. Rich by name, the statements I make in his thread are meant in general terms. If Mr. Rich has done something wrong and I haven't addressed it in this thread, then I don't want to talk about it. Please only reply regarding the points I have made in this thread.