Selfish Altruism?

As I lie in bed awake and jet-lagged in our guest-room (feels like a very bourgeois concept, a guest room, after living in Bhutan for a month), the following questions brew through my head. Did I behave altruistically or selfishly by returning home?

When I left Montana a month ago the name “covid-19” had not yet been coined. By all appearances I was simply embarking on a new and exciting journey, with plans for Susan to join me for additional travel in April. Of course, the situation evolved quickly and I was faced with a difficult (for me) decision: stay in Bhutan or return to Montana. I decided to come home. I got here last night so there isn’t much point in questioning my decision except from an interesting ethical point of view. It seems like pondering life’s questions is a valid way to spend time as I hunker down for two-plus weeks.

The disease in Bhutan was by all accounts very well contained, with the government and royal palace taking swift and aggressive action after the first positive test of a visiting tourist two and a half weeks ago. They immediately closed the borders to foreigners, closed schools, and quarantined/tested everyone that had come in contact with the tourist. As it turns out, tracking his contacts was relatively easy in a country where tourists are strictly regulated and required to travel with a guide to specific and limited locations. All returning Bhutanese nationals (mostly exchange students) are quarantined, put up in hotels (now empty of tourists) and fed on the government’s dime.

Walking down the street, we would occasionally see young people tucking their nose and chin in their t-shirts as they crossed us on the sidewalk. Chilups (foreigners) have been associated with the disease but locals were overwhelmingly, warm, welcoming, and curious if not grateful to see a few chilups around since the collapse of the tourist industry, which is second only to hydro-electric export to India. Really, life in Bhutan is pretty great right now!

I would say that the most important factor in making the decision to return was the ongoing emotional distress to my loved ones, worried about me and my ability to come home in a timely manner. By this measure you could argue that my decision was altruistic. You know, “acting in the best interest of others.” However, the same argument could easily be applied to show that I behaved very selfishly. By traveling through multiple cities, airplanes, and airports on my way home I became a potential transmission vector to many. I would hate to think that I caused anyone to loose a loved one because of my decision to return to my own when we were all healthy to begin with.

My commitment to the volunteer project I had signed up for, and all those involved including the local contingent, certainly weighed in on my decision. This consideration lost out because the ongoing progress of this project is ultimately insignificant compared to the life-threatening issues evolving around the world. Yet, making the decision to return home was a painful one, partly because of this.

Another aspect I pondered was the possibility of becoming sick in a foreign country with, relatively speaking, limited medial options. Again, was it selfish to avoid this potentially unfavorable predicament for myself? Or was I acting altruistically with regard to the Bhutanese population and my local co-workers by avoiding the possibility of becoming a burden on Bhutan’s health care system should the pandemic spread there?

Finally, all considerations were highly time-sensitive. Organizing my return home was stressful and complex, and things will only get worse. Although I cannot conclusively or rationally determine whether I made the right decision, I did my best to minimize potential transmission to myself or others. I will be home (or in the great outdoors) doing my best to stay 6 feet away from even Susan who implemented a military-level sanitary protocol. For those of you who asked Susan to give me a hug, the response is an emphatic “No way!” Call her back in two weeks.