Interesting question. One wonders: would the people who considered these guys "freeloading backpackers" have welcomed them with open arms if they understood the goal of the freeconomy? Boyle's mission failed because of a breakdown in communication, not a fundamental flaw in the concept. Which leads me to think that it's tough to draw any kind of moral conclusion from the situation.
On the other hand, I kinda feel like these guys *are* freeloading backpackers. I mean, what kind of skills can you offer that will genuinely help someone in a few hours or overnight that are as crucial as food and shelter? What do they say to people--if you feed me, I'll write your son's college admission essay? Maybe I'm missing something (maybe I also didn't do my research, and maybe I'm a cynic, too).
One also wonders: are they planning to learn the language of each country they visit?
I fully applaud the movement toward a moneyless economy, but I'm not sure that absolute reliance on the kindness of strangers is the way to go. I think people can be persuaded through other, less "mooch-like," means. But maybe that's just me.
...are they planning to learn the language of each country they visit?
I thought that was interesting too. If language was a severe barrier in France, why do they expect it won't be in, say, Slovenia/Serbia/Turkey/India/etc.?
Joined: 01-06-07
Mark Boyle, 28, has attempted to walk from England to India, carrying naught but the hope that strangers will be kind to him the whole way through.
He was stopped in France.
In his online diary at the start of his journey to Porbander, Gandhi's birthplace, he said he was given two free dinners on his first evening away in Glastonbury.
Later, he was joined in Dover by two companions, and the three managed to get to Calais.
But in one of his last entries, he wrote: "...not only did no one not speak the language, they had also seen us as just a bunch of freeloading backpackers, which is the complete opposite of what the pilgrimage is really about.
"That really scared us and given that we now were pretty much out of food, hadn't slept in days and were really cold, we had to reassess the whole situation."
Unfortunately, this is the kind of story that a cynic like myself loves to read. But one can't prove the impossibility of something. Though Boyle was turned back in this journey, he's working on learning French in order to try again.
Are people fundamentally unselfish enough to support the cause of a moneyless economy? Are people universally 'good'?