An externality of Genocide

I'm in an economics class. I think about externalities, it is just the way things are right now. But for those of you who haven't taken an economics class recently, an externality is an unintended byproduct of whatever is produced or consumed that is not accounted for by the market (my definition). As you know (at least I hope you know this about me), I am against genocide. killing people in large numbers (and, I would just like to add here, small numbers as well) = bad. I'm glad we have that cleared up. And because I think it is so bad, i went to a lecture last night at the NY Public Library (= beautiful) to hear Nicholas Kristof (= amazing and passionate) speak about the genocide in Darfur. He is a New York Times Columnist who has traveled to the Sudan eight times int he last four years, and considering that it is a country closed to journalists, that is pretty impressive (he likes to legally enter with dignitaries and "accidentally" get left behind. Kind of like in the "Left Behind" books. Or not really at all). Anyway, I went with a group of Wangerites interested in International stuff, and found the lecture incredibly. Sad, of course, but I was really impressed with the passion and motivation that Kristof has to speak out about Darfur and offer solutions-- such as putting pressure on our government to put pressure on the Sudanese government and on the Chinese government. I know, I know, what good has government done lately, but I still am a believer that we can use our power for good. If you want to learn more about Darfur and what you can do, go here.

So, the purpose of the evening was to attend a lecture on genocide with Nicholas Kristof and learn about the genocide and be motivated to do something about it. The externality of the evening came when I ended up meeting an incredibly person passionate about the cause and talking to him for hours about genocide. Genocide isn't really a topic that brings people together and that people want to talk about (I know, i've tried), and here I was, sitting in Chipotle eating a burrito and chatting about genocidal regimes, and having a lovely time. Now, I'm not saying that meeting Ben in any way, shape, or form makes genocide remotely acceptable, or even less bad. Just that sometimes, good things come from really bad things. Kristof talked about that too. So I'll take that marginal social benefit of meeting a really amazing person, having a good conversation and going ice skating at Bryant Park (hey, we discovered other common interests aside from genocide-- like we are both Finnish! crazy!). Take that you Sudanese government, I'm sure this was a completely unintended consequence of your horrible, murderous policies.