In this piece from The New York Times, the author describes the opulent birthday celebration thrown by "Kenny Kunene, a former gangster turned businessman." It featured $1,300 bottles of champagne and sushi eaten off a prone, scantily clad woman. Some members of the ruling government coalition criticized this show of wealth as being insensitive to the poor in South Africa while Kunene said it was just his way of having fun. He said that in modern South Africa, unlike under apartheid no one can tell a black man what to do, thus making the party a sign of freedom. The larger question the debate brings up involves whether the rise of a wealthy extravagant class of black leaders is a positive sign, a fulfillment of the struggle to provide equal opportunities to all, or whether such extravagance is emblematic of moral decay and selfishness on the part of the leadership.
Questions: What moral obligation do the rich have to help the less well off? Does that obligation differ depending on the country in which one lives.
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