The Burr in the Burgh

A story in The Guardian earlier this week reports that cosmetic products made in China from the skin of executed prisoners is being marketed in the United Kingdom. Sounds like the nice lampshades and wallets made out of Jews in the 1940s. Only with one difference, in this case no one seems to mind that much.

There is no outrage in The Guardian's reporting. Only the briefest suggestion that this might be immoral or wrong in some way. It's not technically illegal. A "grey area" they say. I thought Europeans were generally so anti-capital punishment. But, I guess, since they're from China, the likelihood that these prisoners were Christians or champions of democracy is great. Killing such folk doesn't seem to irritate Europeans as much as it used to.

In the article, much was made of the fact that using human remains to make cosmetics is culturally acceptable to the Chinese. It's hard to miss the implication that we shouldn't be too quick to impose our benighted Western values on another culture.

But I'd bet you a coke that if these cosmetics are tested on lab animals first, there'll be picketing in the streets of London.