Randy Cohen has a new blog called Moral of the Story. In it, the renowned ethicist deconstructs the morals behind the news. Monday, Cohen blogged about Madonna’s failed attempt to adopt another Malawian child. If you’ve not been keeping up with your hard-hitting celebrity news, a judge refused Madonna’s application to adopt Chifundo James (known as “Mercy”). Malawi’s adoption laws require prospective parents to take up residence in the country for 18 months prior to adoption; the law exists to curtail the crime of child trafficking.

(On a side note, I’ve seen this judge’s name spelled at least four different ways. Cohen says Esmie Chondo, but I’ve also read Esme Chombo, Esimie Chondo and Esme Chondo. Anyone have the definitive spelling?)

Madonna successfully adopted one child from Malawi — a little boy named David. And she’s certainly not the first celebrity to pursue international adoption. But Cohen brings up a salient point about the phenomenon: “There is a creepy evocation of colonialism when a rich American or European swoops into a poor African nation and grabs a child, as if the country were a baby plantation.” Some critics say that some adoptive parents set their sights on international adoption with such messianic fervor that they overlook the orphan or foster children in their own countries who need stable homes, too.

This brings to mind one of the most memorable chapters of Charles Dickens’ masterpiece Bleak House. It’s called “Telescopic Philanthropy,” and it illustrates in a painfully droll fashion the misguided way that some people act globally without thinking locally. Here’s a link to the chapter in an online version of the novel. Grab a latte, carve out some reading time and marvel at the way Dickens slams the Material Girl about a century and a half before her time.

More details? Read:
How Adoption Works
Geography of Malawi
Is there such a thing as a truly unselfish act?