The Black Pleasure Of Hatred And Cultural Provincialism
Most excellent article by Kenny Pierce on cultural provincialism and demonization. Here's the paragraph I find the most insightful:
(...)"All cultures are equally valid" becomes, not a reason to value and attempt to learn from other cultures, but instead an excuse to ignore them.
But there is only one real cure for cultural provincialism. Every human being starts out with an immense amount of preconceptions and cultural filters, some of which enhance his world view and some of which are debilitating and self-destructive. Until you learn a foreign language you do not really understand the unique tang and character of your own; if you have lived your whole life without ever walking out the front door of the house in which you were born, then you don't really know what it looks like; and if you have not put in the sweat and effort genuinely to understand and value another culture, you not only don't understand the other cultures -- you don't even understand your own.Thus the only cure for cultural provincialism is to fall in love with some culture other than your own and roll up your sleeves and put in the intellectual sweat necessary to become at least marginally at home in it. But multiculturalism, insofar as it inclines one to say, "My culture isn't any better than anybody else's, but then nobody else's is any better than mine; so rather than taking the trouble to learn a foreign language I think I'll play another round of World of Warcraft," undercuts the very motivation that makes genuine respect for other cultures, and genuinely healthy skepticism about one's own, a live possibility....more
ABF, for the promotion of human rights and democracy in Iran
4 comments:
That is a very interesting article with many salient points. We in Canada have instituted multiculturalism as national policy the result of which has been a loss for all concerned. Canada is now a an address of convenience only.
Does that mean that to understand the Achaen Greeks I must learn Achaen Greek and Linear B? Or for Pharoanic Egypt, must I learn how cartouches are formed, the exact rituals gone through on a daily basis, and the outlook of each and every Pharoah? To understand the Grand Valley Dani, must I learn their language intimately and also practice cannibalism? How about the Yanamamo... should I be using their hallucinogens to get a better feeling for their outlook on the universe? Or for the Norse must I learn the Runes, cast the stones and fly the Raven Banner? Should I learn Hindi and read the Baghivadgita in the original so as to better understand India? Horseback riding and use of the recurved shortbow would seem to be necessary to understand how the Horde of Genghis Khan worked, surely, so I must now find their ponies and be trained in their archery? Or for the ancient Thai, must I learn jungle survival and how to make and use their repeating crossbow? For the Anasazi... well, they didn't leave much behind so we are a bit stuck there about some things, but their culture does appear to have had its quite nasty periods... Ah, but I am a mere cultural illiterate who has only bothered with some Middle and Old English and examining the roots of multiple cultures, looked at the sweep of history on warfare and mythology and religion, and still having a hard time figuring out just why the sentient beings on planet Earth act the way they do.
Truly I do not get this concept of 'walking a mile in someone else's shoes' concept. They have smelly feet, and I know how they got them: bad shoes and poor hygiene.
No, there is an elitism that goes with that meme, too. One can learn cultural perspective by examining actions through the lens of one's own and try to figure out why there are differences and what they stem from. That is not so glib, really, as it does require looking at everything involved so one can say, difinitively, that the 30 years war in Europe will not have an equivalent in Islam as there is no correlation between Christianity and Islam in regards to outlook and power structure. Therefore, no reformation in the Western mode of thought. That does not mean all is lost as there are other examples of religious reconciliation outside of the Christian, but that, too, means looking at others and examining them with an eye to understanding differences and correlating between them. That means one must come to understand what bias is, where it comes from, that one has bias, that it is not in and of itself a 'bad thing', and then utilize that understanding to make an adjustment to one's own thoughts and outlook.
Including this strange idea that perspective is only had via smelly feet.
I am very biased: for personal freedom, for a Nation State that upholds personal freedom and liberty, for a system of Nation States that holds each other accountable, and for the idea that I may use those things to judge what has been done and what others propose to do. And in that realm actions speak far louder than words and are the main source of how to judge what is going on around one.
Can't say that I like much of what I have seen, lately, either.
But then, I am biased.
One can learn cultural perspective by examining actions through the lens of one's own and try to figure out why there are differences and what they stem from. That is not so glib, really, as it does require looking at everything involved so one can say, difinitively, that the 30 years war in Europe will not have an equivalent in Islam as there is no correlation between Christianity and Islam in regards to outlook and power structure. Therefore, no reformation in the Western mode of thought. That does not mean all is lost as there are other examples of religious reconciliation outside of the Christian, but that, too, means looking at others and examining them with an eye to understanding differences and correlating between them. That means one must come to understand what bias is, where it comes from, that one has bias, that it is not in and of itself a 'bad thing', and then utilize that understanding to make an adjustment to one's own thoughts and outlook.
Ajacksonian: I couldn't agree more. As always, insightful and brilliantly reasoned. Thanks for visiting. You might find this article interesting.
Serendip - My thanks!
And Amil Imani does, indeed, point to the problems of the Western cultures, although the basis for it is the ideal of Transnationalism, which I have gone on about at length and continue to do so as it is one of the most virulent forms of Elitist ideology for all the fact that it has no official tracts. It is a descriptive term that takes the cumulative effects of the 'post-modernism' and 'globalism' concepts and sees how they have fused into an anti-democratic, anti-individualist thought space. John Fonte's The Ideologcial War Within the West and his expanded Liberal Democracy vs. Transnational Progressivism both serve as keys for identifying what this idea space is, what it engenders and how it operates. His latest The Transnational Left and Right starts the hard process of scrubbing at modern conservatism that has had its underpinnings worn away by Transnational Capitalism. These hardened idea spaces took decades to build up and have put forth a culture that: cannot say what it stands for, offers no moral or ethical lens to examine actions of others, removes individualism as the basis of rights and puts *group* rights and empowerment above it, turns victimhood into a political 'do anything you want and never be castigated for it' card, puts corporate entities above Nation States, and asserts that 'all cultures are equal'.
That winds one up with: cumulative rights via group, no democratic say as an individual, removal of rights to protect oneself as only the system above Nations gets that, liquidates cultures so as to homogenize them, and removes the Nation State as the govern concept amongst mankind.
Islam and the radical Islamists utilize these ideas to put forth their 'victim' status, use *that* to excuse horrific acts, then castigate the West for its 'moral turpitude' and have THAT enforced by the Elite power structure of the West as it serves *their* outlook, and then to attack Nation States outside of the framework of Nation States and wage individual warfare which is anathema to ALL Nations and yet have that 'struggle' put forth as legitimate by the Elite media and talking heads.
Transnationalism is ongoing cultural suicide to get to elite rule. Radical Islam is assisting that downfall and just wish to have themselves as the Elite culture over everything.
By no longer putting forth the concepts of Locke and others, because they are 'Dead, White, European Males', which is a fictional concept if there ever was one, the entire concept OF human individualism and human rights by being an individual is put at peril. Multi-Culti wishes to liquidate the basis of modern democracy by doing just that thing. And when that goes, the Nation State as we know it, also a creation of 'Dead, White, European Males', although that is a fiction too, goes right with it. That is why the most heavily funded and manned part of al Qaeda is its MEDIA branch. That is where Multi-Culti Transnationalism rests, both Left and Right, and they seek to ally themselves with it and destroy the West by that.
By denigrating the West and the ability of Western culture to utilize its older means of warfare which are totally *within* the era of Nation States, we are further locked into 20th century Statism and refuse to recognize the role of the individual in warfare beyond National Armies. That will be the end of the West if we do not assert the rights of Free Individuals to take part in the full problems of the Nation and assert that being a Nation and National is important and worth fighting for. Transnationalists fear that and denigrate anything leading to it as often as they can.
And yet those rights and the meaning of them still exist as a power of the People, at least within the United States. But as we reserve such rights as based of, by and from the People, in theory all Nations have that ability. If they dare to use them.
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