The liberal “celebration of diversity” is in fact a celebration of culture only in its external and superficial forms. In other words, to Western liberals “multiculturalism” winds up amounting simply to such things as the co-existence of different costumes, music, styles of dance, languages, and food. But the real guts of the different cultures consist in such things as how they view nature, how they view the divine, how they view men and women, and how they view the relative importance of their own group in the scheme of things. And it is by no means clear that members of cultures with radically different views on these matters can peacefully co-exist.
Unless, of course all cultural differences are eliminated save the purely external, via the transformation of all peoples into homogenized, interchangeable consumers bereft of any deeply-felt convictions. This is, in fact, the hidden global capitalist agenda of multiculturalism, now being cheerfully advanced by useful idiots on the anti-capitalist Left.
Tuesday, October 04, 2016
Narrowing down culture
Another good find by Conservative Thoughts (Konservative Gedanken), this time by Collin Cleary:
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Multi-culturalists have a simple-minded idea of culture as something that doesn't extend into public spaces (and not just physical ones, movies, TV shows, stage performances all are "public spaces" in some sense). How do different cultures co-exist in a public space? They must either merge, or time-slice or one dominates and the others don't exist in which case all the cultures involved are negatively impacted. Usually, noisy, boisterous cultures dominate in public spaces.
ReplyDeleteWell said. Not only do noisy, boisterous cultures dominate, but the cultures which relied on higher and more subtle (and therefore more fragile/vulnerable) moral understandings are likely to be brought back down to what you might call the "resting" culture of other groups.
DeleteThis reminds me of how the liberal precept that we should all be free to do whatever we want, "as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else," makes living a true and full traditionalist life impossible. To live as a radically liberated individual only requires that others get out of your way. But to live a traditional way of life requires a traditional community, a critical mass of others who are living the same way. And modern liberalism makes that impossible because it bars particularist cultural norms from being authoritative in public society, because that would impede individuals' right to self-determination. The motto "your right to swing your fist ends at my face" rings hollow when, say, refusing to bake a wedding cake for a homosexual couple is equated to punching someone in the face.
DeleteHermes, well said.
DeleteIt is called the iceberg of culture. It also includes ideas of child rearing and how to respond to insults("honor killings" vs other means for example)
ReplyDeleteHere is a good graphic of it
http://www.msdwt.k12.in.us/msd/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/iceburgofculture.pdf
The graphic is very good, thank you.
DeleteUnless, of course all cultural differences are eliminated save the purely external, via the transformation of all peoples into homogenized, interchangeable consumers bereft of any deeply-felt convictions. This is, in fact, the hidden global capitalist agenda of multiculturalism, now being cheerfully advanced by useful idiots on the anti-capitalist Left.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more strongly.
"Well said" by Robert and Mark.
ReplyDeleteThis phenomenon is routinely noticed and often noted by most healthy minds, yet is strangely disregarded as innocent and somehow not relevant, when it is critically relevant because it so clearly demonstrates the stark reality.
I'm a cigar smoker without a country. I can smoke only at home, in my dedicate Habano Casa, or in a cigar lounge where sales are licensed. We created a private club in association with a local cigar store chain. To my regret, the membership was quickly dominated by a particular group which has now set the tone and atmosphere. It no longer appeals to me. I helped to create the club, and I now have no use for it. They're all great individuals; accomplished upper middle class in one the wealthiest counties in the U.S. But, I'm not a fan of non-stop NBA, NFL, shouting instead of talking and all over blaring loud hip-hop and rap "music".
There's nothing that I can do about it. I'll have to move on, again. I'm running out of places to be.
I once described another facet of this at VFR: http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/023113.html
I'm am also cigar smoker and what you write seems almost insane to me. Shouting and hip hop music!!!!
DeleteI don't smoke all the time, maybe 20-30 times a year, but I have been to cigar lounges (including many private clubs) all over Europe during the past 20 years. Spain and Switzerland are the best, according to me, but the UK also has a lot of nice places.
But hip hop music and shouting? It just sounds insane! Any lounge that tried that in Europe would be dead in a month. How can upper middle class people behave like that? And how can it be accepted? The only fitting word I can think of for this is the Russian "nekulturny".
Many American men, even those who should know better, seem unable to abandon adolescence.
DeleteI've often wondered about this myself, since liberals typically celebrate diversity AND emphasize unity ( i.e. "There's Only One race - the human race", "We all bleed red", "Everyone worships the same God with differing perspectives", etc.).
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense when you realize liberals assume the human person is a formless thing with no inherent qualities, as you've said before. This means there is really no distinctions between people and whatever distinctions we perceive to be real are in truth only arbitrary concepts that we have designed to give ourselves personal meaning. At bottom those kind of differences are only superficial and must remain conceptual, for when you begin suggesting that differences are real you become a target.
That's a good insight, thank you.
Delete