I do believe multi-culturalism can work - though that could just be my own privileged position talking. I think though that both sides have to be prepared to give a lot up, if traditions and customs are blended they are going to lose some of their meaning, there's no help for that, just as power has to be given up by a dominant culture.
The discussion reminds me of a discussion a few months back about default assumptions, I think it was about how on occasion it feels like male authors assume their readers are male, the default is to believe everyone is just like you. I think that definitely happens culturally, one assumes one's cultural ideals are shared or desired by others. Right now the default setting seems to be American, a hundred or so years ago it would have been British, in another hundred years it'll be Chinese. Which is why it's important to remember that there's always another perspective.
Maybe post-modernism should be thrown into the philosophical mix, I think I need to be constantly keeping context and perspective in mind.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2006-01-05 04:49 pm (UTC)The discussion reminds me of a discussion a few months back about default assumptions, I think it was about how on occasion it feels like male authors assume their readers are male, the default is to believe everyone is just like you. I think that definitely happens culturally, one assumes one's cultural ideals are shared or desired by others. Right now the default setting seems to be American, a hundred or so years ago it would have been British, in another hundred years it'll be Chinese. Which is why it's important to remember that there's always another perspective.
Maybe post-modernism should be thrown into the philosophical mix, I think I need to be constantly keeping context and perspective in mind.