--- Alberto Monteiro <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Jan Coffey wrote:
> >
> > I was once reprimanded for stacking books on the ground to be able
> > to reach a mouse on a high shelf. It seams that stepping on a book is
> somehow
> > taboo in the Indean culture. I was told that I was being offensive and
> > recieved a reprimand which excluded me from promotion. FOR STEPPING
> > ON A BOOK! for ciseakes.
> >
> But, in this case, they were right to reprimand you [but not for using this
> to exclude the promotion]. It's a general norm of politeness that people
> should abide by the rules that other people find offensive.
2 points here:
1) Let's suppose that your assertian that It is general "norm" of "politenes"
to abide by the rules that other people find offensive. How is one, living in
their own country suppose to learn the cultural ways of all other contries
for which they have co-workers, and then remember all the little newaunces.
Basicaly, how was I supposed to know that anyone would be offended by me
using a book as a step ladder?
2) Your WRONG!!! it is not a "general norm" at all! If that wore the case
then we would quickly degrade to the least common denominator culture. That
is akin to cultural genocide.
In the USA we have choosen melting-potism over multi-culturalism. The funny
thing is, some people get the terms backward. It's easy to do the terms are
basicaly backwards becouse some people have tried to skew the meanings
specificaly by introducing the term "multi-culturalism" to describe something
that... JUST ISN'T.
_Multi-Culturalism_ is what you describe. It is on the ownes of the person
taking an action not to offend anyone else of any other culture.
_Melting-potism_ is when it is the ownes of the person observing the action
not to be offended.
The melting-potism is much more tolerant, as it accepts all cultures to live
together. It allows for the best parts of each to be adopted while also
allowing some continued differences to co-exist without strife.
Multi-culturalism is an ill fated attempt to do exactly what melting-pot
sounds like, boil everyone down into the same culture and avoide strife
becouse everyone is the same.
It just so happens that a big component [THE FIRST COMPONENT] of the culture
of the USA is Melting-potism. This works out just nicely becouse it shows the
superiority of the system. Acording to multi-culturalism the general norm of
politeness would be to not offend Americans by insisting that they not be
"offensive" in nuanced ways of other cultures. Therefore under your own rules
of "general norm... politness" they were not being very polite to me.
We recognize this when we make laws about offensivness. They specificaly
state that harasment is not harasment until the one being harased as stated
that the actions they find harrasing have been requested to not be taken in
their presence.
This very subject is important in American-World relations specificaly
becouse it comes up when Americans are abroad. We tend to find other cultures
difficult, and they tend to find us a bit brash. Why? becouse our definitin
of tolerance is exactly the opposit.
We think of Tolerance as what you do when someone else does something that
you don't particularly like, you accept it and accept that the other has a
differnt set of NORMS and that they didn't mean the same thing as someone
from your own culture doing the same thing.
Others think of Tolerance as treding lightly around those from other cultures
and trying to be well read in others culture and not do anything that they
wouldn't like.
Of couse it's not so black and white, but there you have it. That very
grayish feature is exactly why we in the USA find multi-culturalism
undesireable. In that system eventualy you get to the point of not wanting
others to destroy your culture, and you start to take steps to prevent it.
In France they have laws about the use of non-french words along with other
forms of nationalism. In Toranto and Huston you have anti-Chinese raceism. In
the Bay Area there is a growing anti-Indean raceism. I believe that Raceism
and Nationalism are the natural outcomes of attempting multi-culturalism.
There is a reason why the bulk of the US chose the melting-pot option.
Most imigrants to this country understand that they will be mixing with
people from many differnt cultures and that these cultures will have
components they may find offensive. Most understand that their sons and
daugters will have many more cultural choices and may even take a mate from
outside their ethnic group. Most know what they are getting themselves into.
What is happening now scares me. Becouse I can see the violence out on the
horizon. I see the sons and daughters of displaced and out of work parents,
and the "Americanists" taking the low road. I see the evils of
multi-culturalism, and the deranged counter-deffinition of tolerance rearing
it's ugly head and becomeing raceism. It's happening right now right in front
of my eyes.
=====
_________________________________________________
Jan William Coffey
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