LogFAQs > #886034932

The Great Muta 22 posted...

Saying "certain cultures have superior norms in certain aspects" =/= saying "Everyone wants to go to countries ruled by white Europeans, because Anglo-Protestant cultural norms are superior.", no matter how many times you try to rephrase it

If you read her article you would realize that's she's talking about success in a 21st century economy. In fact, she quite literally says so:

"The culture of the Plains Indians was designed for nomadic hunters, but is not suited to a First World, 21st-century environment. Nor are the single-parent, antisocial habits, prevalent among some working-class whites; the anti-“acting white” rap culture of inner-city blacks; the anti-assimilation ideas gaining ground among some Hispanic immigrants. These cultural orientations are not only incompatible with what an advanced free-market economy and a viable democracy require, they are also destructive of a sense of solidarity and reciprocity among Americans. "

Now obviously "everyone" doesn't want to go to Western countries. That was obviously an exaggeration. But she is not wrong that there are a large amount of people that are trying to get into these countries, and it is not wrong to wonder what it is about these countries that made them so successful and attractive in the first place. Suggesting that the certain values of the European groups that tend to dominate these countries is a causal explanation for their continued success and attractiveness is not an absurd argument to make, no matter how you try to spin it.

And if these arguments are as blatantly false as some people seem to think, why didn't these professors dismantle them right away? It should have been easy.
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KhanofKhans, KhanJohnson, Saloonist, Basileos