Thought of the day: Are we the better people?

[spindoctor]

Since 9/11 there has been some change in political correct thinking. Before it was ethnocentric to value other cultures, but today it is OK to say for example that christianity has evolved farther than islam and therefore islam is a backward, if not dangerous, religion.

Personally I have no problem with that line of thought. You can compare cultures, point out what is good and bad and make a judgment call on which one is the best. That does not mean that aspects of a culture can't have its own merits, it does not mean that the other culture should be wiped from existence, it's simply assigning an objective (when done right) valuation.

Now something that Bill Maher said this weekend hit a string. "When you look at the debates in the primaries, it is like Democrats and Republicans are running for president in different countries."

It is true. The republican debates focus on entirely different subjects than the democratic debates. It is clear that we are dealing with entirely different cultures. The same is evident when you compare Free Republic to Democratic Underground. Them and us is not the same.

So having established that we are dealing with different cultures, what would be the criteria to objectively determine which one is the best? Culture can be defined as the customs, ideas and values of a particular group at a specific time (it's a moving target, really). Since Republicans and Democrats are still all Americans, our customs and ideas will be pretty much the same and can be ignored. So let's look at the top three values for both.

Republicans: Safety, Tradition, Low tax
Democrats: Security, Health, Peace

I admit that this is a subjective list, based on my personal observation, but you can extend the list infinitely and the result will be the same.

We are the people who care about each other and others. We are the people who work on a better society, not just a better neighborhood. We are the people who behave more christian than the christian right. We are the people who encourage debate, listen, learn and try to do what's best.

In short, compared to Republicans, we are the better people.

Alas, there are no rewards. It is no guarantee that our culture will prevail. Betamax was a better system than VHS, but JVC used better marketing than Sony. That sounds uncomfortably familiar.

[izzie]

1. Not better but just different would be a nice word to use

I lived in the Middle East once and no one I met seemed to think I lived a better life. I think they felt sorry for me, in fact. Frankly I thought the local people were a lot more happy with their life than the out side people working with them. Who is to say what is the best way for any one but you your self. I am used to being in this country and want to stay and would like to see it sort of stay they same as I am used to. And the changes that come will be some that I can live with and they always come. Lets hope they move forward and not back to places we said we did not like and got rid of once. Plus not look at old times in some dream like way that was always good. It was not so that is why it stopped and we did other things. So much is what we are used to and not a 'better' way always.

[spindoctor]

2. It's not about living a better life

There are many cultures in the Middle East, but let's take Saudi Arabia.

You can objectively say that it is better to live in a culture where there is no religious police, where you are free to express your ideas on politics, religion and society, where women are considered equal to men and where there is some kind of democratic process.
So in that sense, US culture is better than Saudi culture. That doesn't mean that people in Saudi Arabia are all miserable and unhappy. It doesn't mean they all want change. It just means that certain aspects of our culture are better than their's. Maybe there are aspects of Saudi culture that are better than ours, but in general ours is more enlightened, more advanced, more humane. Between US and Saudi Arabia, we have (for all it's flaws) the better culture.

You can compare two apples and decide which one is the best. There are subjective aspects like sweet or sour and color, but also objective ones like wormholes, freshness and size. Assuming that no two apples are identical, there is always a better apple when you compare them. Sometimes the difference will be neglegtable, some times it will be significant.

The difference between republican and democrat is almost as significant as that between Saudi Arabia and the US.

[izzie]

4. It took me a long time to stop voting GOP and my family were

all in that party. The old GOP I would say. I hardly left the party but they sure left me. You need to look what was going on 50 years ago to see my point on this I guess. I knew many my age that were in the GOP and wonder what happened to that party. It is not my father's party and he was not a mean man. He did hate high taxes and in his day he really paid high taxes. We used to fight about unions all the time. I for and he not. For me the culture I live in is good and I like it but it does seem to be a shock to people in SA to see half dressed women in every mag. they open. Frankly I find women doing some of the things they do just a real put down and I wonder why they do it but I still like my culture best. I really feel that the modern world will have to go the enlightenment path, as we have, to get a head but it looks like other countries will fight this to the bitter end. I think our Western culture will sort of seep into other countries to get them up to speed with the modern world. I also think they will do it on their own terms which may not be to our liking. I am not sure ours is best or better but it is here and seems to me it is staying so these countries will have to change to keep up. They do not seem to like this at all or some do not.

[Hope springs eternal]

6. Why not?

Do you not feel comfrotable saying we're better than the Nazis? How about Klansmen? Is it all of the sudden, when the people involved have a little bit more of a tan (or are plain of color), that it's taboo to say "We're Better"?

[spindoctor]

7. On the contrary

I _am_ saying that our culture is better than the Arab culture, and I agree that you can make that distinction.

But there are subjective factors that determine if you live a better life. For all I know, a camel herder in Al Hufuf has a better life than I. Less things to worry about, job security, no commute, and if his wife gives him lip he can just slap her around for a bit. Sure, he may not have a 2-car garage and a toaster, but if you don't value those things than camel herding is the way to go.

Anyway, as I mentioned upthread, there are many different cultures in the Middle East and even in the Arabic world. Abu Dhabi for instance makes Vegas look like Omaha.

We (Democrats) may not be better than camel herders, but we are better than nazis, we're better than klansmen, and we're definitely better than Republicans. ;)

[mmonk]

3. Best is a better word.

[Katherine Brengle]

5. I don't think Christianity is any less dangerous than Islam. I think history would agree.

And to be perfectly honest, I don't feel obligated to respect any belief system based solely on faith.

For fun: http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/66371/detail/