Over the weekend, I read this article:
The Global Culture War, by David Brooks in the New York Times
Brooks writes that globalization is over and that the global culture wars have begun.
I found it both interesting and troubling. Here are a few quotes:
In his generation and especially after the end of the Cold War,
“In the wider public conversation, it was sometimes assumed that nations all around the world would admire the success of the Western democracies and seek to imitate us.”
While I agree that this was the prevailing attitude, I don’t feel Brooks explored this sufficiently in that - first, the “us” he means was a broken, imperfect, troubled us, this brokenness was simply being masked for a while and is recently exposed. Second, other countries are, in fact, following in the damaged part and the broken part as well as the stronger, more honorable parts. In other words, it wasn’t just the successes but the failures. It is a bit like a parent realizing that what their child just did that was maybe not so great, they learned by watching the parent. (I realize that sounds a bit condescending in the context of nations, that’s not my intent) And third, some of that “following” of other nations was forced on them by us through economic, political, and cultural pressure and violence, which over time, weakens the influence and reveals it as a farce.
“But something bigger is happening today that is different from the great power struggles of the past, that is different from the Cold War. This is not just a political or an economic conflict. It’s a conflict about politics, economics, culture, status, psychology, morality and religion all at once. More specifically, it’s a rejection of Western ways of doing things by hundreds of millions of people along a wide array of fronts.”
Here, too, I agree and disagree. It isn’t necessarily a rejection, it is an exposure of the reality that other nations never truly embraced what we shoved down their throats.
“At the end of the day, only democracy and liberalism are based on respect for the dignity of each person. At the end of the day, only these systems and our worldviews offer the highest fulfillment for the drives and desires I’ve tried to describe here.”
I’m not sure this is accurate either. Not that it is false, but I wonder about the fullness of its accuracy, if that makes sense. Though, I would argue with him that “only our worldviews offer the highest fulfillment…” Who does he mean by “our” and which worldview exactly? And, he pits the values of various cultures against one another and then defines ours as superior in terms of human dignity. We, Americans, who have yet to sign on to the various global human rights agreements. Even in his own piece, he notes several areas in which other nations differ from the US in values.
Essentially, the article is written from an Ameri-centric orientation. Which isn’t surprising as it is by an American, for an American audience, in an American newspaper. But in addressing an international topic, there could be some more nuance.
The most fascinating thing, to me, about the article is the chart showing where western values lie on a graph. It highlights how far off, how fringe, actually western nations and values are compared to the majority of the world. This completely destroys the facade that the USA is the center of the world, or is “normative” in some way.
The nation I come from and the nation I live in are essentially on polar opposites of that graph and I see, and experience, the strengths and weaknesses of both.
The article is a bit long, maybe 10-15 minutes to read. I would love to hear your thoughts on it if you have a chance to read it.
Where does your passport country or host country lie on the graph?