[CLUE-Talk] Iraq Stuph

[bill ehlert]

--- Dennis J Perkins <djperkins at americanisp.net>
wrote:

    . . .

> our states as well.)  I think 
> it's hard for most Americans to accept that
> other countries don't necessarily 
> view the world the way we do.

**  indeed!

    some time ago my "world view" consisted
    of the belief that america had the best
    of everything  -- the declaration of
    independence, the constitution, the
    bill of rights, freedom of religion,
    separation of church and
    state, three branches of government,
    checks and balances, the free enter-
    prise systems --  and that the
    rest of the countries would someday,
    perhaps, "catch up".

    it has taken time and work to realize
    that there are other peoples in other
    civilizations in this world whose
    histories and cultures and ways of 
    doing things and looking at things
    are simply not the same as ours, and
    that they have as much right to do
    things their way as we have to do
    things our way.

    a useful book has been "the clash
    of civilizations and the remaking
    of world order"  by samuel p.
    huntington.

    there's an interesting quote on
    page 51.  after several pages
    of describing the different
    civilizations and their
    characteristics, he says:  "The
    West won the world not by the
    superiority of its ideas or values
    or religion (to which few members
    of other civilizations were
    converted) but rather by its
    superiority in applying organized
    violence.  Westerners often forget
    this fact; non-Westerners never do."

    we've just seen a vivid example of
    our "superiority in applying organized
    violence".

    i hope we remember that "non-Westerners
    never [forget]".






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