The second birthday of my blog – Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This blog had its 2nd birthday last month.  I started this blog because I missed San Francisco but I couldn’t find a way to return there.  Now, after 2 years, I have a ticket to Toronto, Canada, where I plan to stay for a few years.  I will leave Japan next month.

I was thinking of multiculturalism throughout the first year of this blog.  My interest in multiculturalism made me look closer at different cultures and I feel that cultures are not equal.

http://ayaanhirsiali.web-log.nl/ayaanhirsiali/2007/01/ladies_first.html
“Human beings are equal; cultures are not.”

http://earideas.com/earideas/explore/show/75643/Ayaan+Hirsi+Ali+on+Muslim+women
“Culture, not poverty, is to blame for violence” (The Economist)

This is simply because one culture respects almost all of its members while another culture discriminates against disadvantaged members.  When I finished my overview of multiculturalism, I became interested in French culture which I had never been fascinated by before.  Then, I started learning French and French culture.  Now the more I learn about France, the more I like it.

I often hear that Americans and French people do not like each other’s culture but I like both the best simply because I believe in freedom and equality.  Japanese culture does not admire freedom and many Japanese prefer support to freedom but I prefer freedom to support.  On the other hand, I share many things with other Japanese.  Therefore, I think that individual differences are important to consider as well as generalizations

Multiculturalism made me think about immigrants too.  I have encountered both people in ethnic minorities who criticize western people and Europeans who look down on immigrants.  I disagree with both of them.  I think that because world trade systems and wars caused by developed countries prevent some countries from developing, developed countries have some responsibility for the poverty.  But can all responsibility for the poverty and lack of developments in poor countries be placed on developed countries?

And why do some ethnic minorities in western countries insist on their human rights when they do not believe in human rights?  Why do some less developed countries not attempt to learn good aspects of other countries, not only technologies but also other things, to better themselves?

I still have many questions about cultures.  I am hoping to find the answers in Toronto and that I won’t miss San Francisco so much.