If Japan has thought that all cultures were equal, would it have developed?
Here in Toronto, some people say that all cultures are equal. I disagree with this viewpoint because Japan has advanced it’s economy and standard of living by learning from better cultures and it continues to study and embrace practices that have proven successful in other countries.
For example, Japan is currently looking at various welfare systems in order to address the unemployment caused by global economic recession. If Japan, or any other developed country for that matter, was not able to identify superior cultural practices from those that are less advanced, would it be a strong a country as it is today?
In Ancient times, Japan learned from China; the Chinese had a powerful writing system and good city planning skills. Before WWII, Japan learned from Europe as some European countries organized modern political systems and militaries. After WWII, Japan leaned democratic principles from the U.S.
What you’re writing here makes sense and has been more fully expressed by political (American) commentators like Thomas Sowell. I think that people make the statement “all cultures are equal” because asserting the cultural superiority of a particular group or groups is very delicate. For example, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say something like Swiss culture is superior to that of Liberia (on the western coast of Africa) because violent crime and rape occur far less often in Switzerland than in Liberia. However, sometimes political groups or pundits “read too much” into that kind of statement and might infer, incorrectly, that the speaker is racist and that he or she could be, for example, implying that blacks are savage animals compared to white people. And, if a political group or organization is popularly believed to be racist or religiously intolerant, in the United States and Canada at least, it immediately loses support.
Anyway, that’s my impression at least; I could be wrong. On a related note, I think you’re “on the money” (very right) when identifying one of the most important reasons for Japan’s or any country’s success. Unfortunately I think the United States is failing to do this. For example, countries which spend far less money per student have much more successful educational systems, but as far as I know no American government group or watchdog organization has tried to understand why and whether the United States could replicate their success. : (
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2011/08/01