Quote:
Originally Posted by peter12
Yeah, but what lasting change? To what purpose? History shouldn't be revolutionary. It's just the cataloguing of human stories. I don't want multiple lenses, because I don't believe that I even have the slightest comprehension of one perspective, let alone multiple ones. People are damn lazy. All of this new cultural relativism is just a way for people to avoid asking the hard questions.
Like how the heck does colonialism have anything to do with black Africans butchering albino Africans for their genitals to use as magical talismans? I don't think that they are animals, just primitive. Why? On a personal level, I could (and have) spent a meal with an African person laughing, telling stories, and exchanging personal views like any other human being. Why is their cultural/political order so profoundly putrid?
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I'll start with your second paragraph first. The rants started to off topic when a broad statement on a whole continent was made. So you're right we're off task here if your OP was only to talk about the link in question.
I don't see being cultural relative as a way to avoid tough questions. Hell, I think it makes one wrestle with even more. Just look at what a mess the United Nations can be (a topic for another thread). I'm sensing that you more strongly identify with a modernist perspective. Which I find much cleaner personally. But I've been raised with a healthy dose of post-modernism. So while its alleged lack of truth I find unsettling, it still seems to permeate and fester in a lot of my views.