can people really classify? categorize? generalize? i’m not asking if it’s right or wrong. but is it really possible to just divide? a sudden split, deciding who is this and who is that?
i read an article in aplac, "clashing civilizations?", for this stupid assignment of answering rhetoric questions. i started reading it and was thinking, ‘this is probably some of the driest material i’ve ever laid eyes on.’ then i read it again, and thought, ‘actually, he’s completely right’, then thought, ‘wow, this is fascinating.’ it was interesting. it’s by edward said, and you should read it. anyway, he was talking about this guy huntington who wrote the original “clashing civilizations” article, and said was criticizing huntington’s cultural categorization and “civilization identity” ideas. there were basically two groups in the original article, “the west” and “islam”. said mentioned labeling groups, making several millions of people one entity, and all of a sudden they all believe the exact same things and all hate the exact same people. and it all got me thinking.
who are we to decide these things? if you’re a muslim, you think you’re superior and all non-muslims should be killed. if you’re an african, you don’t know the meaning of the word “civilized”. if you’re an american, you’re an arrogant, resource-sucking pig and you think you have the right to interfere with the world. is that so? is every muslim a “crazed fanatic”? is every african starving and illiterate? is every american a cocky, fossil fuel waster? i personally don’t think so. i don’t think that a single word can encircle an entire culture.
and that brought other things to mind. what about the ideas of “good” and “bad”? do they really, in the practical, tactile sense, exist? can an action, or a thought, or a decision, ever be entirely angelic or entirely evil? what if someone does the right thing, but for the wrong reasons? what if someone commits a dastardly sin, but there’s an important history behind it? a middle school girl steps between bully and victim, but entirely for self-gain. a college guy strangles his mom’s boyfriend, but only because the man threw the student’s mother on the ground and kicked her in the ribs the night before. without getting in someone’s head and processing and understanding every thought and memory, we really can’t say whether what they did was “good” or “bad”.
and i want to keep going, and i definitely could, but i won’t. i just thought i’d write down these thoughts.
i read an article in aplac, "clashing civilizations?", for this stupid assignment of answering rhetoric questions. i started reading it and was thinking, ‘this is probably some of the driest material i’ve ever laid eyes on.’ then i read it again, and thought, ‘actually, he’s completely right’, then thought, ‘wow, this is fascinating.’ it was interesting. it’s by edward said, and you should read it. anyway, he was talking about this guy huntington who wrote the original “clashing civilizations” article, and said was criticizing huntington’s cultural categorization and “civilization identity” ideas. there were basically two groups in the original article, “the west” and “islam”. said mentioned labeling groups, making several millions of people one entity, and all of a sudden they all believe the exact same things and all hate the exact same people. and it all got me thinking.
who are we to decide these things? if you’re a muslim, you think you’re superior and all non-muslims should be killed. if you’re an african, you don’t know the meaning of the word “civilized”. if you’re an american, you’re an arrogant, resource-sucking pig and you think you have the right to interfere with the world. is that so? is every muslim a “crazed fanatic”? is every african starving and illiterate? is every american a cocky, fossil fuel waster? i personally don’t think so. i don’t think that a single word can encircle an entire culture.
and that brought other things to mind. what about the ideas of “good” and “bad”? do they really, in the practical, tactile sense, exist? can an action, or a thought, or a decision, ever be entirely angelic or entirely evil? what if someone does the right thing, but for the wrong reasons? what if someone commits a dastardly sin, but there’s an important history behind it? a middle school girl steps between bully and victim, but entirely for self-gain. a college guy strangles his mom’s boyfriend, but only because the man threw the student’s mother on the ground and kicked her in the ribs the night before. without getting in someone’s head and processing and understanding every thought and memory, we really can’t say whether what they did was “good” or “bad”.
and i want to keep going, and i definitely could, but i won’t. i just thought i’d write down these thoughts.
"come as you are
as you were
as i want you to be."
-nirvana, come as you are
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