Culturist Post at Chronicles Magazine

I've been busy and should put book excerpts up. But here is something from a post I put up on "chronicles magaizine" this week. I think it a valuable little read.

I think that Western culture has a fairly coherent core. It is progressive and this is a short post so it is hard to detail here. Again, I think if you don’t realize we have a core you underestimate diversity. Check out Islamic nations. Our culture and Mexico’s are very different. Asian precepts are not the same as ours. America is a special place. Whereas multiculturalists would agree that we do not have a real culture, culturists affirm that we have a core culture to protect and promote.

Western civ courses should teach that developing sanctity of life and spirit over lust and passion was a long arduous process that went from Socrates to Jesus to Jefferson. Our love of liberty goes from the Greece’s wars against Persia and Athen’s wars against Sparta to World War Two. Knowing this was a struggle and required responsible, thoughtful, behavior can bring morals into the classroom. All we have to do is again teach that America is a special place and you have a duty to it.

This was common classroom fare until very recently; we taught pride in Western civ and its accomplishments. Multiculturalism now teaches that all cultures are great and equal and we are bad for ever having tampered with any of them. Culturism’s anthropology chapter undermines the noble savage myth. Other cultures were savage. Barbarism is the norm. What you assume to be normal is a special culture that needs protection. Some produce constitutions and Michelangelo, some hunt heads. Diversity exists. By affirming this, culturism can be used to guide our decisions and values.

Racism will only lead us to violence. If we do not teach pride in our being one of the only countries against racism, we cannot expect justice when people of other cultures control bureaucracies. Racism is dangerous and so people will rightfully not listen to you if you say you are a racist. Being culturist gets people to talk about real values. Saying Latinos have high pregnancy and drop out rates is not racist, it is culturist. We desparately need to be able separate discussions of culture and discussions of race. Culturism is against racism.

Culturism takes diversity seriously. The fact that Western nations, and America, have special cultural beliefs to uphold justifies our border control. The failure to realize our culture is special and, therefore, fragile, results in our not taking our borders seriously.