………What Bruckner criticizes as Third Worldism, Sandall castigates as "romantic primitivism" and (marvelous phrase) "designer tribalism." What is romantic primitivism? In the words of Arthur O. Lovejoy and George Boas, it is "the unending revolt of the civilized against civilization."
………What Sandall calls romantic primitivism puts a premium on quaintness, which it then embroiders with the rhetoric of authenticity. There are two casualties of this process. One is an intellectual casualty: it becomes increasingly difficult to tell the truth about the achievements and liabilities of other cultures. The other casualty is a moral, social, and political one. Who suffers from the expression of romantic primitivism? Not the Lauren Huttons and Claude Lévi-Strausses of the world. On the contrary, the people who suffer are the objects of the romantic primitive's compassion, "respect," and pretended emulation. Sandall asks: Should American Indians and New Zealand Maoris and Australian Aborigines be urged to preserve their traditional cultures at all costs? Should they be told that assimilation is wrong? And is it wise to leave them entirely to their own devices?
Sandall is right that the answers, respectively, are No, No, and No: "The best chance of a good life for indigenes is the same as for you and me: full fluency and literacy in English, as much math as we can handle, and a job."
………Since the folly of locking up native peoples in their old-time cultures is obvious, but it is tactless to say so, governments have everywhere resorted to the rhetoric of "reconciliation." This pretends that the problem is psychological and moral: rejig the public mind, ask leading political figures to adopt a contrite demeanor and apologize for the sins of history, and all will be well. Underlying this is the assumption that we are all on the same plain of social development, divided only by misunderstanding.
But this assumption, Sandall emphasizes, "is false." And it was recognized as false by governments everywhere until quite recently. Around 1970, the big change set in. Then, instead of attempting to help primitives enter the modern world, we were enjoined to admire them and their (suitably idealized) way of life. As Sandall observes, "the effect on indigenes of romanticizing their past has been devastating." [End Excerpts]
Thank you for posting and pinging. I enjoyed this immensely! There is so much truth in this and reminded me of something I posted just the other day.
Two tribes split on Alaskan oil plan--In recent weeks, members of both tribes have come to the nation's capital to plead their cases: The Inupiat contend that opening a portion of the refuge for oil exploration is critical to their survival; the Gwich'in say that doing so will destroy them.
The two groups are not new to the debate nor to Washington, but as the Senate prepares to take up energy legislation this week, advocates and opponents of opening a section of the refuge for oil exploration have increasingly put the native groups at the center of their lobbying efforts.
Let's try to keep this thread bumped . It a valuable article, and what makes FR worth reading.
You led me in here, and now we're trapped--TRAPPED!We'll never get out of this jungle . . .
BUMP.