All cultures are equal

[Sarasvati]

Here is another thread which is unlikely to get many replies. But I can live in hope that some might. It's got nothing to do with bisexuality so sod off if it's not your scene. This is a question to exercise your mind.

Suppose someone asserts the following:-


"All cultures are equal!"

(by "culture" I mean any human community of any size with shared beliefs, practices and values)

I have 2 questions for anyone out there who'd like to contribute:-


1. Is this a valid assertion at all, and on what grounds?

2. Is this assertion true at all, and on what grounds?

[Skater Boy]

"Equality" is a myth. "Diversity" is a reality. Tolerance, acceptance and understanding are virtues. :2cents:

[diB4u]

"Equality" is a myth. "Diversity" is a reality. Tolerance, acceptance and understanding are virtues. :2cents:


I actuarly agree with your statements, i am not eqaul to you I'm a woman your a man, so there for we are not equal. I am pansexual bicurious even genderqueen.

A person doesnt have to my equal, but they can be tolernant and accept me for who i am. That means more to me than anything. Understanding breeds acceptance and through that brings about some forms of harmony.

[darkeyes]

Mite say all cultures hav validity... but equality??? Not in reality..they only as equal as a more powerful culture allows em 2 b...

[Skater Boy]

equality??? Not in reality..they only as equal as a more powerful culture allows em 2 b...

...and/or they allow themselves to be.

[diB4u]

Mite say all cultures hav validity... but equality??? Not in reality..they only as equal as a more powerful culture allows em 2 b...

Exactly darkeyes! Its more of a balancing act, funny how in England if we're talking eqaulity. Why does such things as the equal opportunites exsist in the first place? Simple, because we ARE NOT equal. Our up brinings although might be in the same country, the same area, even the same street. Our personalities, our characters are not the same.

[Long Duck Dong]

in my eyes, no culture is equal......

each has a differing set of aspects, that creates a impossible situation of equality

but you can argue on two fronts.....

1 ) each culture is equal on all levels to any other culture in the world, each person is equal to each other person in the world

( thats actually a BS statement..... cos in order to say that, you must be able to say that hitler is as equal as mother theresa )

2 ) each culture is unique.....and while each culture deserves equal acknowledgment and respect, their contribution to society is measured by differing rules of measurement....
hence it is hard to say that each culture is equal, if you compare them on the grounds of contribution..... the asian culture contributes majorly in the world of technology while a tribe of papua new quinea people don't..... but they in turn, contribution greatly to the fields of human studies and psychology and the study of clan and social living and interaction

to me personally... I don't see culture, race or sexuality......I see a person and I see the way they act, and relate to others...
hence I judge a person but their own actions, but not the culture by the actions of one person

[The Barefoot Contess]

They are not equal anthropologically, but they should be legally. The questions that this raises now are, for instance:
- How far does respect go? In other words, should the UN "respect" cultures that force genital mutilation? If so, then is there such thing as universal human rights? If not, then is it not some sort of imposition of Western values on non-Western nations?
- If we are all different, why should we be treated equally? Are people born with inalienable rights just because that is the way we have decided society should work to foster the interests of the majority? Do society's norms contradict natural selection, and if so, is the battle worth fighting?

And so on, and so on...

[Skater Boy]

Do society's norms contradict natural selection, and if so, is the battle worth fighting?

Good question. I know my own answer to it, but I suspect that it doesn't match the ideals that many hold. No-one being or culture is, by nature, equal. So they should not be considered or treated as such. Individualism...

[pasco_lol_cpl]

Saying that all cultures are equal is false. Some cultures are superior to others. Its a nasty fact of life. Some folks don't like to acknowledge this, and to be honest I wish that they were all equal. But the reality is that they are not. If they were then human societies would stagnate and not change.

[DiamondDog]

Equality in what way?

Equality among cultures is a nice theory but like pacifism, socialism, polyamory a.k.a. open relationships/swinging, the war on drugs, gun control, "ex"-gay conversion/brainwashing, pure Capitalism, the country of Israel, socialist healthcare, and Communism it works a lot better in theory than in actual reality.

[vittoria]

people will only be equal if they choose to be.

people choose to hate.

people choose to castigate..

people choose to be a**holes.

people choose to separate themselves into categories.

people choose be the stereotype.

its all in choices. people do what they want to do.

people choose to ignore the BS and view themselves as equals, while others choose to view themselves as unequal.

if choice was a matter of life and death, what would YOU ( the general public) choose?

people choose to agree.

people choose to disagree.

theres no force involved. just choice.

[the mage]

[QUOTE=Sarasvati;85065]Here is another thread which is unlikely to get many replies. But I can live in hope that some might. It's got nothing to do with bisexuality so sod off if it's not your scene. This is a question to exercise your mind.

Suppose someone asserts the following:-


"All cultures are equal!"

(by "culture" I mean any human community of any size with shared beliefs, practices and values)

I have 2 questions for anyone out there who'd like to contribute:-

[B][CENTER]1. Is this a valid assertion at all, and on what grounds?


..................if you assume all humans equal in an Utopian ideal then yes all are equal.
But equal is not by definition good or healthy.

Hitler and his gang were more than equal for a while. It was bad weather and insanity that stopped him, not the purity of any one else's heart.

[Bluebiyou]

Equality of cultures, in concept, yes.
One begins to stray as soon as one applies morality.
Morality is seldom applied in the 'golden rule' form. What most people consider morality is simply conformity to ideals of a specific culture.
The ancient Greeks would have been horrified at morality of USA for mutilating little babies' foreskins, and USA would be horrified at ancient Greeks having sex with children. Each would look to the other as a moral step down, thus not equal.
But equality of cultures automatically simply because of differences? Sure, why not? Just because a culture is different does not make it less. The equation gets very complex because almost every culture carries with it - evils of the human condition. Each culture refuses to look on its own evils as actually evil, and emphasizes worst case evils of other cultures that it wants to reject/degrade. "We are the good guys" is universal. "Other cultures can be almost up to our level, but not surpassing" is universal.

[Sarasvati]

Thank you for so many contributions - I hope to get some time to evaluate tem soon

[Sarasvati]

people will only be equal if they choose to be.

Interesting assertion Vitt. Do you definitely agree with this? If so, can you expand on it for me and explain it more clearly.

[shameless agitator]

Honestly, I haven't read most of the replies yet as I'm drunk. That said, I think the original statement is utter bullshit. I will not hold a society that represses women, such as most middle east cultures, or ethnic minorities, such as apartheid era South Africa equal to societies that treat their members more equally. Much as I hate black & white thinking I have to agree with Kant here. If it isn't okay for everybody, it isn't okay for anybody.

[Cantaloupe Island]

No of course not. But it depends what you mean by equal. Do you mean which culture provides the best economic results? Or life expectancy? One must first define what the criteria is. But generally speaking, some cultures are dysfunctional.

[biwords]

The uncritical worship of equality may be the most dangerous threat we face.

[FalconAngel]

Have to agree with DD on one point that he brought up....Equal in what way?

The statement that all cultures are equal must be quantified in order to establish the basis that particular statement. So in order for all cultures to be equal, you need to define in what way.

In some ways, all cultures are equal, yet in others, they are anything but equal.

[darkeyes]

The uncritical worship of equality may be the most dangerous threat we face.

An 1ce gain Wordsie cums out wiv sum "profound" pretentious bollox wich means sod all an shows im up 2 b a man of lil vision an undastandin nowt of wot equality truly means....!

[Germanicus]

Who has the right to say any/which "culture" is more equal than another?

Its somewhat ironic that bisexuals are discussing this question, which is very much one of "which side of the fence is better than another?", when they would take offence at heterosexuals and gays saying bisexuals are in denial/confused ...

[diB4u]

Who has the right to say any/which "culture" is more equal than another?

Its somewhat ironic that bisexuals are discussing this question, which is very much one of "which side of the fence is better than another?", when they would take offence at heterosexuals and gays saying bisexuals are in denial/confused ...

LOL and for everyone to be equal you all have to be like me then .... Which is a weird thing to be. I am pansexual, mixed race, bi curious, bbw, androgyne.

See it wont work, so its better that we arent all equal then.

[dafydd]

people will only be equal if they choose to be.

people choose to hate.

people choose to castigate..

people choose to be a**holes.

people choose to separate themselves into categories.

people choose be the stereotype.

its all in choices. people do what they want to do.

people choose to ignore the BS and view themselves as equals, while others choose to view themselves as unequal.

if choice was a matter of life and death, what would YOU ( the general public) choose?

people choose to agree.

people choose to disagree.

theres no force involved. just choice.

some people don't choose to hate. If you're raised as a fundametalist christian who thinks god hates fags, that's not a choice. That's programming. Doesn't mean you can't break that programming though.

d

[diB4u]

some people don't choose to hate. If you're raised as a fundametalist christian who thinks god hates fags, that's not a choice. That's programming. Doesn't mean you can't break that programming though.

d

Yep I agree with you on that one.

Actuarly society for its part inherites lables from our parents and from society on the whole. We are born into labels. After all isn't Gay, Lesbian, Straight- aren't they all labels and dont some of us try to conform to that idear?


Choosing to hate is more a family issue, when raising up a child they pick up and once again rebirth racism, sexism, homphobia etc....

I give you an example I am a bbw ( big beautiful woman is the term),people judge me on a daily basis, but oh well thats life right?...

I've heard comments like 'Oh look at the size of THAT', do you think that view came from the thin blue air? More than not its a society view on people who are larger.

[biwords]

An 1ce gain Wordsie cums out wiv sum "profound" pretentious bollox wich means sod all an shows im up 2 b a man of lil vision an undastandin nowt of wot equality truly means....!

Ackshuly, Fran, I wasn't speaking of 'equality', but of the 'uncritical worship of equality'. Bit of a difference, you'll agree? And I wasn't trying to be profound, just accurate. I could have provided some examples, but I'm busy with a paper for a class I'm taking.

Best,
Paul

[darkeyes]

Acshuly Paul..k:tong:

[Skater Boy]

Acshuly Paul..k:tong:

LOL, Its not as good as DiB4u's one: "actuarly" (Perhaps a cross between "actuary" and "actually"?)

Honestly, you cats are just too cool for school. :cool: I think I'm gonna spend this week inventing my own language so that I can confuse people, just like y'all do. :confused:

[diB4u]

LOL, Its not as good as DiB4u's one: "actuarly" (Perhaps a cross between "actuary" and "actually"?)

Honestly, you cats are just too cool for school. :cool: I think I'm gonna spend this week inventing my own language so that I can confuse people, just like y'all do. :confused:

Oi its a lisp of sorts... Cheeky feckers. And here's equality for you, its not even my lisp but my spell check lisp....

Duh!

[bidsmia]

Equal in terms of power or equal in terms of value?

[jem_is_bi]

I do not believe that premise is true now or ever has been.
In addition, the thought of certain cultures gaining in stature and perceived equality scares me greatly! In those cultures I would suffer both physical and economic harm.

JEM