Hi Hawkmoon; Re: "And why, Carl, do you think that is? I have a few ideas on the issue myself, but would be interested in seeing why the world is seemingly destined to default back to clans, tribes and ethnicities."
People who share the same language tend to fight on the same side in wars. There are exceptions, of course, but it generally works that way. For example, even in the US Civil War, which was fought between people who all spoke English, people with Southern accents usually fought for the South, while people with Yankee accents fought for the North.
People who share a common language tend to see things the same way. They tend to get their information from the same sources, read the same books when they're little, are exposed to the same advertising, etc.
War is very much a question of "who is right", and for the vast majority of the population, this question always comes down to a question of "he said, she said". Of course it's a hell of a lot easier to convince someone of your own ethnicity of a fact. You know what buttons to push. You can rely on common experiences and common viewpoints.
This is in stark contrast to the difficulty that is inherent in trying to convince someone who doesn't even speak your own language. First you have to find a translator, but there is huge amounts that are lost in the translation. And to a large extent, the foreigner that you're trying to convince doesn't even see the world in a way that is compatible with the assumptions that your argument makes.
So the end result is that birds of a feather flock together.
Re: "And how is it that the US has somehow been proven to be able to transcend much of that. Why are we so different, and what does our experience offer to the rest of the world."
The US has not transcended any of that, as Bush's war has proved. Our primary partner in Iraq is Britain, which is also an English speaking country, along with Australia.
Maybe what you're talking about is the ability of the United States to take foreign speakers and to turn them into American citizens. This is done by simply accepting them as equals, more or less.
This ability is not something that is at all unique to the US. You can find plenty of Frenchmen with German surnames and vice-versa. The same with every other country in the world.
In addition, your view that the US is somehow different is something that is shared throughout the world, LOL. That is, the Russians think they're somehow different. So do the Chinese, Japanese, Iraqis, Italians, etc. Everyone thinks they're special and therefore that the rules don't apply to them, LOL.
Re: "I, for one, am not particularly keen on seeing the world carved up along ethnic borders that are often quite nebulous at their peripheries. That is nothing more than a recipe for more long-term trouble."
I, for one, am not particularly keen on seeing the US involved in 1000 year old civil disturbances that occur on the boundaries of the world's ethnic regions. But you sure sucked us into a good one. I call that short term trouble AND long term trouble.
-- Carl |
