Ethnocentrism

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

^Tell me you’re a racist without telling me you’re a racist.

Boru

[Anomalocaris]

I'm saying that all countries should be ethnocentric. The problem is, everyone wants western countries to welcome the whole world, but no one is suggesting the same for any other countries (not that they should). The best civilizations have been created by the west, which is why so many want to go there (when was the last time you heard of a german wanting to live in Somalia?). They pretend that they're there to somehow enrich the west or improve it, presumably out of the kindness of their hearts, but in reality they simply want the advantages that the west has. At the same time, the culture of those western countries gets diluted and turned into a multicultural mess that makes no sense. People (most importantly, the native population) lose a sense of belonging and community. They become strangers in their own country. Piling up loads of different cultures and ethnicities on top of each other is a terrible idea.

The reason why the west should welcome the whole world is the west is only 10% of the world, and an ethnocentric west will sooner or later be totally marginalized by portions of the remaining 90% that is far larger than the west. 

Cultures go up and down, the last 200 years has seen portions of the west enjoy advantage.  Take a longer view and you can see it most certainly won’t last.   In fact is the west was distinctly, unpleasant, unadmired, comparatively impoverished and backward place compared to parts of rest of the world for most of human history.   

West being marginal is the rule,  the west being central is the exception. 

Be mindful of what you want the world to look like when someone else’s culture inevitably surpass those of the west in power and wealth.

[The Valkyrie]

From the description : Ethnocentrism in Psychology is loosely defined as the inability to think outside one’s own cultural experience, and a tendency to assume that what happens in our own culture is common to other cultures.

Sometimes, psychologists draw conclusions from studies focused on one culture or group and assume it can be generalised to other groups or cultures. This phenomena has been common with research conducted in Western countries like the US and UK, although more so in the past.

Generally speaking, there are two forms of ethnocentrism; the first, more brutal form of ethnocentrism, is an explicit belief that one’s group (social, ethnic or cultural) is more important than others.

The softer version of ethnocentrism is the idea that as individuals and groups, we find it hard to think outside our own cultural experience, so we just unquestioningly assume that the way things happen in our own culture is just the way that things happen in all other cultures. This means that, in research, psychologists might design research or draw conclusions in a way that makes sense or applies only to their cultural group, but may have little meaning to other cultural groups. This could be because the sample in the study reflects only one culture. It may also be that the questions asked, the task given or the interpretation of the results assumes a particular cultural background.

Ethnically and culturally, I'm Irish. I feel this makes me free of even 'soft' ethnocentrism, since the notion that other cultures would approach issues the way the Irish do is bloody terrifying.

Boru

Getting drunk and blowing shit up?

I'm Irish at heart.

[The Architect Of Fate]

So an ignorant xenophobe then .....Yeah not even worth it 

[Belacqua]

The best civilizations have been created by the west

According to certain ethnocentric definitions of "best."

[The Grand Nudger]

Even if we think that the west has created The Best Civilizations….well, fine- and multiculturalism was a part of how we did that.

Should we not continue to do a thing that worked so well? Should other countries ignore the example that was set in our own development?

[Plague Happy]

Even if we think that the west has created The Best Civilizations….well, fine- and multiculturalism was a part of how we did that.  

Should we not continue to do a thing that worked so well?  Should other countries ignore the example that was set in our own development?

If turning the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and european countries into multicultural melting pots works well, then how come you don't hear people suggesting that the rest of the world enjoy that process too? How come no one is talking about turning Nigeria into a melting pot, with irish people, greeks, english, etc? It's because the west is desirable to people from outside of it, and they want to benefit from what has been built there. Do you really think Nigerians, Jamaicans, Somalians etc would want that? Of course not, because they are ethnocentric and they want their countries to be dominated by them. And rightly so.

[The Grand Nudger]

I do, from people who think multiculturalism has value...and, ofc, I just said as much myself earlier in thread. As far as other countries being more ethnocentric than we are - yeah..obviously, also a problem for those people.

I assume you would agree that nigeria et al could use some more western engineers, should we be looking for some place to go now or in future? Additionally, is it just Black People that you're bitching about? You realizie that "european culture" and "american culture" are, themselves, made up of alot of subcultures? All of the successive waves of white migration to and from and across both were an example of multiculturalism. Did we go wrong accepting all of that, in your estimation?

[Plague Happy]

I do, from people who think multiculturalism has value...and, ofc, I just said as much myself earlier in thread.  As far as other countries being more ethnocentric than we are - yeah..obviously, also a problem for those people.

The point I'm making is that 1) the motivation for non westerners to come to the west is purely for economic benefit, and that "cultural enrichment" is the excuse, and 2) most people in non western countries wouldn't want their countries to be multicultural. 

The reason why you have countries in the first place is because people wish to have a homeland where they can live according to their own culture. Mix them all together and you lose them all. People instinctively understand this. 

If you get a pot and put into it lots of crayons of different colors, what do you end up with? No more yellow, blue, green, red, etc. All gone.

By the way, why do you capitalise the b in black?

[Angrboda]

If you get a pot and put into it lots of crayons of different colors, what do you end up with? No more yellow, blue, green, red, etc. All gone.