Culture Matters

A Haitian street scene

A while ago, I mentioned to a leftist friend that a big reason I chose to settle in New Brunswick was for the presence of French culture, which I loved growing up in Montreal, and sorely missed.

And his response was, “yes, cultural diversity is good.”

Wait—that’s not what I said. He was tacitly insisting that one culture, even subjectively, even in terms of personal preference, cannot be better than another. 

This is about as sensible as saying that all forms of transportation are equally good, or all governments or forms of government are equally good. A culture is a set of tools for a good life. One tool can always be better than another.

Surely no one has the right to deny the magnificent accomplishments of Greek culture, for example—a nation of only 10 million today. Any honest man must see the magnificent accomplishments of Jewish culture—only about 15 million today. 

RFK Jr. recently noted, in a speech, that the Muslim world has contributed almost nothing to world culture for the past several centuries, despite amounting to about 2 billion people. No Nobel prizes, no new inventions, no great literature, and no stable government. Something is wrong; this is a failing culture.

In a recent news report, El Salvador is sending troops into Haiti, to recover four of their soldiers kidnapped by a local gang. Haiti is always in chaos. This is a failed culture.

I have lived in a number of places around the world, and travelled to others. I certainly did not find life in all of these places equally comfortable, safe, or pleasant. I miss Korean culture mightily. I do not miss the culture of Qatar or Saudi Arabia. Other than money and consumer goods, there was so little there. When Geoguessr drops me somewhere in Europe, I am charmed. When Geoguessr drops me somewhere in Africa, or Indonesia, I am struck by the ugliness and disorder of the place.

Some cultures are actually harmful to mankind, and ought to be eradicated. One might cite Nazi Germany. Or, in Biblical times, Sodom, Gomorrah, or Canaan. Some proposed tools prove too dangerous. We no longer use asbestos as insulation, either. Or fly airships filled with hydrogen.

Of course, different cultures have specialties too—better in one sphere, worse in another. The French are unmatched for their visual sense, except perhaps by the Russians. The English are best at managerial systems and record-keeping. The Italians are best at cuisine. This is the great benefit derived by immigrant cultures like the USA, Canada, Australia, or Singapore. We can pick the best features from each, to form a new culture superior to all. 

Unfortunately, this advantage is being destroyed by the leftist doctrine of DEA, multiculturalism, and cultural equality. Germans or Scots may have a strong tradition in engineering; but we must not hire Germans or Scots, they are overrepresented. Instead, we must hire some sub-Saharan African. This is a fine way to destroy a culture.

The counter-argument given at this point by the left is that these failed or less successful cultures are in the state of poverty and chaos they endure because of colonialism; because they were exploited and possibly infantilized by the Europeans.

That will not wash. In any place you might name, the Europeans left generations ago. Somalia became independent in 1960. Haiti became independent in 1804. They have been in chaos ever since. Compare Spain: Columbus discovered the Americas the very year Spain managed to fully decolonize from the Moors. Within a generation, they were the world’s greatest power. The Dutch Republic achieved independence from Spain in 1648; they had already started to develop an East Indian empire in 1604. The Irish keep winning Nobel Prizes for literature—despite centuries of suppression of Irish culture and economic exploitation under Britain. They only achieved independence in 1921. Germany has risen from ashes since 1945, and twice since 1918. Korean culture was systematically suppressed by Japan until 1945—look where they are now. And the Jews—they emerged from genocide only in 1945 to re-establish their present prominence. 

The original premise of world colonization by Europe was actually that they were there to introduce peace, order, human rights, and a better way to less accomplished lands. To build railroads and canals and civil government. 

The results in many lands once they pulled out seem to validate this assumption. One can see the decline of Zimbabwe since majority rule; one can see the fall of South Africa. One can see the political chaos and repression in the Muslim world.

And perhaps the most obviously failed cultures of all are those currently glorified as “indigenous” or “aboriginal.” Cultures that never emerged from the stone age, never invented the wheel or writing, and were at near-constant war. Not smart or kind to want to preserve them.