Brad,[snip]
[snip]To decry ethnicites is popular with scientists and just shows that they didn't think much about it or they are bad scientists. "One species over all!" Right! (Irony) That is just plain old bunk or more accurately, ugly.
I find few who criticize ethnicities from the perspective I take (Husserl's notion of mankind's becoming ever more self-accountable). A while ago, I cited (with high approval) the NYT report of a certain tribe in Africa where the elders decided to inventory all the customs of their culture, and to keep the ones that seemed still constructive but to throw out the ones that no longer seemed well advised. *That's* a kind of thing I would be cheered to see more of!
I do not argue that ethnicities are "all bad". The little Somali (etc.) girl who has her external genitalia ripped out to perfect what God left not quite finished gets something good in return: she becomes a menber of her society instead of being cast out to be eaten by the wild animals.
And, yes, I know, there are ethnic phenomena which are straightforwardly good. (I can't think of any off hand....)
I simply am not part of the world of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, either myself or through the persons in my daily life, so what they have done and or are continuing to do is not something that is part of my thoughts. I certainly do not see the "conquistadores" as culture heroes.
And I think one of the reasons we should control our population is so that we don't need to exploit other peoples to have decent lives for ourselves.
But maybe you are talking about something else with denigrating "One species over > all!" Here again, I have argued that, even for reasons of enlightened selfishness, we should be good conservators of other species (but: including nurturing smallpox bacilli and oncogenes to actualize their essences and achieve their species goals?).
Maybe Western neo-Kantian (to grab a quick label...) philosophers are the only beings that don't have a "right to life"?
\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
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