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I generally agree with that culture is getting generalized, but I despise the trend of diluting terms to associate them with your enemies. Using colonialism and

by esyir 5y ago

I generally agree with that culture is getting generalized, but I despise the trend of diluting terms to associate them with your enemies. Using colonialism and genocide just to exaggerate their badness is just like how "nazi" has gotten diluted to mean "right".

throwawaysea 5y ago
I definitely agree the terms are not exactly the same, but I am not sure what a better term is. In order to not tread on “colonialism” or “genocide”, I prefixed it with the word “cultural”, hoping that strikes a more precise and nuanced balance. Let me try to explain my reasoning. In some countries, explicit colonialism was done away with successful independence movements, but was replaced by softer forms of influence and propaganda that lingered on. For example Western education systems (with textbooks from Western publishers) or significant influence from churches or the introduction of multinational corporations have led to generations of children of former colonial states hearing/experiencing/living one version of history and culture, which isn’t their indigenous history and culture. Because national resources and people’s time are consumed by these structures and influences, there isn’t space for any other influence. This is especially harmful to cultures where their traditions are passed on orally or through daily multi-generational living. Social media takes that further because it is addictive, and is another time sink and intervention into the “information stream” people would otherwise receive. If people living in some country persist but are stripped of their indigenous values and culture and worldviews through these soft mechanisms, they aren’t really the same people that they replaced any longer. Think of Tibet for example, where more overt re-education efforts have changed younger generations and disconnected them from their traditional Buddhist culture. Sure they may be the genetic descendants and inheritors of the past Tibetan people, but they increasingly reflect Han Chinese culture, and not just politically. These cultures go away, potentially for good, when this happens. The culture being replaced by outside powers is what leads me to apply phrases like “cultural colonialism” or “cultural genocide” in these instances.

by esyir 5y ago

throwawaysea 5y ago

I definitely agree the terms are not exactly the same, but I am not sure what a better term is. In order to not tread on “colonialism” or “genocide”, I prefixed it with the word “cultural”, hoping that strikes a more precise and nuanced balance. Let me try to explain my reasoning. In some countries, explicit colonialism was done away with successful independence movements, but was replaced by softer forms of influence and propaganda that lingered on. For example Western education systems (with textbooks from Western publishers) or significant influence from churches or the introduction of multinational corporations have led to generations of children of former colonial states hearing/experiencing/living one version of history and culture, which isn’t their indigenous history and culture. Because national resources and people’s time are consumed by these structures and influences, there isn’t space for any other influence. This is especially harmful to cultures where their traditions are passed on orally or through daily multi-generational living. Social media takes that further because it is addictive, and is another time sink and intervention into the “information stream” people would otherwise receive. If people living in some country persist but are stripped of their indigenous values and culture and worldviews through these soft mechanisms, they aren’t really the same people that they replaced any longer. Think of Tibet for example, where more overt re-education efforts have changed younger generations and disconnected them from their traditional Buddhist culture. Sure they may be the genetic descendants and inheritors of the past Tibetan people, but they increasingly reflect Han Chinese culture, and not just politically. These cultures go away, potentially for good, when this happens. The culture being replaced by outside powers is what leads me to apply phrases like “cultural colonialism” or “cultural genocide” in these instances.