1) The rocket scientist case was a) entirely ridiculous in itself, and b) is a textbook example of the "tu quoque fallacy"[1]; the fact that some putatively sim

1) The rocket scientist case was a) entirely ridiculous in itself, and b) is a textbook example of the "tu quoque fallacy"[1]; the fact that some putatively similar thing happens in the west is irrelevant to the question of whether it is bad that it happens in Burma. 2) Do you realize that the postmodernist cultural relativism you are blithely spreading around the world was formulated by fascists to justify their wars of conquest and genocides? [2][3] 3) The mere fact that different cultures have differences in standards, and that what's normal in one place is weird in another, does not imply that one ought to be non-judgemental towards and non-critical of anything another culture does. This does not follow from the premise. Relativism additionally requires one to adopt an attitude of invarying quietism towards all manner of atrocities, no matter how severe (presuming that hypocrisy is undesirable, which does not seem to actually be a problem for many postmodernists.) The cultural relativist, faced with the Holocaust or the genocide in Sudan, can only passively say, "Well, that's their way, we shouldn't impose our own standards on them." This very cultural relativism argument is indeed routinely employed today by the most brutal dictatorships in the world[4] to justify all manner of atrocities, by brushing off any criticisms as mere "western imperialists trying to impose western standards upon us and our culture." That's the company you choose for yourself when you advocate for cultural relativism. In the western world, it's typically adopted as some kind of enlightened and fair worldview by kindhearted intellectuals in a liberal arts college somewhere. Outside the western world, it's something very different: an ideological tool for dictators to sidestep criticism of atrocity. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Heidegger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Heidegger [3] "Everything I have said and done in these last years is relativism by intuition. If relativism signifies contempt for fixed categories and those who claim to be the bearers of objective immortal truth … then there is nothing more relativistic than Fascist attitudes and activity... From the fact that all ideologies are of equal value, that all ideologies are mere fictions, the modern relativist infers that everybody has the right to create for himself his own ideology and to attempt to enforce it with all the energy of which he is capable." - Benito Mussolini, "Diuturna" [4] President Bashir of Sudan, North Korea, the Burmese military junta itself, the PRC, and many others.