“If I have seen further, it is because I have stood on
the shoulders of giants”- Sir Isaac Newton
Cultural appropriation is another intellectual device to
attack people for what is considered, and has been throughout history, normal
everyday behavior. I can understand their sense that cultural symbols can be used
or appropriated in disrespectful ways, but it is those appropriation critics
that seem the most disrespectful, the most intolerant and the least open to new
experience. Beyond being a propaganda tool that frighteningly inhibits free
behavior, I cannot make any sense of it. Others agree and use the term loony
left. Some time ago a local pundit on a local forum complained that some
current practice dilutes Mexican culture and was therefore wrong. Apparently she has never observed a Fourth of
July piñata. Mexican immigrants become Mexican American, not unlike all the
prior immigrant groups, and contribute to our dynamic American culture. We all
eat burritos now, just like we eat pizza or bagels.
But in addition to the desired process of assimilation, I
also can’t comprehend the premise of cultural appropriation. After all, what is
Mexican culture? It’s a blend of Spanish and Aztec. Aztec culture is a blend of
the prior Olmec plus other indigenous peoples. Spanish culture is a blend of
the Visgothic and Roman cultures. The Roman culture, in turn, is a blend of the
Etruscan and Greek with prior indigenous Roman culture. This has always been
called human history but is now apparently considered a social construct like
the multiple genders.
In the posted comments section of some discussion a while
back some anti-Semite said that the Jews were a fraud because they stole
Hammurabi’s Code and then sold it to the world as there’s. While some Jewish scholars may not recognize
their Babylonian origin including the prior Epic of
Gilgamesh,
logic says it’s likely just as the prior Sumerian and Akkadian cultures helped
create the later Babylonian culture. The early Hebrews built on
their past and created something new. That led to Christianity. Is Christianity
invalid because it’s a cultural appropriation from Judaism?
The
only example I know of in history of the freezing of cultures was Stalin’s
program of preserving folk cultures which turned them into meaningless ritual.
Cultures are dynamic. If we didn’t learn from each other humanity would
surely be in an even sadder state. Rootless
ahistoric experts like those who proclaim multiple genders are now deified as
philosopher kings. The expression loony left is probably an
understatement. The dangers are obvious
and imminent.
Copyright 2018, Mark L. Bennett
