frozengardener7 said:I recently finished reading Samuel Huntington’s famous book, Clash of Civilizations—admittedly a bit late—and it really got me thinking. However, I feel everything I gathered was more vividly elaborated upon in the documentary "All Being White in Barking," which essentially visualizes everything dear Sam set out to carry out himself.
Do you think multiculturalism is actually successful in the West? Can different civilizations truly coexist? In theory, this all sounds beautiful and, above all, humane (and that is my stance—HUMANELY speaking—so please don't hit me with any racist elaborations), but does it actually hold up in practice?
In one segment of an interview, an American couple visits a Black family and brings over a bottle of alcohol (a gift basket, the wife says, though she feels it looks a bit too fancy) but the family doesn't drink. Still, in an effort to be good hosts, the family serves them some traditional meat dish (mind you, these are Americans who can eat almost anything) and they are visibly revolted, barely able to swallow it. In another part of the same program, an American man (whose daughter suffered violence at the hands of a Black man) points to a Black woman in traditional African clothing and remarks, "See, this is integration. They are in the West, yet they dress like they're back in their homeland..." It is somewhat paradoxical, especially regarding people from Islamic states fleeing a country that stands in opposition to the West, only to attempt to recreate their own distinct nations within Western states. And indeed, as depicted in the documentary, the shops and markets bear an irresistible resemblance to immigrant enclaves, and I must admit, Huntington's clash of civilizations is clearly visible there. Particularly interesting is the end of the documentary when an Albanian family is asked if they would like a Black man as a son-in-law for their daughter, and they say, "Yes, of course, we have no issue with other races." But then they are asked if they would want a Mexican as a son-in-law. Naturally, there is just a blank stare into the camera followed by a slight side-eye. What can I say? I am witnessing not just an external conflict, but an internal one as well. And we know that, for instance, Anglo-Saxon countries aren't particularly fond of Slavic ones, etc.
Returning to Huntington. The West—once fractured by kingdoms, then by ideologies—seems like a complicated concept, yet it remains unified by its influence on the rest of the world (the West versus everyone else). However, when it comes to Western equality and freedom, the matter is deeply paradoxical. Not only do we fail to see unifying liberal factors amidst the fractures, but according to certain data, the idea that "freedom = the West" is viewed as a total fallacy by the global citizen.
My question to you: Can cultures adapt to coexistence and give rise to a new, better, or more humane race, or is it the opposite? Furthermore, how do you believe the clash of civilizations manifests in theory versus how it manifests in practice? I hope this discussion doesn't veer in the wrong direction; I find these topics particularly fascinating, and they are subjects that must be discussed.
I suspect social sciences just want to turn everything into universal rules. That's impossible. You have conflicts even within the same state—like urbanites vs. rural folks. If people are rational, anything is possible. With the irrational ones—the narrow-minded or those with other issues—nothing is possible. They can't handle themselves. That's the problem.