Cultural relativism is amoral. It isn’t about good/evil, it’s about local norms. What is normal one place may not be normal elsewhere, from the national level down to the family level.
When paired with fatigue over the US’ complicated, open-ended interventions at home and abroad, you will often hear people provide a moralized version of cultural relativism as a reason not to engage. The real reason, obviously, is that these people no longer believe intervention will be effective and could even be damaging. In that framework, it’s understandable to have a “hey, it’s their house, they can do what they like” response.
I say all this as someone who believes it absolutely is the responsibility of liberated people to liberate others, while also recognizing how challenging it can be to achieve that goal on any large scale.
In conversations like these, I think it can be helpful to consider the context in which people arrive at their conclusions rather than casting ideas you disagree with as a “spreading sickness.” By that metaphor, we ought to focus on the cause of the disease, not the weakness of the ill.
Cultural relativism is amoral. It isn’t about good/evil, it’s about local norms. What is normal one place may not be normal elsewhere, from the national level down to the family level.
When paired with fatigue over the US’ complicated, open-ended interventions at home and abroad, you will often hear people provide a moralized version of cultural relativism as a reason not to engage. The real reason, obviously, is that these people no longer believe intervention will be effective and could even be damaging. In that framework, it’s understandable to have a “hey, it’s their house, they can do what they like” response.
I say all this as someone who believes it absolutely is the responsibility of liberated people to liberate others, while also recognizing how challenging it can be to achieve that goal on any large scale.
In conversations like these, I think it can be helpful to consider the context in which people arrive at their conclusions rather than casting ideas you disagree with as a “spreading sickness.” By that metaphor, we ought to focus on the cause of the disease, not the weakness of the ill.