The Influence of Culture on Success is the Source of All Disputes

Every political dispute in the world goes one way or the other depending on whether or not all cultures are equally successful. In every debate, shouting match, or friendly conversation you will eventually reach that point where this becomes the deciding issue. No matter how distantly related the initial point of the political debate in the end the crossroads is whether you say all cultures are equally successful or if you deny this obvious fact, with the denial only for appearances. Since the answer to every political question depends on this one issue all debates should start with this issue since if taken far enough they will eventually reach it. This is the Ur issue of politics, the source of all disputes. All debates, shouting matches and friendly conversations pivot on this one point, it is time for the world to stop avoiding this issue and settle the questions related to how culture influences success.

What is so odd about this debate is that in certain contexts the connection between success and culture will be freely admitted. Yet in other contexts it will be vehemently denied by the same people. The man who calmly insists the Arabs were once the most advanced people in the world will calmly insist that the Australian Aborigines were just as advanced as the first Western explorers to meet them. And the man who will pound the table insisting the Arabs were once the most advanced people will pound the table insisting that it is not even possible for the Australian Aborigines to have been less advanced as these judgements are all invalid. The contexts in which the position of the possibility of advancement, the possibility of cultural inferiority and superiority are alternately denied and insisted on reveal the true nature of the dispute. The ultimate goal is to hold all identities in equal regard and describe the world in terms that achieve this by balancing out our inner thoughts and feelings. If inwardly we feel Western culture is superior then outwardly we insist it is not, if we fear an obscure culture somewhere is backward we outwardly insist they are simply making different choices and all cultures are permanently equal. If inwardly we feel that Islam is intolerant we outwardly tell stories of Jews in the Middle Ages preferring to live in Muslim countries, stories which cannot be factually substantiated. Our outward descriptions are the reverse of our inner feelings to try and keep all identities in balance. Only this can explain the man pounding the table insisting the Arabs were once the most advanced people in the world while regarding the Aborigines he pounds the table insisting it is not even possible for one group to be more advanced.

The patterns in debates, the patterns in when one allows that a culture is or was in the past more advanced than others and the patterns in when this is denied make the goal clear. Because to say one culture is better as an authentic representation of your inner thoughts and feeling is a danger. It is a felt danger to oneself and to others. To falsely say a culture one feels is inferior is superior, or that uneven cultural progress is not possible feels safe. To authentically say a culture is more advanced is dangerous, it is a thought that can bring the world down around us. Genuine belief on this subject is a threat, false belief is a sanctuary. Because the subject itself is so important. Because all political questions go one way or the other depending on whether all cultures are equally successful. To speak freely on this is to change the answer to all questions, which is to bring our current world down around us.

The French Revolution is an obvious turning point though no one is really sure why. A French historian once said on his deathbed that he spent his life studying the Revolution and still didn’t know why it happened. This should be the deathbed scene of all French historians, this event evades understanding. But everything since then has been different. All the historical disputes since that time pivot on the question of success and culture. The famous political terminology of right and left originate in the Revolution and this dichotomy has dominated politics ever since. The standard formula is a split between advocates of socialism and capitalism can be a peaceful and normal part of politics but a split between communism and fascism will be violent and aberrant. And communism is seen as the more extreme form of socialism, further to the left and fascism is seen as more extreme than capitalism, further to the right. This terminology of right and left is almost immediately understood the first time you hear it and no one questions that the dispute between right and left is both the dominant and the normal theme of politics. Yet these terms are little over two hundred years old and there is nothing in recorded history to show that anything like this has occurred before. And yet this novelty has dominated public affairs for over two hundred years across the globe.

Beneath the surface there is a deeper dispute. This is why non conformists opinions on the influence of culture on success are so threatening. This question is really about how we do things. And nothing could be more all encompassing than that. This dispute isn’t only about culture and economic success, it is about each person’s inner nature and we do every single thing we do. There is no person and no activity not touched by this dispute. The reason is so threatening to discuss openly where one culture can truly be superior to another is that in discussing this we are discussing all people and all activities, we are discussing everything. To discuss how a culture influences success is to discuss what is human nature, how do we operate. It is to discuss something beyond our activities, it is to discuss our inner lives while inactive, it is to discuss our inner souls. There is no more threatening subject. Whether or not all cultures are equally successful and how the influence of culture affects success is to discuss every subject because it is to discuss every human in his inner and outer life. There is no subject in the world more all encompassing, to ask how culture affects success is to ask how humans exist.