tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post295142147748207520..comments2024-03-28T01:00:29.382-07:00Comments on TalkToYoUniverse: Cultural Diversity in the FutureJuliette Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-59569529927443059212008-11-11T20:56:00.000-08:002008-11-11T20:56:00.000-08:00Mike,Wow, how great to see you here! This is a re...Mike,<BR/><BR/>Wow, how great to see you here! This is a really great, thoughtful comment. I would agree that though diversity is inevitable, the acceptance of diversity is not. You also make a good point mentioning the Indian case - government policy can have odd effects on people's behavior, sometimes causing them to make counterintuitive decisions. I agree that markers of social identity can come from within, or from outside (even coercive) sources. I'm going to have to read <I>Up Jim River</I>, that's for sure.Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-52345511172314462222008-11-11T11:16:00.000-08:002008-11-11T11:16:00.000-08:00I don't think Star Trek was exactly bucking the tr...I don't think <I>Star Trek</I> was exactly <I>bucking</I> the trend, since the trend, at least among those circles, was entirely in that direction. <BR/><BR/>Oddly enough, the delight in diversity and pity for the stranger are almost entirely a Western thing. As the West declines in prestige, we may expect to see a resurrection of such things as go on between, say, Shona and Zulu or Somali and Bantu. <BR/><BR/>Shona fleeing the Zimbabwean catastrophe into the [only relatively] more stable South Africa, have found themselves less than welcome by the residents there; esp. as many are "illegal immigrants" taking jobs away from real South Africans. <BR/><BR/>Recently in India, one of the low castes rioted -- Gujjars, iirc? -- because they wanted their caste to be rated even lower. Why? Because falling below a certain scale entitled them to various government benefits and programs. Those currently entitled did not want this, as it would split the pie into smaller slices; and so street fighting ensued. Now =there= is a modern reason for inter-ethnic ill will. <BR/><BR/>On the planet Harpaloon, in the forthcoming <I>Up Jim River</I> the original settlers, called Loonies, have a great deal of dislike for "movers." Harpaloon has become the big kickoff point for the settlement of the Lafrontera stars and people have come from all over the Periphery, overwhelming the loonies. But they reserve their greatest detestation for the Terrans, those who have maintained a self-identification with the ancient, lost home world. I'm working my way up to a street riot. <BR/><BR/>As long as people with little fear losing it all to people with less, these sorts of things will arise. If there is an easy physical marker -- blond hair in Pakistan, say -- the fear can be easily exercised. If not, we can always make the Other wear special clothing or badges, so we know who to hate.TheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.com