A Strange Disposition

whitebunny87 · 2017-11-22T00:02:38+00:00

this reminds me of the conversation we have in australia about the treatment of our indigenous people.

by today's standards, they were treated horrifically. no developed culture would carry on today the way that the british settlers did in the 1800s, and no reasonable white australian today agrees that what happened to them was a good thing, but what's done is done and it happened in a very different cultural climate.

still, every year on our national holiday madness comes out from both ends because we don't know how to separate a historical action with our modern sense of morality. on one end you have the affluent white progressives who grovel and apologise and throw money and resources blindly at them. on the other end you have vitriolic and unnecessary rhetoric directed at a community who is still struggling to progress and fit into modern society.

there absolutely is a middle ground, where we can leave the past where it is while still learning from it and understanding that there are cultural echoes that still persist. we should be proud that we've moved forward, not ashamed that our ancestors were ever there.

jack_hammarred · 2017-11-20T16:43:59+00:00

Fascinating!!!

I do worry about this. It’s useless and unfair to condemn the dead, and even the most elderly today, for things that were normal then that are wrong now. Like it shouldn’t need mentioning that slavery is of course unethical, and I am not minimizing those things. But other than making more informed decisions and curating history I think much of this condemnation is pointless. Its a circle jerk.

I do however hope I can live a good life, have a good eulogy and impact, at least the best possible for the norms of my time. I do worry that I take part in things that are now normalized which will later be unethical even to the most pedestrian minds. Eg I’m not condemning the people who seriously thought animal vivisection was the best way to study animal sciences... I’m devastated that those animals experienced it, and that those people inflicted it, but they weren’t (I don’t think) flagrantly pursuing maliciousness. They just seriously were not prompted to do a better thing. I try to be circumspect... is there a better way? Are my means and ends the best choice?

SylviaToday · 2017-11-20T17:53:36+00:00

I don't like cultural relativism either. We are all fallen, sinning human beings, and every culture gets things wrong. The West wasn't alone in using slaves, although America may have taken it to an extreme...westerners are also not alone in destroying the environment.

That said, I find it useful to look back at where my country (America) went wrong. I think it's important to look at our history and work to improve ourselves. Maybe we will never be perfect, but we must always be working with the goal of improvement.

Edited to fix typo

Title	A Strange Disposition
Author	Camille11325
Upvotes	8
Comments	7
Date	November 20, 2017 3:51 PM UTC (8 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/RedPillWives
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/RedPillWives/comments/7e9r8x/a_strange_disposition/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/RedPillWives/a-strange-disposition.208675 https://theredarchive.com/post/208675

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