How can we create balance between the preservation of local cultures and the development of global community?

Question

This question was asked at the Dropping Knowledge event on 9th September by Anonymous, Tacoma, Washington, USA.

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Answer 1

That will take a lot of educating. We, as a people, must first
get past our prejudices. So far we haven't been able to do this.
Then once we accomplish that task then we must be willing to remain open minded to different life styles while still hanging on
to our own ideas. The ideal world would be a place where all
people are willing to blend their diverse cultures. To share
beliefs and accept differences. I just can't see that happening any time soon.

Answer 2

Globalization and community culture preservation simply don't match.

From the moment in which you decide to take on globalization you're accepting the fact that your community will become a melting pot which in turn will cause a cultural mix in which the strongest or more aggressive community will rule, politically and culturally. And that doesn't necessarily have to be the community represente by the majority of people or by the original settlers of a given area.

That is why multiculturality works relatively well in the most recent nations (USA, Australia, NZ) and much worse in Old Europe, where the original settlers, who have been there for centuries with a well rooted and consolidated culture and values, feel threatened by globalization.

A second aspect that makes globalization clash with culture preservation, making a balance impossible, is the fact that in addition to being a social phenomena, it is mainly an economic phenomena; i.e. the most powerful countries try to impose their commercial/political/economical model to all the other countries, willingly or unwillingly.

Example: the US keep trying to export their concept of democracy, which is not accepted in many places. Nonetheless they still think it's the best model. A
At the same time Europe is developing its own model, at a central level, which is good to them (Northern Europe) but it's highly unsuitable for Southern Europe and for those small communities that have strong traditions.

The only good balance you can achieve is when you have common rules to observe and leave total freedom about all the rest, without forcing communities to accept rules on behalf of political and economic opportunistic interests.

Being this pretty utopic, i dare to say that balance is not achievable at the moment.

The issue of muslims would have deserved another in depth analysis in his context, as you can't get a balance without community armony and they are not in armony at the moment. Let's say they are the perturbating factor in an international scenario that, after cold war, was leaning towards a global peace.

Cheers!

Answer 3

There has always been balance between local culture preservation and global community development . The population of the Earth has nearly double in my life time. At the same time we have seen many time more cultures of local people from all corners of the globe thanks to mass media.

The world is getting smaller with faster and more massive aircraft and boats taking more people to more places. The Internet has caused us to get suddenly uncomfortably close to one another. In a since I believe a lot of local cultures are being revived as many like to show it off to the tourist who come to watch. Many of tourists are touched by these locals and take a piece of that culture with them from souvenir shops as well as the remembrances of their visit. So, the local culture is preserved at its roots and at a global level as well and that will help shape all of civilization. IE Americans are descended from a people who bathed once a week. How come Americans take daily showers yet many Europeans do not? Hey I'm gonna ask that on YA.

It is sad to say that many cultures are disappearing. But isn't that life? A culture is born, it lives a while then it dies. I am sure there are more cultures that have become extinct than there are today.

The balance you ask for is already there. Don't mess with it. You will only stifle a culture somewhere and snuff it out of existence.

Answer 4

Although I didn't go to the suggested sites, I do have an opinion. Balance in culture is only attainable by separation from the global community. This preserves the purity of the group. On the other hand the global community is diverse and requires input from the varied entities in order to maintain its global status. I believe that the maintenance of purity is important in order to understand the dynamics of civilizations evolution. The global community will produce although deluded, a snapshot of growth but with a strong emphasis on technology. The real problem is that the technology even if for the betterment of the whole will infect the purity of the local culture. Where the local community may be tolerant of infiltration of other ideas, the global community will struggle with the fundamentals of the smaller group wanting to globalize such things as religion (which will not work) and governmental processes (which may not be necessary).

Answer 5

The first priority is to create oversight to guide the developers to understand the importance of the values of local cultures. A community can develop evolutionary insights over many years or centuries while they inhabit a specific area. Not only is the destruction of their values at stake, but hidden keys to solving the problems of the entire species as well.

It is the biggest challenge, to only accept the leadership of those who respect the special gifts of their most distant constituencies and who are committed to preservation of standards they themselves cannot understand.

Any other kind of development must be secondary if the inhabitants of the developed community are to be "brought into the family", so to speak.

Otherwise contempt and resentment over the pain of lost opportunities will always exist under such a regime, and this will fill the future with rivalries and quests for vengeance.

People cannot be trusted, nor should they be distrusted. Focus should be kept on the gentle application of wise actions and skepticism should always take the place of cynicism.

I suggest we all become very careful with our words and actions, as the constituencies are all pretty damaged now. We must first and foremost, learn to listen with an open heart and find motivation in helping those who believe they have already been taken advantage of. These can be our developers, if they can graciously learn from our mistakes and accept our apologies.

Answer 6

I know! Only by combining these two things Vis a vis a common link, only then can preserve the past and explore the future simultaneously! Take Japan for instance, They still preserve the honors and values of over 2000 years, and yet are on the edge of human evolution on a grand scale. Korea also has this trait. We have to lokk backward and forwards at the same time!

Answer 7

The supposition that there SHOULD be this sort of a balance is not logical.

Balance = equality = no competition.

Competition fuels conflict, innovation, and evolution, among other things. Without inequity, there is no engine to push DNA into future generations. Life on earth is a product of imbalance, inequity, and competition, so assuming we can just eliminate it and survive as a species is a major fault in logic. In order for some things to live, other things must die. In order for some things to succeed, other things must fail. Or order for some cultures to advance, other cultures must fall. These are not my laws, they are natures laws. As we are all products of nature, we can no more ignore or avoid these laws than we can avoid being human.

This is self-evident, but if you're having trouble, simply open your eyes and look around.

Answer 8

I keep hearing and reading about people wanting to keep their culture. I take this as a people that does not want to advance and stay as stone age people.

Cultures do have to change as time passes. Those that move from one area to another either changes their culture or will never be part of the new place.

It is a fact that a multi culture nation will eventually fall because of it. The Roman enpire is a good example of this. Contrairy to what many historians write it was the multi culturalism that was the main reason that great nation fell.

Wanting to maintain the old ways means not being able or wanting to change. That stifles progress and leads to chaos.

The USA and EU are both begining to have real problems because of the factions bringing their old ways that they left because of and are unwilling to set them aside and learn the ways of where they have traveled to to live.

It is about time for people to understand that change has to happen and that means your culture as well. Children are not born with any culture at all. That has to be learnd from those around them.

A blending of cultures is the only way for people to ever begin to get along. Now that people can move around this orb so easily this blending must happen to even begin to have any peace.

I never understook why people want to drag the old ways with them when they left where they were because of their culture stiffeling groath of mind and education.

If a westener invites some chinese to dinner and the chinese throw the bones on the floor and spits on the floor you wuld not accept this as the norm. Well it is the norm in China. Even in public places they spit and throw what they do not wnt to eat on the floor. Yes it is changing and in the areas where education has improved this way of life has changed a lot. Back in the interior it is still the old ways and for them that is their culture.

Give up what is not needed and stop draging it along so you can't progress.

I am not saying everything is bad in any persons culture. There are many good things that can be shared with others. The things that keep people from learning and thinking must be left behind.

Answer 9

That's a very difficult question, because to preserve a local culture it have to be isolated or earned something from it. And because the first is not possible in the global community, the better is tho teach the people that their cultures are good and to grow a feeling of property and individuality due to their culture,
With this feeling is more probable that the outer cultures don't disturb the inner culture, and learn to respect them and maybe to take the good points to do a better one, without the lost of the customs.

Answer 10

I'm not quite sure what "local cultures" are. We have many different cultures all across the country, not just in our city.
This should be all about respect and education, if you mean the preservation of various cultures within our countries borders in conjunction with world cultures. I think that the old axiom 'live and let live' comes into play - as no one has the right to tell someone else that their culture is not important - in fact we should all be studying each others cultures.
I will use religion here - as an example - as each religion claims to be the "only true one", when in fact, they are all so similar in their beliefs it is ridiculous to have dissention amongst them. That's only one example - there are many more but I abhor long drawn out answers.