The new barbarians

The central principle of multiculturalism is that all cultures are equal and should be equally celebrated. To say that all cultures are equal is also to necessarily say that all cultural practices are equal, thereby revealing the moral relativism at the heart of the multicultural project. That has, of course, always been the problem with such thinking. It leads to a moral dead end in which it is impossible to say that anything is actually bad because nothing can be worse than anything else (except for Western culture, which is inherently oppressive). Multiculturalism of this sort reflects little more than cultural affirmative action in which the myth of the equality of cultures is maintained only by demonizing Western culture, whatever its virtues, and boosting all others, however ugly and backward. But the simple truth is that almost all of the political values that progressive and enlightened people treasure-democracy, inalienable rights, environmentalism, gay and women's rights among them-are Western in origin. One cannot uphold such values without, logically speaking, both upholding the superiority of Western culture and viewing other cultures which routinely violate them as inferior. The bizarre nature of anti-Western multiculturalism is revealed when realizing that, to the extent civilized norms have spread throughout the world over time, they have spread only because of Western influence. Indeed, multiculturalism itself is a purely Western conception. It is only Western culture that emphasizes respect for other cultures and criticism of its own. Read more...