What's your option of some cultures being completely incompatible with civilisation? Child brides and worse?
Discussion
You’re talking about sociology, I was referencing anthropology at a more basic level - our shared humanity irrespective of colour, race or creed.
To be clear child brides are bad in my opinion.
However the simple words of “incompatible with civilisation” automatically implies an “us and them” division that strips away their humanity and assumes “we” are better.
If you want to discuss that then we need to look back at history. To take one example you’ve brought up - as recently as 800yrs ago the Christian faith said it was okay for girls of 12 and boys of 14 to marry.
Of course times have moved on and it’s no longer condoned. But as with fossil fuel usage and carbon emissions, it’s a privileged position to demand developing countries immediately abide by our rules when we’ve been walking that path of development for a longer time.
All good points and well constructed response, thanks you. Although I think your analogy to fussil fuels in refemrce to the child bride matter is not the best as fossil fuel etc hinge around technology and money and I don't believe it would disadvantage a country to outlaw such a thing
I wasn’t analogising fossil fuels to child brides as much as using it an another example of the west telling the developing nations what they have to do.
Our Industrial Revolution laid the foundations for our society as it is - at great cost to the environment with not even a second thought to fossil fuel usage, carbon footprint or carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
But now we’ve learnt more, there are those who want to block the developing nations from using fossil fuels because it’s continuing the destruction of the environment.
To be clear, I think unfettered fossil fuel usage is a bad thing too. But we can’t deny them their development (although a cynic might suggest it’s being done to help keep them down) so there has to be a different solution.
It’s so interwoven that most just ignore it and continue with the status quo - it’s easier to ignore than effect change.
But travelling opens your eyes to their plight. And with a small dose of humanity it’s easy to see it’s not us and them, but we are all one and by raising one group, everyone moves up together.