The Hypocrisy Of Culture

Twelve thousand years ago, small patriarchal bands of East Asians began an arduous trek across the Bering Strait and into the Americas. Over thousands of years, as these hunter and gatherers began to disperse throughout the Americas; new patterns of band behavior began to emerge. These patterns coalesced into what we now refer to as "culture." Although this East Asian migration was comprised of one people (most likely with one linguistic stock and belief system), after thousands of years in the new world, these bands were no longer able to communicate with one another. Both their language and culture splintered. Their adapted behavior patterns were simply societal imperatives that served to assure band survival.

The singular most devastating threat to these primitive bands was the death of a warrior, because a warrior's death meant less protection and less protein for the band. Therefore, the foremost band dictate for its warriors was – "Stay alive."

Each band's cultural identity formed independently; each borne of rules and beliefs that were intrinsically necessary for band preservation. Each band member's self-concept was deeply rooted in the learned behavior patterns or culture. Thus, for some North American bands, monogamy became the cultural dictate while in South American others embraced polygamy. A band that accepted polygamy might do so in order to remove unattached females from society as unattached females in estrus ultimately led to competition between males, which ultimately led to conflict between males.

In North America, for example, once bands such as the Comanche became "horsed", ¹ the cultural dictate – "Stay alive" placed no stigma on running from a fight. This cultural imperative was contradictory to Indo-European warrior society, which dictated that a soldier who fled the battlefield without a retreat order was a coward. Indo-European society dealt harshly with such cowards. The cultural dictate – "Stay alive" also meant that band members must not kill one another. While borne out of the prime dictate for all species – survive and reproduce, the fact that bands like the Comanche did not kill one another actually makes them quite civilized by world standards. There is great irony in the fact that Indo-Europeans during the time, who considered themselves thoroughly civilized, killed one another with little regard for human life.

Band members' unfaltering belief in their cultural dictates was accomplished by cultural indoctrination, beginning as early as age three in plains Indians. Each warrior was fully entrenched with the cultural imperative – "Stay alive." This was to provide protection and protein for the band. The "Stay alive" imperative also presented a cultural dichotomy to young warriors, as engaging and killing traditional enemies, often at great risk, were the only means of achieving status within the band. Cultural indoctrination instilled the deep belief that a warrior who could not provide protection and protein was not much of a warrior and thus not much of a man. Only after the Comanche and other Southern Plains Indians became imprisoned in the reservation system did the devastating effects of this indoctrination reveal themselves through depression, alcoholism, and suicide. Because warriors bound to the reservation could no longer provide protection or protein to the band, thus abandoning their cultural dictate, reservation males were no longer warriors or men.

While cultural beliefs varied from band-to-band, tribe-to-tribe, and country-to-country – one cultural component existed (and still exists) in all societies: "We are right and they are wrong." The "We are right and they are wrong" indoctrination was necessary to keep band members from abandoning cultural values when interacting with outside cultures. Examples of the "We are right and they are wrong" illustrates how early cultures referred to themselves. Many names translated to "people," "the people," or "human beings."²

The "We are right and they are wrong" indoctrination instructed all band members that the way we are organized is right, and what we believe in is right; thus all of our actions are always inherently right. This resulted in total inflexibility toward other cultures, which gave rise to cultural hypocrisy.

Representative of this cultural hypocrisy was the killing of women and children and non-combatants in Plains Indians and U.S. military conflicts. Each side engaged in the practice based on cultural beliefs and each side denounced the other's actions. However, neither side ever admitted they were wrong for committing the very atrocities that they condemned.

Just as the declaration that slaves were only two thirds human and thus not really men, kept the Founding Father's directive that "all men are created equal" culturally intact, the Anglos used this similar cultural justification to proclaim "Native People" as ignorant savages. After many broken treaties and promises by the United States, the Anglo culture was deemed "right" and the Native People were declared wards of the government. The only way for Native People and Anglos to "get along" (co-exist) was for Native People to assimilate Anglo culture. The cultural dictate by the United States was expressed succinctly to the reservation inhabitants - we want you to dress like us, speak like us, and believe the things we believe – in short, we want to strip you of your culture and your identity and thus your self-concept. (The Library of Congress photograph above speaks volumes to this hypocrisy.)

In 2008, cultural hypocrisy continues unabated. A recent example is the response by the U.S. State Department concerning Russia's occupation of Georgia's capital. Secretary Condoleezza Rice stated that Russia by "invading smaller neighbors, bombing civilian infrastructure, going into villages and wreaking havoc and wanton destruction of this infrastructure," is isolating itself from the "community of nations." Her assertion totally disregarded the assertions by many in the Middle East and West that the United States occupation of Iraq in 2003 was "invading a smaller country, bombing civilian infrastructure, going into villages and wreaking havoc and wanton destruction of the infrastructure," as isolating the U.S. from the "community of nations."

These opposing views on twenty-first century conflicts are direct descendents of the "We are right and they are wrong" indoctrination. The United States maintains its culture is right and Russia is wrong; therefore, the U.S. form of government is right and Russia's is wrong. Because the U.S. is right - all of its actions are inherently right. Conversely, Russia is wrong and all of its actions are inherently wrong.

History does repeat itself. The reasons why Comanche and Anglos did not get along in the nineteenth century are the very same reasons that Israelis and Palestinians do not get along today: culture and identity. In order to break free of the cultural cycle of hypocrisy twenty-first century peoples must begin a new indoctrination of future generations; one that allows for understanding lessons from the past and developing an understanding for other cultures. We do not have to believe what they believe, but we should educate ourselves as to why they believe what they believe. Then, and only then, we may come to understand other cultures and their actions. Failure to develop a level of understanding will result in us once again trying to impose our own cultural beliefs on another culture, and as history has shown, the consequences are dangerous. We are doomed to repeat history's lessons as long as "different" carries the labels of ignorant, savage, or less than human and require assimilation into the "right" culture.

Our very survival as a species may rest in the idea that in order for cultures to "get along" we do not all need to be the same.

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¹The introduction of the horse to North America had a profound impact on the Comanche. Comanche are believed to be the first native people on the plains to use the horse for hunting and war.
² The Israelites called themselves "the chosen people".