Re:Japan's hidden caste of untouchables
by rdtsc on Saturday October 24, 2015 @11:56PM
(#10445916)
I think to "belong" is an innate human drive. Some groups make it harder to belong -- "you don't have the right ancestry, your great-grandfather has a foreign last name", "your skin is a bit too dark", "eyes are too squinty" and so on.
Other groups make it easier to belong. Say being an American is easy. Not to sing praises to America in general, but that part is easier. I was born in another country, but I can say I am American and most American could agree with that, even if I have a funny accent going on. They would say nothing to my kid, won't dig into their history either. That is a nice thing to have. So "belonging" is easier.
It is harder not to belong to any group. I think that is part of your acquaintance problem. If somehow she felt she was Korean, that would be more comforting perhaps.
Old societies and cultures seem cute, quaint or reverent to many, but there is that stuff about being prejudiced and bigoted.
In a some kind of a Darwinian way one can argue "ok, good, that society and culture will eventually lose out and be at a disadvantage", let them be exclusive and patriarchal and bigoted, they will wither way eventually. Of course that doesn't make it easier to for those born in those cultures.
Other groups make it easier to belong. Say being an American is easy. Not to sing praises to America in general, but that part is easier. I was born in another country, but I can say I am American and most American could agree with that, even if I have a funny accent going on. They would say nothing to my kid, won't dig into their history either. That is a nice thing to have. So "belonging" is easier.
It is harder not to belong to any group. I think that is part of your acquaintance problem. If somehow she felt she was Korean, that would be more comforting perhaps.
Old societies and cultures seem cute, quaint or reverent to many, but there is that stuff about being prejudiced and bigoted.
In a some kind of a Darwinian way one can argue "ok, good, that society and culture will eventually lose out and be at a disadvantage", let them be exclusive and patriarchal and bigoted, they will wither way eventually. Of course that doesn't make it easier to for those born in those cultures.