Re: [blind-democracy] email spam
I think the term is culture shock. It is just a fact of life that things
are done differently in different cultures and when people of different
cultures
encounter each other someone is likely to feel uncomfortable. Another
example that comes to mind is one that I found in an anthropology
textbook. I am
the only person I know who reads textbooks as recreational reading, but
I assure you that they are not necessarily as boring as you might think,
especially
if you are reading a textbook on a subject you are interested in.
Anyway, there was a piece by a Japanese anthropologist. He said that
even though he was
an anthropologist himself and even though he was well aware of the
difference in cultural practices he could not shake the discomfort he
felt when he was
a guest in an American home. The main thing that made him so
uncomfortable was that he was always asked if he wanted refreshments and
how he wanted them.
For example, he would be asked if he wanted cream in his coffee or if he
wanted sugar. In Japan a guest does not express preferences in
refreshments and
the guest is not offered a choice. The guest simply accepts what the
host offers him and accepts it in whatever way the host makes it for
him. Being asked
how he wants it leaves him virtually tongue tied. Anyway, when I was in
college the foreign students did not come with instruction manuals and
it would
have been difficult to assimilate the various cultures with each other
anyway. Although I can imagine that an intercultural seminar might have
been helpful.
But if you are going on a trip to Africa with a tour group it seems to
me that the tour organization could at least give you some kind of
warnings. Because
I know of examples of this particular example of culture shock from some
examples myself and since the author of a book who came from Africa felt
the need
to discuss it in his book I think it is safe to say that this is a known
issue. The tour group could at least have warned you that you will be
getting
a lot of requests for gifts and that a lot of the requests would be
downright outrageous. They could have warned you that when that happened
the people
making the requests were trying to honor you. They might have instructed
you on how to respond too. I can say that even if I have learned what
this is
all about I am still not quite sure how I should respond if I am
confronted by an African making an outrageous request again. But at
least I think I would
feel more comfortable if I just knew what is really going on.
---
Christopher Hitchens
“ What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without
evidence. ”
― Christopher Hitchens,
On 4/20/2019 8:37 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
block quote
That's really interesting. It certainly didn't feel that way. I suppose
it illustrates how cultural differences can cause a lot of
misunderstandings between
people and if you think about it, probably some wars, as well.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Loran Bailey
<rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2019 7:50 PM
To:
blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
; Miriam Vieni
<miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [blind-democracy] email spam
We discussed this once before. I was reading a book authored by someone
from, I think, Cameroon. If what he described applied to other African
countries
it explains a lot. It explains at least a couple of cases I can point
to. I was once acquainted with a woman who was into pen palling. She was
astounded
at the requests made by her African pen pals.
They wanted her to send them some very expensive gifts. In my own
experience I remember a certain foreign student when I was in college.
He was from Nigeria. He did not so much ask for material gifts, but he
was always asking for favors, rather outrageous favors. To a lesser
extent other
African students tended to ask for gifts and favors that were a bit
extreme too. This particular one, though, was always laughed at behind
his back for
his gall. Anyway, I think the book I read explained what was going on.
The author made a trip back to his country and after having lived in
America for
years he was taken aback himself by the requests that were made of him
even if he knew that it was coming and even if he had expected it.
According to
him there is a system of patronage woven into the culture. If you want
to get anything done or to acquire anything of value you have to
participate whether
you like it or not. For the most part, though, it is not a matter of
liking it or not. It is just the way things are done. So according to
him when people
from his country, and presumably from other countries in the subSaharan
region, ask for gifts they are not necessarily asking with the real
expectation
that they are going to get them. I doubt that they would turn it down if
you gave them the gift, though. The point is that they are honoring you
by asking
you to be their patron. As impolite as it might sound to American ears
in their culture it is like offering a compliment or otherwise showing
you respect
and goodwill. And they are likely to expect that you will ask for gifts
from them too. As much as it is a way to honor you it still remains that
when each
party asks for a gift and both are interested enough to follow through
that drives the economy and mutually helps people to get things done.
---
Christopher Hitchens
“ What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without
evidence. ”
― Christopher Hitchens,
On 4/20/2019 4:19 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
block quote
I seldom get messages begging for funds. I suppose that Blind
Democracy sounds like a good place to beg for money. The message
reminded me of when I traveled with a group from the Ethical Humanist
Society and Adelphi School of Social Work in 1986 to Kenya. All sorts
of people were constantly asking us, as individuals, for money, for
aid to travel to the US or to sends them specific items when we
returned home. People had absolutely no embarrassment about doing
this. I remember how uncomfortable I felt because it was clear that
they saw us as wealthy people who owed them whatever they requested
because of who we were in relation to them. It must have been even
more uncomfortable for the African Americans in our group, who had
told us that this trip would be an opportunity for them to form a
relationship with the land of their ancestors. But the Kenyans did not
see them as kin. They saw them as rich American tourists.
Miriam
block quote end
block quote end
--
---
Christopher Hitchens
“ What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
”
― Christopher Hitchens,
