Intellectual Tradition: A Truexian Shoutout

A quick conversation or single comment can change the way one looks at the world. “Wow, I never really thought about it that way,” is one of my favorite phrases to use and hear. This goes beyond acknowledgment of being right (or wrong); it is the simple joy of sharing ideas and learning how others view the world. There are two distinct ideas passed on to me by Dr. Truex that have greatly impacted my intellectual development and understanding of the world.

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The first came when we were both freshmen, chilling on the patio at 27th St. He asked if I was familiar with postmodernism, which I was not. I am notoriously poorly-read, with a barely passing familiarity with great works of philosophy and literature. I don’t remember why it came up, but we briefly discussed the rejection of absolute truths and moral relativism. At 18 years old, I was at my personal height of being hardheaded seeing the world in terms of black and white. I was quick to reject a complex idea like moral relativism, but that’s the right thing to do if you understand the logical conclusions: adhere to these axioms, and the Holocaust is no longer immoral. No picking and choosing.

Moral relativism cannot be used as the reason alone to argue that something is not inherently im/moral without acceptance that nothing is absolutely im/moral. It’s still a useful framework to understand, and one that has helped me immensely. Society can make certain things against the law, many of which may be legitimately immoral. Cold-blooded murder, for example. However, legal status or even overwhelming cultural belief does not determine true morality. Capital punishment is not moral because the United States employs it, and it is not immoral because every other developed nation does not.

A classic example is that of female genital mutilation. It sure feels wrong to me, but is widely accepted in certain cultures. The level of brutality might not be equivalent, but my culture seems to have a predilection for mutilating penises. Come on, tell me why it’s soooooo different.

Many Westerners tend to believe the veil/burqa worn by Muslim women constitutes a gross human rights violation, failing to understand that many women are proud to wear them. Certainly not all, and in general I don’t view the treatment of women in Islam as particularly enlightened. As Muslims continue to immigrate to Western Europe, the issue of Islamic dress has become increasingly controversial. Germany, due to it’s 20th century history of unique.. um.. cultural intolerance, errs on the side of tolerance when it comes to issues of multiculturalism. Like the tolerance of giving light sentences to Muslims guilty of committing honor killings. Wouldn’t want to infringe on a cultural right to murder one’s family members.

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Postmodernism, moral relativism, multiculturalism – these would have all entered my sphere sooner or later. Another comment made a couple years later may not, and it formed the foundation of much of my sociological thought. Why do we look at statistics from the United States, compare them to racially/culturally homogeneous nations, and pretend they mean something? As I recall, the specific context was gun deaths, but the question of homogeneity (and it’s impact) spreads to every social issue.

Oh France, bastion of enlightened social policy. The 35-hour work week, 5 vacation weeks a year. 16 weeks 100% paid parental leave for the mother, 2 weeks for the father, up to 2 years unpaid (split) and your bosses can’t say a damn thing. Who needs economic growth when you have history, wine, and cheese? I seem to recall there being some issues over the last couple years with young immigrants, largely Muslim, being a little upset about the chronic unemployment and their living conditions.

Other European countries offer paid parental leave for longer lengths, but they all put the United States’ absolutely none to shame. The U.S. is unique among countries worldwide with this lack of what most consider a basic social service. A parent’s job is only legally protected for 12 weeks, and only if they work for work for a “covered employer”. This fact was brought up repeatedly in sociology classes, generally in an America-bashing way. I don’t know all the details behind the lack of parental leave in the U.S., but I know a big reason why it’s unlikely to change.

The United States is diverse. The majority – white people – have children at less than the replacement rate. Minorities account for the rate of population growth both through immigration, but also a higher birth rate. People already harbor beliefs that minorities are stealing all our damn social services and bleeding the country dry. There’s no way paid parental leave will be governmentally mandated while there is a difference in birth rate between different ethnicities – especially when the majority has the lower rate. Of course, our economic system is based on growth. If I want Social Security to exist when I’m old enough to qualify, I should embrace population growth.

On the other hand, lack of paid parental leave doesn’t seem to be stopping certain minorities from having large families. Furthermore, it’s doubtful that its existence would encourage those not having many children to have more. All it would do is cost money and, well, help people. It’s a lot easier to just say you care about children and families.

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In the time it took you to read this far, several hundred penises have been chopped in the United States. A handful had complications, one serious. We’ll just snip some more and make that one a girl; no harm, no foul. Imagine if the practice was unheard of in the Western world, but practiced throughout Africa. Our economic sanctions would have killed tens of millions to date. And that is something people don’t usually think about.