Friday. March 6. I959

SCARLET AND BLACK

Page Five

 

Cultural Differences, Mares, Concern King

by Winston L. King

[In NOTE: King is a pro.
Izsor oi philosophy and re-
ligion at Grinnell. At present
he is a 'v
the international institute oi
Advanced huddhistic Studies
at Rangoon, nurma. He took
the two years leave in con»
nection with a Ford Founda—
tion gldntt King, who joined
the Grinnell iaculty in 1949
has a 1M. irorn Asbury, a
3,1). ironr Alldover Newton
and an 53‘ and run. trom
Harvard.

Weithe Buddhist monk and
I—had been discussing mv \'el
Sign of his Statements about. the

Buddhist doctrine of narsoul tor'

halt an hour without much suc-
cess. (The doctrine states
part that there is
nent reality or identity in the
seli but only a very rapid suc-
cession oi moments ot aware-
ness which give the illusion ot
permanu‘icc) l thought that i
had clone it rather well but
he was not satisﬁed. He kept
on raising objections whose
point i could not) see.

There we sat on a hot ait.
ernoon feeling more rind more
irustrated. Suddenly a quiz—
zical expression came over his
iaoe: “Why are you using the
term ‘memory‘? Are you talk-
ing here oi ONE lite only?"
he askcdr

“OI Coursn," I replied.
Then he began to

“But Ilwas tailnng about a Suc-
cession of lives. If you are
speaking of one life only. I
have nu ubiecilon at all to what
you say

I began to laugh too. Tiicrc
we had sat using tlro sarrrc
words over unit over but

meaning quit: different, things -

from our. ones and man
viewpoints. Tlrorrglr I had r- :id
about it in books (and Lily
Ahcgg’s “Mind or East Asia"
is a good one) neverruntil
that moment had I irrlly rea-
lized the subtle way in which
the diiiereucc in
backgrounds permeates and
snarls most East-West rela-
tionships inextricably.

Obviously seven months’
donce here has given me

rear

it has impressed a iew points,
made by many ethos, very
deeply upon inc.

A ﬁrst cond ion tor
tanding' is a realistic readiness
to appreciate the depth oi our

Superﬁcial polite»
ness and a catch p rasc hnoul-
edge oi the other's history and
.ulturc may persuade us that
we know each other. But ll. 15
.ot so, Not only is our
ncc or each other
he USA, lor example) pros
ound; — habits, ways of lhinlc
’n and Ieclmg, approaches to
rohlcins and vital goals in liic,
vcii when known, are radically
iiicrcnt. Every experience oi
.tteriptcd communication inahcs

e realize this more. deeply.

, Take the time sense oi the
two cultures, {or example.
Considerable oi what has
been written about the cler-
nity-nrindcd, nonrhistoricdl at-
titude or the East is true. And
it shows up in many large
and small \vtlys: ii rather cas»
ual attitude toward prompt-
ness and rigid schedules _ as
though by disregarding time
one may conquer it. Or per.
haps it is a ieeling that men—
tai readiness i more imper—
lllnt lllnn clnukrl'cndlllessr BC-
sides, with lnIa’llL lived clei'nir
tins ahead. what is (he Iln‘r'ry
about anything?
Further, there

ignore

is a general

ing proiessor at ,

iii?
no pel‘mzl-‘

chucklc.‘

cultural -

under ,

(Burma and»

i ,
lavcl'sioll to historical c
land analysis oi customs,
literature or religion. Such
studies have a kind at mun-
dane unpcrtincnce about them,

i
intensely disliked by the East.

Yet, ionimlly the East
now caught up by a terrible
necessity ior getting things
done in a hurry in this mun»

iiCiSm
lift).

is

srient‘e have iorced the pace

l
l
Id
l
i
i
l

icicrish worship of them has

l overtaken many
are demanded at an impos-
sibly inst rate irom gavcrll-
merits and technicians.

But. bv

sainc science and
are resented and tcarcd, too
They have put so much: emphasis
upon this world ot time and
space and increased the mate
rial objects alter which men
lianlcci Soon, sonic, lear, the
East may sin the sin oi the
\Veslimaterialisln. Thcrclorc

is proclaimed in one breath tby
Hinduism and Buddhism) that

the same token (his

’lscicncc is only conﬁrllling the

long- known tluths of their
lfaiLl-ts, and in Lllt) next. bleath'

iany ultimate truths and should
not be taken as pr'ondlng the
only way to truth.

\Finally, I have been made
much aware that Western cul—
ture needs to approach East

thy, particularly the iorrncr.
This has been long overdue.
Still ircsh in all Eastern
memories is the superiority»
complex oi the West. At ﬁrst
laughed at as presumptuous,
it becanrc hated when sopc-
rior technology transiormed it

into politiml and cultural ag
grcssion, It will take at least
a generation or two at diner
cnt experiences to compensate
'ior these past centuries.

 

Some Eastern nations,
Jscclt to compensate by lanati
litary pow-or even while
idisparasing them. Others
have no ability or desire to do'
this will scok compensation
cultural and religious

pcliority of East to “lost midi
the mounting counter missionary
imoveincnts by Hindus and
iBuddhisls.

And there is a deep, almost
obsessive p chologlcal need
here [or appr ciatlon and re-
sport; the need to be hstcncd
lie and to contribute The East
,i-cjccts the thesis that the West
has everything to teach, and
bitterly resents bcing talltcd
down to.\Tlle Eaeiiilot iinyus-
tlﬁablyiwants its voice heard
and heeded in the modern

t world.

And how Shall the \VCSL res
not? Certainly not in haughty
s c n r n. T h e contemporary
abundant and bitter iruitagc
or such an attitude in the
past condemns it suﬂit-i’blltly.
Nur with loity-browed patrons

Vllit‘l) .is even more

ting. Yet (in the ‘Dthcl‘
hand not everything the East
says about itselli or riders to
the \Vc'si. should he received

cally and, cntiru nstit's
ally—as sonic well-meaning
souls now tend to do.

A more (limt‘ttlt blt‘nd of
humble lolcl'zinct (or present
hittcrirc a genuine respectful
but discerning rut st in 133er
our culture- dud p epic, and on
open-mindcd Scii.'livi to E1 ls
em you out vah . even while
not (lestli'iing oncs own are
what is t-ailctl ior ii there is
to be a desirable Ll‘Dni-faltlliza-
tion of Eastchst cultures and
capacrti

 

ills '

dane world Technology and ”“5 us. ‘-
whether or no And a kind ol In

Thus results propeltions

technology m

]rnerc accident, in the inrnetccnth ‘
(Cuntu’

l

‘pewer,
rally pursuing technical and inii. ave
still siderable exodus oi Europeans
who to other parts oi the world

in many
terms. lucrc or
no This takes the iorm oi repeated‘sway
mam mama to, unsnarllng. But insistence upon the religious su- ncw rcatures oi Elliopui

 

by 5. ll. Baron '
. NOT“ Baron is an as. l
sooratc proiessor oi history at ,
Grinncll. At present he is on i
a Ford lroundation icllowship ,
at Harvard uniicrsity for a.
year's stutly oi East Asi i
Baron, who joined the Grin-
nell tacuity in 1956, has a i
3.5. irom Cornell university .

Columbia
“Economics,"

and an M.Ar and PhD. from '

the dictionary
the science that
investigates the material means
at satisi illg human desires. i
recent times, llivestlgatorsl

discovered alarming dis
between ng
rates of human multiplication
and potentials for meeting the
bar st needs oi this rapidly
growing population. In the Unit
cd States, to be ire, economistl
John Galbraith iinols it possiblel
concern himselt with the
problems at wh t he calls “the
aitiuent socict But the griml
material prospects Confronting a;
majority ot the worlds peoplesl
suggest that economics was apt-
iv named, in the early phase oil

have

it its liisio; y, ”the tl-sma! science ”

Because. in the course at
your coniercncc, you are cer—
tain to be deluged with a
plethora oi appalling statisti. I
eal coritirmation oi this prop»

:that science cannot speak about osition, I feel [tee to dispense

i
with such reterences here I l
should preter instead to raise ‘
ior your consideration a moral ‘
problem and a practical pro-
posal relevant to this vexing

and ominous question
The population problem

has

B"! will) 1'05“” and sympﬂ- 'a< llS pi'lnmp’dl locus Certain of

the so-called iiirderdcvclopcdi
areas oi the world. The coincrd— i
once at overpopulation and eco-
nomic underdevelopment is no,
rEul‘opE witnessed a‘
sen. tionai population increase.
attributable chic to the low—
~iiig oi death and pr -:
allgcd iit'e c )eclancy Suclli
here the consequences of the
great advances in medical
once and sanitary piocedilr9~ in
that century This population in—
isc was accompanied by a
e buildup n1 productive
a vast expansion ot

'eas mal'ke , and a con-

ln the underdeveloped at
oi which either alreadv
soon tell under the
oi European power. the

Any man can 0e
A MAN
OF LETTERS

give him
t1 gift of

Elm/{’5

FINE
LETTER PAPER

COLLEGE
BOOKSTORE

 

 

,experlcnccd. However,

, inaslve

i hold

Baron

 

reilccted selective
ly. Innovations in medical and
health services were readily
introduced, resulting in a pop-

zatlon were

ilatron beern like that Europcl

the pop-

ulation expl on in these areas

.uas :icilllcr compensated ior by

mere. s in productiv—
ity nor relieved by emigration,
as elsewhere. Thereiorc, an
enormous pr~cssuic oi popular
tion upon resources came into
play

in the light oi such con-
siderations, it has natural that
economic development should
be widely seized upon in our
time as the solution to tho
problems oi underdeveloped
arcasi still, rr pcculiar diiii-
culty attaches to such pros
grﬂer Countries puss,
very large populations in rela-
alien to productive capacity —
populations moreover which
find it exceedingly diiiicult to
proiiierate at high speed —
expand their productive SySr
toms at a rate siriilcrently
great to both oi‘iset the pop-
ulation increase and yet make
pos-‘bie suhst-iritiai rises in
ii rig standards. Consequent-
iy, while economic develop-
ment must be encouraged,

‘ heroic efforts in tllllt direction

will prove vain it not accom—
panied by equally heroic eir
torts to crrrb population in.
creaser i

In simple Justice we must

recognize our oun complicity in

the making of the world peptic
lation problem \Vesteine , in
their zeal to eridicate diseases
in Asia and Alriea, destroyed
the tioodgates that former-h-
population increase in
heck. Albeit with what they
look to he the best motive
moral and humanitarian. they in
tact helped to co ure up the
pccti-e or slarl tion [or the
teeming millions In diminishing

rig.

‘thc chances at death by pin
they greatly inagnilicd the o
portunities tor death by star-y .
ltlon. in retrospt t we may wtl
nslr whether theirs was indeed a
‘inoral and humanitarian wor::.
\Fol' the moral superiority or
death by starvaticn as agair t
death by plague has not yet
lbecn demonstrated.

l In the years ahead, we shall
’hnve to examine our pmgral‘is
and activities with a sharp
,critical eye. We must ma e
certain that in attempting to
per~toitir humane service, we do
not aggravate already aetie
diiiiculties.

i should like to propose one

possible way both to redeem
partially some or our past
ioilies and, at the same time,
to contribute signiiieantly to
the solution of this problem,
so crucial to the iuture ot
. humanityr 0n the level oi gens ,
erality, we ought to devote
to the problem oi population
control at least as much
thought and attention as we
do to the “cold war’ a strug-
gle that in the long perspet
tive pales in siguiticance by
contrast.

More specitically, might thcic
inot be organized, under the atr-
prces ot the Unrtcd Nations, 2
corps oi population control in:
sionaries to worir in the helm
A more valuable complement
to already operaiiie technical
assistance personnel, and a
richer opportunity ior humari—
tar-ian endeavor, can hardly m
imagined, -'Thc ulipal'allelttl
gravity oi the situation shou'tl
be publicized widely. aloig
uith ureent ctiorts to rccrtit
ipeoplc tor such werir Pcth
vour conierence could sparlt a
movement tor a program oi ti s
litind, To young people tlEdlUZiLul
to the idea ot a liie oi scrv'.e
to huinanitv, l “Quid commoi-d
ior consideration such a careir.

 

 

civili- ‘

neuron” mirror-rm i... treasure .-

Dr. Livingstone ?

What a happy man he would have been if
his man Stanley could have brought along
a carton cl Coke! Thai. cold crisp taste,

that lively lift would certainly hit the spot

with any til-ed explorer. In fact,

alter your

next safari to class—wouldn't Coca—Cola

taste good to you?

BE REALLY REFRESHED .4 r HAVE A COKE!

Bottled under authority of The Coco-Colo Company by

MARSHALLTOWN COCArCOLA BOTTLING C0.
Mal‘ilmlliown, Iowa

 

