The American Coup

[James R. Coplin]

>> Don't forget Portuguese, 6th largest spoken language in the world.
>
>Not an official language in North-America, is it? Heck, even the US 
>don't have an official language, but then Canada has two. :) But 
>basically, in North America they speak English, Spanish, and a bit of 
>French.

>But what in heaven's name make you think that there are 'more of you'? 
>There are about 300 million US Americans and 730 million Europeans. Even 
>if you lump in the Canadians and the Mexicans, you're still a couple of 
>hundred of millions short.

I was thinking North and South America in these numbers and the language.  I
was trying to answer the American question while grading term papers on
South America.  My feeble mind obviously can't do two things at once.

>Name a few world-famous works of art that comes from China. The Great 
>Wall and the Forbidden City don't count. Along the lines of the Mona 
>Lisa or the Sistine Chapel, that sort of thing.

Interesting criteria.  "Name something important from China but it has to
conform to Europe descriptions of beauty, value, and significance."  The
paintings of the late Yuan masters do more for me than anything to roll out
of Church dominated European art. I find most Renaissance high art to leave
me completely unaffected and bored.  You assume based on your criteria that
things like the Mona Lisa and Sistine Chapel are the defacto definition.
This immediately casts anything done outside of Europe into a subordinate
role that must be mediated through your standards.  If you were to ask the
question of great art to a bunch of Chinese folks, you might be surprised
how what they consider great and what you consider great are not the same.
What is most surprising is that when you agree on something being great, you
probably will disagree completely on why.  I am always frustrated after
watching or discussing Chinese films with the Chinese. My western background
and models always give me completely different reads and interpretations.
These sorts of things clearly argue against a universality of meaning and
suggest that beauty is in fact in the eye of the beholder, at least as
mediated through culture norms and constructions. 

>> And even though Europe may have lost its leading position, when it comes 
>> to the best cities to live in, the greatest amount of press freedom, the 
>> least amount of corruption (and, um, the largest amount of alcohol 
>> consumption per capita), it's always Europe that fills the top spots.
> 
> So say Europeans in polls about where Europeans think is the best place in
> Europe to live. It is the same view and problem that Europeans often
> complain about Americans.  The Eurocentric view and definition of all
things
> on its own terms is equally if not more troubling. 
>Well, no, these are world-wide surveys, based on objectively measurable 
>criteria. And it's certain countries that hit the top spots when it 
>comes to low corruption and press freedom: Scandinavia, the Netherlands, 
>and also New-Zealand. Italy and Greece, though in Europe, don't score 
>very well there.

Who exactly was asked and in what distribution?  The complete lack of
anything in Asia smells of a poorly picked sample.  Most people have strong
affinity to place and choose something close and familiar as "home".  The
lack of any Asian city in light of the size of the Asian population makes
this "stat" extremely problematic.  I have a hard time believing that all
the Indians and Chinese would prefer to live in Europe than someplace closer
to home.

>My point here is that Europe is no longer the dominant political and 
>military power, but it's still leading in other areas - areas that I 
>find rather important, because they directly relate to quality of life.

And that's fine.  Just don't assume that you Eurocentric view is shared or
should be shared by anyone else.  Just because you think Switzerland is best
place in the world to live and the Mona Lisa turns your crank, doesn't mean
that anyone else from a different cultural background should.  It doesn't
mean you are wrong, in fact, if you were to strongly argue something counter
to your cultural milieu one would have to be suspicious of you.  My only
problem is the Eurocentric view which defines everything European and the
standard and norm and directly cast everything else as the other.

>Not South America, but Latin America for sure. Think of Spanish and 
>Portuguese, Catholicism, soccer.

When do all of these arrive in South America?  Where do they arrive from?
South America is not a tabla rasa (blank slate) when Europeans arrive.  The
Spanish conquer Mexico in 1502.  South America is longer but by 1572 they
have solidified their powers there.  That's 436 years. These are peoples
whose history dates back to 2000BCE and 1000BCE approximately.  That's 2500
years *longer* than the Spanish, Soccer, and the Catholics. Interesting that
you choose to start and identify what is unique about South America from
object imported and thrust upon them from European aggression.  Further,
none of the things you point to are of indigenous origin.

>And it's widely accepted that Europe's cultural borders extend beyond 
>its geographical borders. Countries like Armenia and Georgia may 
>officially lie in Asia, culturally they're European.
>
> based on cultural hegemony.  Why is Russia "Asia" and what is magic about
> the Rio Grande that makes Mexico "over there".   One should never confuse
> physical geography as anything other than cultural constructs.
>
>Russia is a special case: one could argue that culturally, Europe 
>stretches right up to Vladivostok. Russians across the nation have 
>pretty much the same accent, with the exception of the ones in the 
>south. And on the Russian side of the border with China, you see blonde 
>people.
>
>But as said, Russia is a special case, that can't simply be lumped into 
>a continent that is smaller than the country itself.

All of this suggests that Europe is a completely artificial construct.
Don't take it too personally, most geography is.  North America and the US
included.  The point is, is that all these terms of viewing, talking about,
and dividing up the world are all done on European terms, using European
definitions, sciences, and cultural backgrounds.  

James R. Coplin