The end of an old idea

As much as I would like to say that we have moved forward in our present day, I know that most of us humans still have the “Clash of Civilization” mindset.  We saw this in all the books that we read this semester, then I was able to see it further expanded on in the many cultural events which I attended.  Even past blogs we have done seem to address the underlying features of the “Clash of Civilization” mindset.

The most apparent of these blogs was our response to the growing power and size of the English language throughout the world.  I think one of the biggest things that separate “us from them” is how tough it can be to cross the language barrier, and how this will deter a lot of people, particularly Americans, from even trying.  However, as I discussed in my last blog entitled “Is English really that Cool?,” I outlined the pros and cons of accepting English as a completely globalized language.  In the end, I decided that the ease that a global language would bring does not outweigh the cons of losing all of the other languages of the world.  Although I think this is one way that we would be able to move past the “Clash of Civilization” mindset, I don’t think it is the correct way. 

As a person who has traveled all around the world, I can safely say that traveling, and experiencing other cultures first hand is an awesome way to see past the “clashing.”  Unfortunatley, not everyone is able travel the world and experience the way people live all around the world.  I think this helped me get past the “Clash of the Civiliazation” mindset because you are able to see that people, although they may live vastly different then you, really aren’t very different when it all boils down.  I really hope we are able to move past this “Clash of the Civilization” mindset that seems to me to be from the dark ages, but I do not see that happening without an increase in education of culture and acceptance.  Unfortunately this does not seem to be on the immediate agenda of most world powers in the present day.