Philosophy Now Forum

Our philosophical science correspondent Massimo Pigliucci.

http://philosophynow.org/issues/80/On_Xenophobia

philosophynow wrote:Our philosophical science correspondent Massimo Pigliucci.

http://philosophynow.org/issues/80/On_Xenophobia

This approach simply demonstrate the paucity of the evolutionary type explanation.
I've no need to reiterate Darwin's Natural Selection, so suffice it to say that traits are adaptive in the breach (as it were~). No trait is designed FOR anything, but persists whilst it either remains useful, or persists whilst it does not compromise the reproductive success of the organism - in this case humans. Thus nothing can be said for a purpose to any specific trait.
Like most traits of this kind xenophobia exists in parallel with an opposing trait: human co-operation. Both are useful and given particularities of the circumstances both can be encouraged or discouraged.

Clearly, in a multicultural (i mean this in a literal way- not as a political movement) environment that the USA represents, xenophobia is destructive to the coherence of society and thus it ought to be discouraged and the opposing trait of inter-race co-operative encouraged. I would go further - the basic category of race ought to be expunged as contingent and useless, rather than universal. As the more intelligent of us can easily se the benefits of this course of action, where does that leave the numpties who promote evolutionary psychology? Such a pseudo-science is exposed as hopelessly ideological and of little use, because it simply reveals more about the unspoken assumptions of those that promote it, than about any universal truth about humanity.
Sadly what we are seeing is a massive contradiction. Whilst the US wants to promote its foreign wars it need to tacitly support a kind of xenophobia which sees 'rag-heads' and 'sand niggers' as the but of hatred and deserving of oppression and restriction. In the meantime this flys against the fact that for most of the populations, especially in the traditional blue areas, are of mixed origin. THe red (read red-neck) areas more willingly embrace the xenophobic: the anti-islam, white skinned christian.

Thanks for using the quote function properly Chaz, it makes your posts more inviting.

THe red (read red-neck) areas more willingly embrace the xenophobic:

It's more complicated than that. Xenophobia seems a broadly human phenomena, with each group having it's preferred favorite outside enemies which they pretend to be superior to.

As example, the blue areas you refer to can tend to be ignorant and xenophobic about the red areas, as your post demonstrates.

The condescending hysteria about President Bush, a red stater, that was trendy and fashionable in some circles for awhile serves as an example.

President Obama has continued most of the most controversial policies of President Bush, by deploying his own surge in Afghanistan, by promising to close the prison in Cuba, but not actually doing it, and so on. But blue staters don't really care, because they see President Obama as one of their own.

Thus, we see that many of the hysterical objections to President Bush were often cultural xenophobia, not issue based concerns.

President Bush wore cowboy boots, and had an "aw shucks" kind of speech, and so he become the outside enemy to many in the blue culture. Xenophobia, based on ignorance of an outside culture.

The fact that this outside culture is in the same country doesn't seem to matter.

Oh, the red-staters see 'rag-heads' and 'sand-niggers', but you see red-necks (with no cute little sarcasm quotation)? Nice prejudice you got there.

Liberals are notoriously the most racist and xenophobic people on the planet. Multiculturalism is a political ideology that has helped destroy our country. America is predominantly red, and red-staters care less about race than blue-staters. This is why Obama pulls the race card at every turn. Liberals see everything through the prism of race. Obama is an articulate guy for a black man -- says Harry Reid. Obama is almost holy -- says our Liberal media. Red-staters despise the man because he's destroying this country, not because he's black. That he's black is unfortunate for black people.

Red-staters just voted many people of color into state legislative positions in this election cycle. Blue-staters are guilt-ridden Liberals who coddle and excuse any behavior by blacks and other minorities. They don's see minorities as equals, but as people who can't be expected to act with dignity or intelligence, so they "understand" oh so much. People like you are the biggest racists there are.