{Political Justice}[9th March 1988]

[Redbook5:42-43][19880309:0030]{Political Justice}[9th March 1988]

8

19880309.0080

International events, and particularly the comments of governments' spokesmen on the events – for example, in Palestine, in Latin America (regarding British [military] exercises on the Falkland[ Island]s), and above all in and concerning Ireland – lead to a perception of differences in cultural viewpoint. These should be treated with caution: they can easily lead into racialism [sic], as in the case of the Nazis. But if there are no cultural differences, there are not [sic] cultures – of course.

On the whole, I think that the English [sic] political viewpoint objects genuinely to what is wrong. On the whole, I think that the Irish (i.e. of Eire) political viewpoint objects genuinely to what is against itself. I think that the former viewpoint is shared by Britain, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, and the United States at present; and West Germany is trying hard. I suspect that the latter view is held by most of the rest of the World, with the possible exception of China and Japan (and aspects of the Indian culture?).

As a Northern European tradition inherited for the time being by the United States (and probably Canada, Australia and New Zealand), the former view is expressed as a concern for Justice (China and Japan in their peaceful moments may as self-consciously ancient and self-sufficient civilisations perceive it as a concern for an Ordered [sic] existence). I am not concerned as to whether it works, etc.; what interests me is why it seems to be a right-hemisphere* [sic] viewpoint as against the more-or-less left-hemisphere perspective of the rest of the World.

*['Hemisphere' here (& almost certainly everywhere else in these journals unless the context makes it clearly otherwise) must presumably refer to the right and left semi-cycles on the Circles, in preference to the right and left hemispheres of the brain. <20171107,(20180104)>]

[PostedBlogger04012018]