Are Some Cultures Better than Others? | 5 Minute Video
Are some cultures better than others? Or are all cultures and their values equal? Bestselling author Dinesh D’Souza, who was born in India and moved to America, explains.
Donate today to PragerU! http://l.prageru.com/2ylo1Yt
Have you taken the pledge for school choice? Click here! https://www.schoolchoicenow.com
Joining PragerU is free! Sign up now to get all our videos as soon as they’re released. http://prageru.com/signup
Download Pragerpedia on your iPhone or Android! Thousands of sources and facts at your fingertips.
iPhone: http://l.prageru.com/2dlsnbG
Android: http://l.prageru.com/2dlsS5e
Join Prager United to get new swag every quarter, exclusive early access to our videos, and an annual TownHall phone call with Dennis Prager! http://l.prageru.com/2c9n6ys
Join PragerU’s text list to have these videos, free merchandise giveaways and breaking announcements sent directly to your phone! https://optin.mobiniti.com/prageru
Do you shop on Amazon? Click https://smile.amazon.com and a percentage of every Amazon purchase will be donated to PragerU. Same great products. Same low price. Shopping made meaningful.
VISIT PragerU! https://www.prageru.com
FOLLOW us!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prageru
Twitter: https://twitter.com/prageru
Instagram: https://instagram.com/prageru/
PragerU is on Snapchat!
JOIN PragerFORCE!
For Students: http://l.prageru.com/29SgPaX
JOIN our Educators Network! http://l.prageru.com/2c8vsff
Script:
Do you think the United States and Western Europe are made up of imperialist, colonialist, resource-exploiting, greedy, grasping, brown-skin-hating people whose values are not worth defending?
If you think this question is absurd and that no one thinks this way, you would be very much mistaken. Many people do. And what’s even more disturbing, many of these people were born and live in the West. In other words, they have come to despise their own culture.
This thinking is the product of a doctrine widely taught in our schools. It’s known as multiculturalism, the belief that all cultures are equal. Or to put it another way, no culture’s values, art, music, political system, or literature are better or worse than any other.
But is this really true?
Some years ago, Nobel-prize winning novelist Saul Bellow created a major controversy when he said, “Find me the Tolstoy of the Zulus, or the Proust of the Papuans, and I would be happy to read him.” For this, Bellow was accused of racism.
The charge was nonsense. Bellow wasn’t saying that the Zulus and Papuans are incapable of producing great novelists. He was saying that, as far as he knew, they hadn’t. But just by raising the possibility that some cultures have contributed more than others, he violated the chief tenet of multiculturalism.
More recently, President Donald Trump expressed a similar sentiment in Warsaw, Poland.
“We write symphonies. We pursue innovation…We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression…We empower women as pillars of our society and of our success…That is who we are…Those are the priceless ties that bind us together…as a civilization.”
For this, Trump was roundly condemned by the multiculturalists. How could he say these things, one writer wrote, “as if these were unique qualities to white-dominated nations, instead of universal truths of the human race across all cultures.”
Here’s the problem: Are values such as innovation, rule of law, free expression and women’s empowerment equally held across all cultures?
If all cultures are equal, how does one account for the fact that, for the last 500 years, it has been one culture—the culture of the West, and now of America—that has shaped the world?
Multiculturalists explain it in terms of oppression. Western civilization, they say, became so powerful because it is so evil. The study of Western civilization, they insist, should focus on colonialism and slavery––the unique mechanisms of Western oppression.
But colonialism and slavery are not uniquely Western at all. They are universal.
The British conquered India and ruled it for 300 years. But before the British, the Persians, the Mongols, the Muslims, and Alexander the Great had done exactly same thing – conquered large parts of India.
Indeed, the British were the sixth or seventh colonial invader to occupy India.
For the complete script, visit https://www.prageru.com/videos/are-some-cultures-better-others
source
Yeah that's true some cultures are horrible mine was horrible before we converted to Christianity.
The religious practices we did aren't even to be talked about
It’s crazy how all the cultures created by Whites are so awesome
You really have to wonder what happened to a guy named Dinesh, who was born in Mumbai, who makes a video trying to convince people that western civilization, which inescapably means white European people, is superior to all other human achievement. He literally never mentions the achievements of the Indian people. He doesn’t mention Indian literature or art. Nothing. This guy has cultural Stockholm syndrome. It’s actually pretty shocking. And all of this cheerleading for the supremacy of western civilization is inescapably racist.
I used to be like this when i was alot younger. I used to hate and condemn America, thinking that people here in the US only thought about money,, power or sex. I myself am American, and would have voted against Trump if I still thought this way now. But America is not that. It is a nation of freedom amd morality. Thank you, Mr. D'Souza
bros talking off topic
politics not equal to culture
yes
As an arab from lebanon 🇱🇧 , I'm a massive fan of the republican party and i beleive they're the only ones who want to maintain Americanism which is the greatest system ever implemented.
He’s talking about ‚rule of law‘ while he supports trump who literally wants ‚rule of men‘
Never heared or seen such cheerful white nationalism propaganda 😂
This video is racist
Liberal culture is superior to christian conservative culture.
The changes wrought by the moveable type-script printing press, based on the Chinese invention, led to the Enlightenment, namely the French and American I.e. Freemasonic revolutions.
Great video to teach logical fallacies and poor argumentation! ! What a tool for a civics class.
It's like this guy has been brainwashed. Does he see himself in the mirror? He's not a white male! Although he talks like one.
He is so much brainwashed that in name of defending white supremacy, he has even forgot have to pronounce his indian name 🤦🏻♂️.
I feel sorry for this guy. He has totally cut off his cultural roots. I wonder where he will go if there's some regime change and he is kicked out of the US? I'm sure no other western democracies this far right, white supremacy defending guy asylum. 😂
Yes, some cultures are superior to others.
Take the Roma (gypsy) culture…it's ingrained into their communities to be thieves, liars and con artists. And they see nothing wrong with it.
the problem is that many on the right believe that culture and ethnicity is the same and therefore racism is justified and the problem with the left is that some of them believe that ethnicity and culture is the same and therefore criticising a culture is immoral from their point of view
The only reason America is successful is because of it's geography not culture. If any other cultures, nations either good or evil occupied the land America is on they'll be just as successful or more
British ruled India for some 150 years not 300.
Also Persians, Mongols & Alexander never ruled India.
Delhi Sultanate were the first major foriegn empire to rule parts of Modern day India especially North India.
The main difference here is Delhi Sultanate and British is that Delhi Sultanate only ruled in some parts of North India (Not even the whole of North India) while British virtually ruled all of India. Delhi Sultanate didn't affect all of India while British did.
Talking of Western Civilization it is worth taking positive points from it
0:09 Show me your griddy
I hate when people justify slavery with every culture has done slavery over time. That’s still bad and this wasn’t millions of years ago it was less than 200 years ago humble yourself
While if you really like your culture then please dont export to other. Its not about who is better or not but how to coexist together.
Yes i know clash Will happen but if other culture attack you then just repulse then not expand into them
SLavery was not practiced in ancient india. Only during medieval times mainly with the muslim invasions
No.
No culture is superior.
Being indian i just want to tell my great American friends that he is not there to contribute to your country but to boot lick kinda service though
I wanna make a point.. I accept that slavery existed in ancient India( when the country was out if the touch of Muslims), but it's difference with that of the rest of the world was that, our slavery system provided a high amount of freedom to its slaves..Maharshi Chanakya, a great Hindu lawmaker had devised numerous harsh punishments for the violation of female slaves by their masters.
In India as well, leftists do their best to continue their propaganda of spreading malicious nformation ,regarding our culture whereas, when it comes to Islam, they all act as if they are blind.
BTW, I love pragerU channel
I would argue that Western philosophy is superior in many ways to the East, but the problem is when a subjective field such as the arts is placed on the scale, we cannot really make a clear definition of which one is "better"
The fact that on this topic even Dinesh sounds rational shows the power and truth of the argument.
Western civilization became successful because they had better values. Then they got so prosperous that they got soft. Then they got relaxed & started inviting others. Then those others dominated and crushed them, raped and bullied them into submission, replace their good cultures with the worst ones.
Two questions: Who keeps weaponizing bad cultures against good cultures, and how could they possibly think this is a good idea?
Yea I agree American culture sucks
I disagree. The reason some cultures can not contribute is down to being poor. When you are poor you are busy with living. If you are rich you don't need to struggle everyday so you have time to spend on contributions. I think (and I could be wrong) that if these cultures were given a chance they could contribute more but because of the competition in our human natures we like to keep them down so they don't. The question is what do you mean by culture, an ideology speared on by religion or superstition or a people or community that have come together to survive.
this is the most psychotic channel i've ever seen.
I agree with everything except for the resource hungry part.the westt is indeed resource hungry.instead American policies. Have stopped the cultural evelopememt of countries like Iraq.the West has used religion to divide people.durimg saddam regime. The secularism was encouraged through out the state but after American invasion we see an increase in religious fundamentalism and division which was encouraged by US.meaning for resources the West has actively tried to drive some races into stone age and poverty or medieval Europe
Russian culture is garbage.
Western, Secular, leftist, Transhumanists, social democracy is the future of the world. NOT western right-wing religious, traditionalism, libertarian crap.
Multiculturalism only includes, music, clothes, foods, art and non fundamentalist religion. That's it, it's not about incorporating backward social norms, back ward child rearing practices, or backward politics.
In fact, the right-wing crowd seems to be the most backward people living in the west.
Conservatives in general are the backward types from all over the world.
Islamic literature math and science play a very important role in western civilization. It’s funny how you leave that out when the Muslims created algebra and modernized surgical procedures, invented universities, universal healthcare, types of music, optics, and many surgical instruments.
yes western number 1 why did we leave the rest of the world in the dirt we could have brought the world our culture
I see that prager u is hating on african cultures specifically but I'm not surprised they've always had racist rhetoric. But they would deny how heavily west africsn culture had influenced America.
I personally believe that we can learn from other cultures, but if someone tells me that Western culture has not made more progress in education, health, civil liberties, economic prosperity and diplomacy than others. as far as I'm concerned he/she is a "hopeless fool."
I LOVE MY WESTERN CULTURE!!!! I LOVE DEMOCRACY, CAPITALISM AND SCIENCE!!!!
Thanks, Souza.
its probably in the best interest of American culture to believe that no culture is better or worse than any other…
Am I dumb for not understanding half of what he said-
I disagree… its obvious that the tribes of Africa have contributed vastly more to humanity than Europeans have.
0:13 No, but many of these countries have a history of imperialism, colonialism, resource-exploitation, greed, and racism.
0:29 It’s not despising your own culture, if you admit that your place’s history, had many terrible moments.
0:36 Because they are?? If you don’t think Western and African culture are equal, I’d be scared your racist.
1:09 Why would he say that? Why even mention the fact they hadn’t created a great novelist? If they aren’t incapable then all cultures are still equal.
1:17 Maybe because the Zulus in Southern Africa, and the Papuans in New Guinea were colonized and exploited for years?
2:22 Many cultures have contributed greatly, just look up how many contributions non-Western cultures have made.
2:34 No they say that Western empires colonized many other countries in Africa, and Asia.
2:40 No one is saying those are uniquely Western, that’s just why, many other cultures for the past 500 years other cultures haven’t gone like the West.
3:24 Yes who owned the slaves when it was abolished? Westerners. If Westerners owned slaves, who could set them free? Westerners.
3:35 Science has contributed greatly from other cultures in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Also one of the first democracies was in India.
4:03 Many of these ideas and institutions originate from places outside the West.
4:15 Look at the culture in different places, from the Hispanic Southwest, from the French Louisiana, there are tons of cultures.
Love listening to Dinesh. He's brilliant!
No great hypocrites than Champagne Socialists. All the trappings thanks to Capitalism
while spewing the "virtues" of Socialism for the masses. BMW, Apple, Space X would
have never existed and taken off in a Socialist "Paradise."