[NIMC] Diversity in a global era- homogenization of the soul

[Anthony Marsella]

 Dear Friends and Colleagues:

 

I do not claim that the attached article is a solution to the tragic Arizona situation, however, it does articulate many of the issues and speaks against the homogenization of our culture and society.   Witness, for example, the obvious fact that virtually every shopping center looks exactly alike, even across distant state borders.   Witness the breeding of uniform plants and animals for our tables.  Witness the homogenization of curricula in schools and universities, witness corporate restaurants with standard meals, witness the widespread xenophobia that is heightened by the fact that differences are neither welcomed nor preferred. 

 

Indeed, the homogenization of our global community is promoted and sustained by the G-8 countries whose commitment to a popular culture characterized consumerism, greed, materialism, competition, and commodification.  Diversity is resisted - uniformity is forced upon us in countless ways, and with it the destruction of individuality and the elimination of protest.   

 

"Diversity is life and uniformity is death," as Octavio Paz said.  The situation in Arizona is not about illegal immigration, it is about a failure to accept realities of our era as a global community.  Ninety percent of the population growth in the world is occurring in non-western and developing world.  That is the reality!  The uncertainties and discontents manifested  in individual psyches and in collective units (see Figure 2). They sometime assume pathological levels. We are homogenizing the soul.

 

In any case, the article might be helpful.

 

Warm regards, Tony 

 

Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D.
Past President
Psychologists for Social Responsibility www.psysr.org
Show, by your actions, that you choose peace over war, freedom over oppression, voice over silence, service over self-interest, respect  over advantage, cooperation over competition, action over passivity, diversity over uniformity, and justice over all.

 

 

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