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Language Pun
Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? He wanted to transcend dental medication.
1. From a previous continent, we read about a country in which holding the palm upward and then spreading the fingers signals that someone is "stupid". Do you remember what country this is? As a second clue, in this country, If you pour wine, never do so with your left hand. Of what continent and country are we speaking?
2A. Joseph Campbell said that the function of myth was to prepare men to make transitions, by holding forth for each person, if not a hero, then a story about one who has done so before. Gandhi represents values later personified in Martin Luther King.
2B. The Gandhi story presents a unifying element to our understanding of ourselves, our British ancestry who colonized America, and our unfolding cultural relations with Asian peoples like the Afghans and the Islamic people of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, and the Arab Emigrates.
2C. The British colonies in America put forth an effort to be free of influences of a colonizing power, having been inspired by Patrick Henry to revolt against British taxes. Within two centuries, the United States of America had become a dominant world power after World War II. At that time, the USA sought a return to normalcy that included conserving the legacy of French Indo-China. So the USA ignored the letters of Ho Chi Minh expressing Jeffersonian ideals written to President Truman. These letters were written by a man who at that time seemed unimportant in the sphere of influence in Southeast Asia. Perhaps a country such as ours that can no longer vividly remember the experience of its own beginnings is prone to recreate errors of omission in its relations with other peoples.
| 1. | Discuss the homework you completed from
Module 8. The European country team members should pre-brief the instructor about any special needs for their briefing during the following class session. |
| 2. | A. Watch the video Gandhi.
B. Decide which of Gandhi's statements about freedom (presented by Sunanda Gandhi) you agree and disagree with. C. Notice how the outrage with colonial policies pervaded African, Indian, and North America. |
| 3. | Optional Activity: Watch segments from In My Country, Part I Daily Life, or Part II Social Issues. |
1. Just as you can strengthen your notebook in this class by using the improved organizational devices discovered by your peers during Part One, so too each succeeding country report can build upon the example presented earlier.
2A. Watch the Gandhi video. The Gandhi story moves immediately from the assassination in India through a flashback to Gandhi's beginnings as a lawyer in South Africa. As an English barrister, Gandhi learned of the discriminatory policies governing relations between colonial powers and colonized citizens. Gandhi felt compelled under the law to stand up for the human and civil rights of humanity, and chose South Africa as the place to begin. In one sense, the immediate lesson and the following lesson are the stories of two lawyers and the resulting influence they had on surrounding society. Although life in the 1700s and the 1900s were separated by two centuries, the articulation of the law is usually a cultural invention with far reaching results.
2B. Examine the following comments on freedom complied by Sunanda Gandhi from sources including Gandhi family documents. Make a list of those statement you agree with, and those statements with which you disagree.
i. Freedom is like birth. Till we are fully free, we are slaves.
ii. Freedom received through the efforts of others, however benevolent, cannot be retained when such effort is withdrawn.
iii. No charter of freedom will be worth looking at which does not ensure the same measure of freedom for the minorities as for the majority.
iv. No society can possibly be built on a denial of individual freedom.
v. True nonviolence should mean a complete freedom from ill-will and anger and hate and an overflowing love for all.
vi. This freedom from all attachment is the realization of God as Truth.
vii. I do not want my house to be walled in on sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.
3. Another person to propose battle with a colonial power hails from Virginia. Patrick Henry articulated "No Taxation Without Representation" in such a way as to stir foment and revolutionary fervor throughout Virginia and the other British colonies in America.
Today we begin the stories of two different lawyers whose respect for the law led each to a position of great influence upon his contemporaries. The stories of Gandhi and Patrick Henry lead their contemporaries to take action which increases the self-respect and dignity of colonized peoples. Both stories draw strength from the culture of English law. In America, it is the idealism of Patrick Henry in standing up for principle, and in India it is the moral character of the Christian, Hindu and Islamic peoples which are enhanced by the leadership of these two lawyers. Adam Smith, Scotsman and member of the British Empire also spoke out in favor of freeing the colonies in America. His words are contained in his book, and video of the same name: Wealth of Nations.
The tasks for today are to experience colonialism in both Africa, in America, and ultimately in India. We'll watch Patrick Henry deliver his fiery address. We'll feel the economic consequences of colonization from the American point of view and observe the consequences of colonization of Africa and India. Time permitting, we may also here the words of Adam Smith.
Our purpose is to discover how men from many parts of the world have turned toward ideals espoused in the wisdom of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Mohatmas Gandhi.
"For a bowl of water give a goodly meal;
For a kindly greeting bow thou down with zeal;
For a simple penny pay thou back with gold;
If thy life be rescued, life do not withhold.
Thus the words and actions of the wise regard;
Every little service tenfold they reward.
But the truly noble know all men as one,
And return with gladness good for evil done."
1. Gandhi represents values later personified in the Civil Rights Movement in America. Like the people in South Africa and in India, Americans were also a group of European colonies.
2. The Gandhi story and the story of Patrick Henry present a unifying element to our understanding of ourselves, our British ancestry who colonized America, and our unfolding cultural relations with Asian peoples like the Afghans and the Islamic people of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, and the Arab Emigrates.
3. The effort of others to become free of the influences of a colonizing power were part of America's recent history when she stepped into the Southeast Asian conflict in the 1960s and 70s, as a sort of colonial power, replacing French influence in Southeast Asia. The efforts of Islamic countries are in some ways today parallel to those of other impoverished peoples in Viet Nam taking on a massive political power. Can America, who has been both colony and superpower, remain sensitive to those who see us only as a massive economic, political, and military power?
1. Read Chapter 9 "How Children Think" pages 46-48 in Cross-Cultural Perspectives in America. Answer the following questions in your notebook:
| 1. | How do Meru children differ in conservation abilities from European children? |
| 2. | Identify the reasons the methods used to conduct cross-cultural research are particularly critical if the research is to be valid. |
2. Read Chapter V "The European in Our Midst" pages 44-50 in And Keep Your Powder Dry. Answer the following questions in your notebook:
| 3. | In "The European in Our Midst" Meade speaks of the dichotomy between those things of which we permit Europeans to look down on us, and those things about which we look down on Europeans. Explain what these things are using Meade's examples. (pages 44-45) |
| 4. | Part A. Order, form, discipline, and style - are these the characteristics of our forebears from Europe - or of Americans - according to Meade? (page 46) Part B. |
| 5. | Fill in the blank. The fourth generation American
who is the fourth of a line of successful men ... He keeps the moral purpose
(which is) the assurance __________________________________________.
(page 48) |
| 6. | What have we assimilated into our culture from the European in our midst? (page 49) |
"All people smile in the same language" ---- Unknown
Scenes from The Forbidden City in China.
