This i s a little excerpt from the book "Why Nothing Works" by Marvin Harris. It was written in the 80's but has a lot of weight today. It gave me pause when I read this section.
"One important point that anthropologists have always made is that aspects of social life which do not seem to be related to each other, actually are related. When one part of a culture changes, it has an effect on other parts that may not be seen at once. Often, the connection between one part or another may not be perceived by the very people whose lives are most affected by what is happening. If this is true, then we cannot hope to understand why any particular aspect of a people's way of life has changed if we view it in isolation and do not study the interconnectedness of all the changes taking place. – or at least, the interconnectedness of all the major changes."
"I will be satisfied if I succeed in showing that there are plausible, rational, and connected explanations for features of American life that are commonly regarded as random, unintelligible, and disconnected, or as the handiwork of god or the devil.
This seems to me to be an important point to make since the belief that culture and history are beyond rational human comprehension is gaining strength. From all side, obscurantists, romantics, and mystics have sought to discredit the idea that the solution to America's practical and spiritual problems can be attained through rational endeavor guided by objective analysis. Attacks against reason and objectivity are once again intellectually fashionable. Under the banner of what Berkley philosopher Paul Feyerabend calls 'epistemological anarchy,' scholars denounce the pursuit of objective truth as a waste of time. The word is out that rival paradigms are merely ships that pass in the night, and that the truths of reasoned inquiry are no different from the truths of intuition and drug-induced fantasies."
"In some circles, the attack against reason and objectivity is fast reaching the proportions of a crusade. Americans in unprecedented numbers are heeding the call of home-grown ayatollahs and born-again evangelists. As one convert to a fast growing born-again TV church told Washington post columnist Dick Dabney: ' I believe in Jesus. Reason sucks. And that's everything I know."
"America urgently needs to reaffirm the principle that it is possible to carry out an analysis of social life which rational human beings will recognize as being true, regardless of whether they happen to be women or men, whites or blacks, straights or gays, employers or employees, Jews or born-again Christians. The alternative is to stand by helplessly as special interest groups tear the United States apart in the name of their separate realities, or wait till one of them grows strong enough o force it's own irrational and subjective brand of reality on all the rest."
