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The Victory of an Open Heart"Have mercy on those who are on the planet earth and you shall have the mercy of He who is in

heaven."

Orientalism is essentially the act of defining another by terms that speak

more about yourself. Having granted that the person you are talking about isother than you, you may speak freely of them in terms that imply that you are

opposite, or else in a manner that implies your superiority. For example, when

a misogynist speaks of women as frail and dim witted, he is implying that

he (who is other than woman) is less frail and smarter. Furthermore, when he

speaks of protecting them and providing for them he is implying not

necessarily that he is immortal and provides for himself, but that he is the

superior protector and provider to woman.

This quickly manifests itself as sexism and racism, when the man uses

various evidences to support his superiority and ignores any contradictions ofcounter-points. It can be said by the rich man that all blacks are poor, and

that poor people (who, because they are black are others) are immoral

because of their state. Thus proving that he is both rich and moral, and

unintentionallyproving that Blacks are not. The argument can continue

indefinitely, though, because if evidence is brought against him the man will

simply choose to re-define some other reflection of himself, hes not actually

interested in the morality of the poor at all. These people can be very slippery

in debate.

What we end up with is a person who defines the world around him by

how he sees himself. If he sees himself as wise he defines others (such as

youths) as reckless and so on. Having to defend his views he is backed into a

corner where he must, in order to remain coherent, continue to define his

chosen other as bad, in order to continue to see himself as good. This will

influence reactions and decisions, he will even misremember things to fit better

into his worldview.

A very troubling part of this set of reactions is the fact that many people

do not know that they do it. What ends up happening is that a person has

defined the world around them in contrast to themselves for decades and has

amassed a social group (in fact helped create a social group) that can relate,

that can enable these thoughts and spread them. Evidence is brought against

the other until it is insurmountable, they are stripped first of good food,

then productivity, possibly intelligence is disproven to them, eventually

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morality, soon humanity, and next life. All this because if Asians are bad

drivers that means Americans are good drivers.

The phenomena related to these steps are well documented,

misremembering, the placebo effect, and various other psychological effects

make it very easy for an unaware person to fall into this trap, and be absolutelyconvinced because of reasonable evidence that he is right. Furthermore, those

who are already fully convinced can spend years researching and supporting

their opinions, leaving a very sturdy foundation for others to build on top of.

The fact of the matter is that by the time orientalism turns a man toward

bigotry he has already begun legitimizing what he has to say, because the

opinions of others are valued by some. Those who value that mans opinion

support it as well, and those who learn of that support can be legitimately

convinced (with no prior need for either orientalism or racism) that the other

discussed is in fact inferior.

It is because of this that these long-standing prejudices must be carefully

explored, not flatlydismissed as racist. Another important reason to really

listen into what a bigoted person is saying is that it is very easy to orientalise

them. Republicans are bigots, Im not Republican (wait for implication in the

audiences head). This works very well in the exact opposite manner, for

example electing a black leader of your party to imply that the opposition is

racist. We must instead carefully listen to what they have to say, and try to see

where their information is coming from, what part emotion and orientalism

plays in their own personal story. After that we can be better able to addressthe real issues instead of starting an unproductive my God is better contest.

But we should refrain at all costs from addressing any of the issues, or even

the bigot himself, directly.

The reason we should not communicate with this person is because they

will not hear us. Anything said by an other to an orientalist is taken as a

mere reflection of that person, if you say something he does not like he will

simply distance himself from you without thinking critically, but if you say

something he does like he will instead see it as words out of his own mouth,

and will assume that you are placating or copying him.

Orientalism works in reverse as well, as I have already alluded to. An

orientalist can also mystify and elevate the other to imply his superiority over

his fellows. There are a very few men (such as myself) who can truly

appreciate the tea ceremony as the Japanese do. Their (and by extension my)

appreciation for grace and patience is unrivaled in any other land. Even if an

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orientalist seems to be very interested and agreeable to what you tell them

about your otherness, they are looking into the reflecting pond of Narcissus,

eyes wide shut, ears filled with the sound of their thoughts.

Orientalism can be seen therefore as a sort of cross-cultural Narcissism.

Rather than honestly and openly looking into another culture to find whatintrinsic value it has an orientalist gazes upon the other to find what he

already knows he will find and use it to reflect on or say something about

himself.

Better then to not engage them on the topic of the other at all. In fact the

most frivolous act to undertake is to challenge them, but it takes a substantial

amount of modesty to deny them the pleasure of turning you about in their

palm. You will want to prove them wrong, to bring them to the light, to conquer

this evil, but it is impossible. The only way to meaningfully interact with them

is to humanize yourself and promote a familiarity and fondness for each other,

not something that can be done so long as he is an enemy, so long as you see

him as an other.

Extending the brotherhood of man despite perceived pitfalls, turning the

other cheek, loving your neighbor, these are not pieces of advice given to

subject certain followers to the might of their enemies, but to rise with them to

a higher and better place. To take your friends, brothers and sisters by the

hand, though they recoil and spit at you is not the best way to show them to

truth and harmony, but the only way.