Compassion vs Contempt

Yesterday, George Kennan, the "Architect" of the Cold War, passed away at the grand age of 101. There was a story on NPR's Morning Edition today. Having started his diplomatic career in the roaring 20's, he certainly has seen a lot. Peter Reddeway, the director of the Kennan Institute, spoke about his work and his philosophy, echoing the multiculturalist viewpoint which emphasizes respect and understanding.

It gave me cause to review my own meager experiences and observations of diplomacy, specifically with the UN and USAID. I started off my sojourn into the developing world with a mulitcultural view, that all cultures are relative and equal in their own right. After months of stepping in cow dung, being chased by monkeys and fending off the hoards of beggars, I wasn't feeling too multicultural. I read two books, T.E. Lawrence's The Seven Pillar's of Wisdom and Pascal Bruchner's Le Sanglot de L'Homme Blanc (Translated to Tears of the White Man). Lawrence taught me that multiculturalism is impossible. All you end up creating is a two headed monster that has no home. However, most people only feign multiculturalism to hide their guilt. Bruchner went through his trial by fire and came out completely disillusioned with the "third worldists". What most people from the west mistook for compassion was really contempt.

When I first arrived in India, I overpaid for everything. I stepped over myself to accomodate and understand. I noticed that each time I allowed myself to be cheated, I created not gratitude but anger. Upon reflection, I realized that in my own culture, no one really liked being "patronized". What would you think if Donald Trump walked by you, looked at your clothes, ignored the fact that he saw you noticing him looking at your clothes, and then gave you a 100 bucks. If you had any character at all, you wouldn't like it.

Giving money, i.e., large grants of US aid dollars, is not compassion. It is contempt. The UN and USAID send out armies of "third worldists" with these same attitudes. They patronize the locals, telling them that nothing is their fault, that they've been cheated, the colonial yoke still hangs on their necks, etc. In short, canting nonsense. Just because a guy doesn't know who Marie Antoinette is doesn't mean he can't spot the attitude. An author for Vanity Fair (or Harper's) some time ago wrote about the UN mission in Kosovo and rather than just interview the UN staff, he chose to also speak to the people in the street. What he found was that the UN thought they were viewed as good, but the locals had no respect for them, calling them "internationals" who drove around in their SUVs, who hung out with each other and seemed to be on vacation.

I went to Delhi to visit a German friend. We ended up going to a "hash" (not the drug but the running game/party) with a bunch of people from the UN and various European embassies. We ran through the pervasive slums of Delhi where we scared a sleeping cow who began to kick wildly and knocked down a mud wall. The locals just stared as we ran off as a Brit and an Australian yelled "on on".

I don't know who this Peter Reddeway is and I'm not sure what George Kennan did in the later years of his life but he used to speak the truth. He didn't believe in mutual understanding and respect when in the 50s he called the Soviet Union the new Nazi Germany. You show respect when you speak your mind, when you are yourself. Acting like you don't notice the other guy's faults is not compassion. It's dishonest to both of you. George Kennan lived to regret his policy of "containment". I agree. But multiculturalism certainly wouldn't have worked on the Soviets. How can you respect a society which could not admit their deeds in the Katyn Forest?

RIP George Kennan.