Take pride in yourself, not in your ethnic background

Thursday, January 14, 1999

Take pride in yourself, not in your ethnic background

INDIVIDUALISM: Identifying with role models should be based on
merit, not heritage

I was virtually weaned on the idea that ethnicity matters. Being
raised Jewish, I have constantly been told to revere other Jews who
have accomplished great acts, though they shared my ethnicity only
by chance. References are always made to Albert Einstein or Baruch
Spinoza or Steven Speilberg to show how great the Jewish people
are. "Whee! All these people are Jews, that means we did something
right."

So these people are Jews, how does that affect me in any way? I
can’t direct films, nor do I know anything about physics. Most of
the Jews I know are the same. And then look at it the other way:
how has anything I have done influenced them? I have had no effect
on the achievements of Einstein, the same way he has had no effect
on mine.

If I have to take all this pride in the actions of other Jews,
does that mean I also have to associate myself with the likes of
David Berkowitz – aka Son of Sam (he murdered people because a dog
told him to). He was Jewish, yet I don’t see Adam Sandler singing
about that. This just goes to illustrate my point: there are good
and bad people of all ethnicities. Do not identify with someone
just because they look like you.

Granted, this is not always the easiest thing to do. Authors
Paul Shaw and Yuma Wong, in their book "The Genetic Seeds of
Warfare," state that human beings are born with an instinct to
associate with those that share phenotypic similarities. Of course,
some people also have the instinct to molest children. This does
not mean that the action is justified. It is easy wanting to look
up to someone of your ethnic identity since that association is
drilled into most people’s heads from birth.

Attaching achievements to ethnicity is nothing more than the
"Original Sin" in practice. People are stuck with a particular fate
no matter what they accomplish in their lifetime.

Remember, a genius is a genius, and a moron is a moron,
regardless of what collective identity they happen to have.

Of course, there is the argument that certain groups need role
models within their community. Certain groups have faced oppression
and need someone within their own group simply for the sake of
having someone to relate to. On the other hand, you also have to
question why this particular individual serves as a role model.
Just because someone looks like you does not mean that you have
anything else in common with them. Your life and your experiences
may be completely different from those of that individual.

And if this is the case, having to admire only those of your
group, does that then mean that one cannot look up to those of
another group? Are blacks not supposed to admire Einstein because
he is white? And if a white boy looks up to Malcolm X, he is
labeled a poser. This kind of thinking perpetuates the divisions
that already exist, giving people another reason not to like each
other.

Probably one of the most important points to make is the
outright arbitrariness of ethnic identities in the first place.
Different people have been characterized as different things
throughout history. For example, the people of northern Italy once
considered themselves to be of a different race than those in the
south (Daniel Pick, "Faces of Degeneration"). And there is often
more genetic variation within a particular ethnic group than there
is between different ethnic groups (Robert Miles, "Race: Just a
Scientific Error?"). So identifying yourself with any ethnicity is
futile, since tomorrow you could be something else.

And then you will have to sew new name tags in your
underwear.

And what do people of mixed identities do? You can worship
Michael Jordan till halftime, then John Stockton becomes your
hero.

This concept of attaching importance to one’s genetic lineage is
the cause of most of the troubles of the world. If you look at most
of the conflicts happening today, what do they all have in common?
People are killing each other merely because the enemy looks the
same as it did 500 years ago. The people involved have no
connection to the past, yet they are held responsible.

The Balkan situation is a perfect example of this – people are
killing each other because of actions they had nothing to do with.
This is the consequence of the rise of collectivism permeating the
world, where people are assigned identities not based on any
individual actions, but rather on the actions of those who share a
genetic lineage.

This idea of ethnicity being paramount to all other factors was
the basis of Hitler’s ideology of racial superiority. There were
claims that because Friedrich Schiller, Johann Goethe and Arthur
Schopenhauer were German, then that had some kind of bearing on all
the German people. Since these people were German, then all Germans
were somehow affected. He was taking pride in the accomplishments
of his ancestors and 30 million people were murdered because of
it.

Why identify yourself with a race or culture when there are
other physical characteristics that actually do affect a person’s
ability? I myself know what it is like to be part of a persecuted
minority based on features that I had no choice over. I am a member
of the community of the phallically challenged, and every day I
face ridicule and scorn because of this physical trait.

Stumps of the world unite and fight the oppression of the
well-endowed!

If you choose to admire somebody, do so on the basis of his or
her accomplishments as an individual. Those who do otherwise are
lazy, irrational brutes who have never achieved anything on their
own and are leeching off the work of others.

Comments, feedback, problems?

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