THE BATON PASSES TO ASIA
Afterthoughts on an article by Roger Cohen
On April 1st 2008, Wei Luo posted a question on the LinkedIn Q&A forum, asking contributors to share opinions on an article written by NYTimes Op-Ed Columnist Roger Cohen, titled 'The Baton Passes to Asia' and published the day before, March 31, 2008.
In his question, Wei quotes Cohen saying "Asia’s rise is about confidence, a fierce culture of education and achievement and a burning desire to succeed." Wei agrees that this may be true indeed, but he the disturbing bit, he adds, is when Cohen states that the rise of Asia equals "the end of the era of the white man".
Here is a copy of my public answer to Wei's interesting question:
Hello Wei, Ni Hao,
Thank you very much for pointing our attention to this latest of Roger Cohen's snugly verbiose jeremiads.
What to say? The image of a pendulum of creativity and wealth, swinging endlessly to and fro between different geographical areas of this globe, might indeed represent a realistic description of the world's economic fluxus - although it remains unclear whether this image really reflects a pattern, or merely tries to explain the as yet inexplicable, in the manner in which myths and epics have done the same for as long as people have been able to ponder upon their situation.
Where Cohen is blatantly missing 'the baton', however, is in his obstinate classification of humanity in 'whites' and 'non-whites' - thereby (and, alas, ever so typically!) completely forgetting about those millions of 'non-whites' populating the African subcontinent.
What we read in this article of his, indeed, is an unquestioned, sheer deaf-'n-dumb continuation of the age-old adage of 'us' versus 'them' - a credo which originally might have belonged to each and every tribe being confronted with 'the outsider' as a predator of its own chances of survival, but which, since at least the time of the early crusades, has been appropriated almost solely by colonialism and its adepts, breathing an imagined air of snobbiness and cultural & economic superiority.
The choice of words, the overt intent to create fear and anguish, the context-ridden but stereotypical inclusion of one or other 'Baghdad suicide bombing' - literally everything in this column bathes in the symptoms of what I have come to call 'the Samuel Huntington Syndrome' - since there can be no doubt that it was this author in particular, who is responsible for this curent spread of mythologically proportioned clash theories.
Now, what is 'the baton' really like?
I suggest we contemplate the fact that we live a global age, in a gradually globalised world, where, alhamdulillah!, more exchange of ideas and international collaboration exists than ever before.
I suggest to ponder over the fact that Asia has long been lingering behind, merely as a result of the colonial arrangements of the last centuries and the post-colonial challenges of the last, and that it now comes to position itself in its rightful and natural place.
I suggest that all of us, humans, contribute to the further development of humankind - tackling the challenges posed by inequality, hunger, poverty and the like.
I suggest we all applaude, sustain, and further the economical development of these areas on our globe where these challenges are of foremost importance.
I suggest we leave the us/them constructs behind us, creating room for a genuine humanist outlook on the future of our species.
I suggest we take the opportunity of witnessing the merry advance of Asia -and take this as proof that there has never been anything of the likes of 'the white man's superiority' - and let it teach us that the us/them concepts of the Huntingtons and Cohens of this world are mere constructs of the imagination, born out of childish fear and perhaps collective tribal Freudian traumas, uncured, untreated, unattended to, and bleeding.
I suggest we jump with joy that the part of the world where most of live, is at last gaining momentum.
++ Suggested further reading through the weblinks
Warm regards,
Francis Laleman
Business Consultant/Trainer/Coach