Globally Speaking

In ways that we are not always aware of, our culture conditions us to have certain expectations about the behavior of others. We can modify or restrain our own behavior and speech, but it's harder to control our tendency to judge others by our own standards. This we do internally, silently, and automatically.

This human tendency to be judgmental is one reason why international negotiations can run into emotional obstacles even though everyone is behaving politely. All parties at the negotiating table avoid behavioral taboos meticulously, and yet feelings of defensiveness or superiority can flare up when the nerve endings of cultural conditioning are touched. The resulting tension can easily spread to other participants, because it is a law of human nature that when we judge others, we open ourselves to being judged in return.

It's human nature to defend our identity in a strange environment by constructing polarities: We are free individuals, but they are submissive to authority; we are tidy, they are sloppy. We are like the inhabitants of a castle who feel protected and secure, believing our way of life is the universally correct way because it works just fine for us. And yet, we cannot remain inside the castle walls forever.

To become global citizens, we need to be aware of the totality of our own culture. Reflecting honestly on the immense variety of situations and characteristics that constitute American culture will lead us to the recognition that we, too, exhibit many of the same undesirable traits that we see in others — only expressed in different ways.