1. Liberals are strongly opposed to conservative values in all cultures across the world. But in a culturally diverse society, there exists an added layer to this opposition which is based on misperceptions about the foreign cultures.
2. Liberals from one culture tend to feel more strongly opposed to the conservative values of other cultures because they don't fully understand the social intricacies of the foreign culture. Thus, a part of their opposition arises out of ignorance and a phobia is generated.
3. A phobia implies an irrational, unreasonable aversion towards a culture in this context. Both anti-semitism and islamophobia are examples of this. Essentially, you don't know about a culture but yet you tend to believe the worst about them based on hearsay.
4. These phobias are often employed by the far-right politicians to generate leverage in elections. Liberals often oppose such attempts because they value ideas like secularism and syncretism. They try to convince people how crucial these ideas are to the collective progress.
5. However, unless Liberals introspect and overcome the phobia in themselves about Conservatives from foreign cultures, they will end up aiding the far-right movement, and being the enablers of fascism. We are seeing this right now in India.
6. By virtue of their strong opposition to conservative values, Liberals forget that Conservatives deserve equal rights. They fail to recognise the other's right to dignity and equality. They refuse to stand up for them when these rights are endangered.
7. Liberals must be able to empathise with the marginalised despite their conservative values. The attitude that solidarity is reserved for those who share liberal values is quite misplaced and dangerous in a diverse society like ours.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
