Balance Of Diversity And Unity Cultural Studies Essay

Balance Of Diversity And Unity Cultural Studies Essay For a country to be considered a superpower, it must have prominent import/export trade capacity, command political power in the world (allies), sustain a powerful military, and provide a substantial a high Gross National Product. What is usually overlooked is how the microeconomics is affected in a highly positive manner by the harmonious balance of diversity and unity within the successful countries that are operation so proficiently. The inner-workings and confluence between the cultures of any high ranking country are most probably functioning in a well defined rhythm. If there is a glitch in the smallest cog of the machine of any country it can usually be traced back to unrest in the social balance of diversity and unity, which results in the decline of a country’s economic success. A very crucial balance between unity and diversity within society is not an easy goal to achieve. Finding the perfect balance between any two principles can be an extremely difficult task, if not impossible. In this difficult search we look back in history to feudal China, where the philosophy of yin and yang were created. Svebor Hlede, an expert on the history of Chinese philosophy states that â€Å"The dual concepts of yin and yang which describe two primal opposing but complementary principles or cosmic forces said to be found in all non-static objects and processes in the universe† (Hlede). This seemingly paradoxical concept is the very nature of unity and diversity. Unity and diversity are two contradictory philosophies which must work in unison to allow a society to stray away from stagnation and stasis. When looking at the yin and yang circle, two parts which will represent unity and diversity are put together in a circle. This circle represents society as a whole, the two parts are contradicting aspects, they fight and interchange each other. Whenever the trend of unity increases, the trend of diversity decreases and so on. (Hlede) Abraham Lincoln, the si xteenth president of the United States, said â€Å"United we stand, divided we fall,† he was discussing the north/south cultural differences that brought on the Civil War. This concept of the absolute importance is appropriately valid in modern times to this day. One cannot survive on one’s own; therefore life is based upon and requires unity. Agreeing that unity is a principle building block in the base of a successful nation does not mean that the whole world follows this logic. For some, violence between cultures is such an ingrained tradition that balances between unity and diversity seems an improbable goal. It is the unfortunate truth â€Å"that when certain people in power try to promote unity within nations/countries, other certain people in power will do and say something that will cause disunity, which brings about war and all other types of evil things† (Thoughtz). For example, the current president of Iran invites aggravation when he states that the Holocaust did not happen. In another speech he advises the state of Israel should be wiped out. The condition of the Middle East is a proper example of no unity or acceptance of diversity. There is ongoing tension between the Israelis and its surround neighbors the bordering Arab countries. If one tries to promote unity in the Middle East, it is easily pushed aside when such an inflammatory statement is made by the president of Iran; this causes a tremendous uproar because the Holocaust did happen. Even in America there can be seen a sway in the balance of race relation and race unity. Racism is still happening in the US and also discrimination. Although progress has been made in the last half a century that unity can be disrupted when a racist incident occurs like the Jena 6 case. Racism is a leach on the social structure that keeps sucking away whatever unity seems to be gained.