Richard Jernigan -> RE: Guitar Making Disasters (Sep. 20 2015 2:25:28)
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ORIGINAL: BarkellWH Richard, I think cultural factors that lead to retribution, such as Pimentel's, on the personal level and, historically, the inability to sustain a modern, mature political and economic system at the macro-level in Mexico, Latin America, and much of what used to be called the "Third World" have been the lack of what is known as "social capital" and the inability to take responsibility for the consequences of one's choices and actions. Individuals perceive that they owe their allegiance to the family or clan, and the idea of working toward the common good of society as a whole is an abstraction that has little meaning. Life in such a culture is seen as a zero-sum game. Texans, especially old time Texans like the male ancestors bearing my family name, have been criticized for individualism. But I have consistently told people that the old time Texan individualism is nothing compared to that of the average Mexican, of any social or economic class. quote:
Additionally, people generally lack what we in Western culture would describe as the ability to learn from our mistakes by taking responsibility for our mistakes in the first place. If we in the West experience failure, our first question is generally, "what did I do wrong?" In Latin America and the more traditional cultures, when they experience failure their first question is generally, "Who did this to me?" Historically, the lack of social capital and the inability to take responsibility for the consequences of one's choices and actions go a long way toward explaining much of Latin American and Third World social ills and lack of development. What I found striking about the guitar sabotage incident was that Pimentel was obviously capable of self criticism, and to an unusual degree. This ability was essential to learning to be a very highly skilled luthier, and to his rise in economic status as a successful business man. His dealings with his clients clearly reflected an understanding of the social value of ethical business dealings. Yet he brought with him in his deepening understanding of his craft and his business, the principle of retribution. quote:
I have always believed that culture can change, albeit slowly. In my lifetime I have seen some positive changes in Latin America, but much of the old lack of social capital and inability to take responsibility for one's choices and actions remain. That's not to say that we in the United States and Canada have a lock on perfection. We do not. But if one compares the pattern of political, economic, and social development between North America, settled by English and Northern European settlers, and Latin America, settled by the Spanish, I think some conclusions regarding reasons for the disparate levels of development, as well as individual reactions to perceived insults like Pimentel's, become apparent. Bill The Anglo American culture of Texas has evolved significantly during my lifetime. Fifty or sixty years ago, when I was a teenager or young man, it was not safe to insult somebody. You would have been called out to fight. If you had refused or fled, you would have been despised as a coward. Delayed or concealed retribution would have been seen as underhanded. The matter would have been settled promptly or not at all. In the very few instances that I called someone out, I was generally seen to be in the right. In each case I won. My social status rose. Thirty years ago I would have laughed off insults that in my youth had led to fights. I went to high school in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC, but spent summers in Texas. What were seen as fighting words in Texas would likely have gotten no more than an insulting reply in Maryland, though there was a white high school gang culture that took verbal slights more seriously. Formal dueling went out in Texas sometime during my grandfather's youth, but it was the rule of the day during most of my great grandfather's long lifetime. He was born in 1830 and passed away in 1910. I heard a few dueling stories from my grandfather and his brothers--not from them as participants, but concerning contemporaries. It would have been unwise to relate personal participation, since dueling was illegal by the time my father was a young man. In about 1957 or 1958 a justice of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said at my parents' dinner table that no one had ever been convicted in Texas for killing a man found in his wife's bed. Although I can't cite cases, I strongly suspect this is no longer the case. One of my great-uncles, a retired U.S. Cavalry general, openly bemoaned the decline of manners that followed the outlawing of duels. I think manners have declined atrociously during my lifetime, but I would be reluctant to reinstitute duels. RNJ
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