Cultural blinkers?
Gil Hardwick (gil@landmark.DIALix.oz.au)
Mon, 05 Dec 1994 04:48:47 GMT
The matter at hand, Hugh, does not concern your idea of "cultural
blinkers"at all, but the fact that you just don't know what work is
being done here in WA, what the local politics, priorities and
issues are, or indeed anything else much about the place.
Yet you chose to launch a world-wide campaign against us.
If you were nought but a common or garden variety deadshit, surely
nobody would worry about it. But you are a teacher; an academic, an
anthropologist not only building a reputation and a career on the
idea that you know things, you are being paid to know as well.
But how do you know? On the basis of some bits of information fed to
you by your pal, demonstrably with a vested interest in having you
believe him and not someone else, DESPITE information from others to
the contrary, and none of which you can verify yourself in any event
by any of the usual processes of checking.
Of which you are expected to be familiar. The basic stuff of routine
fieldwork method, yes?
Why is it important that you be defied?
BECAUSE YOU ARE A TEACHER WHO JUST DOES NOT KNOW!
YOU JUST DON'T KNOW. That's it.
You are an anthropologist who simply does not bother to PRACTICE your
profession, but instead takes classes on the PRETENCE that that is
what you do. Unless of course you have some experience in another
part of the world. Certainly not Australia, that's a fact.
You might butt out of our affairs until you are in a position to
know for certain what the situation is here, if at all coming from
another country entirely.
Finally, however it originated the Usenet News is NOT an American
domain. It is of the entire world, which itself is NOT American.
Maybe you lot ought to get down off that high horse and learn to live
with the rest of us, warts and all. It ain't that bad.
Just because maybe we don't want to give some of you a job here . . .
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