We call them “cowboys”
Data do post: 19 de julho de 2009
Tive a sorte, nesta semana, de conhecer Rémi Brague numa palestra, descrita num artigo do Tagespost (em alemão) e comentada em meu blog.
Mas o que nos interessa aqui é uma surpreendente entrevista publicada em The Clarion Review intitulada “Yellow Ants“, Fundamentalists, and Cowboys. Ela servirá de introdução às principais preocupações desse ‘pensador’ no melhor sentido do termo.
Deixo um trecho apimentado como propaganda:
Do you think there is a threat that Europe may lose this unique openness? Is the West becoming ‘normal’?
With the decline of Christianity and classical education, the West is indeed becoming less and less interested in the classical sources of our civilization. Knowing less about our own civilization also seems to make us lose the ability to listen carefully to what we could learn from others. The Chinese show us that to survive you must work. And what do we do? We call them “yellow ants”. Muslims show us that to survive, you must procreate. We call them “fundamentalists”. Americans could teach us that you must not blind yourself to the fact that you have enemies. And what do we do? We call them “cowboys”.
Why are we allowing this to happen?
Perhaps we have become victims of our own success. It seems Europeans have eaten the carrot of civilization that used to spur them onwards. To survive, we must learn to remain humble, in spite of our successes.
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