Cosmo-Parochialism

I hate when people say they like to travel, for most people mean that they like consuming museums after taking a long plane flight.

As a professor, I have been to my share of museums during my opportunities to travel. I recall taking a group of students to Manchu Picchu. They couldn't really care less. Sure, there is a part of them which will look back on the group pictures that we made, or remember what it was like to stare down from the sides of the mountain to the river vanishing in the valley below, but really what they wanted were the props for visiting. The gift shop at Manchu Picchu gives a stamp for your passport, which is symbolic. It is just another item on the list.

Real travelling requires learning a language and staying in the homes of the people who are native to the country. Far fewer people do this. I wouldn't even know about this if I didn't do a study abroad where I lived in someone's house or if my wife's family were not so generous as to put us up when we visit Germany. I can't help but fret when I think of  too many of today's students that can't tell the difference between 1) wandering the streets of a foreign city and 2) actually becoming acquainted with a foreign culture. 

I find this to also be the case among so many people's political preferences as well. The cosmo-parochialists have a list of things that they have to have to consider themselves cosmopolitan. This list includes having a gay friend, traveling abroad, volunteering for a political campaign, and various other things. We all know the list of things we are "supposed to" do before we get old and set in our ways. But none of this is real because it lacks a fundamental element of reciprocity. This reciprocity requires submitting one's self to challenges to one's beliefs. 

The cosmo-parohialist consumes culture, s/he does not experience it. Living life with a check list of politically correct experiences does not get you down and dirty in another culture. It doesn't let you experience things that repulse you about other cultures that you learn to appreciate when you see it with a new set of eyes. One can have these experiences without leaving home. All that is needed is someone who is unrepentantly different than you. This comes from an openness of mind that demands engagement with others. Few have this trait, rather they quickly converge on the "right" answer. True cosmopolitans, rather, are stuck not knowing which hand to hold a fork or whether to use chop-sticks because they love both traditions so much it is hard to chose one. 

A cosmopolitan wants everyone else to remain different so that they can benefit from different customs and traditions, so that they can experience cultural exchange and learn new things. A cosmopolitan fears the convergence of cultures brought about by globalization because they will lose the very thing that defines them as cosmopolitans, a challenge to their own sacred beliefs. 

A cosmo-parochialist cannot get this while listening to an English language translation of a museum tour.