That the bonfires of conflict still blaze interminably in our day is hardly surprising. Humankind, and indeed the cosmos as we know it, has thrived on conflict from the first Big Bang of the primeval atom, feeding off its spontaneous burst of inexhaustible energy to drive its trudge, whether progressive or retrogressive, down the beaten path of destiny. The word ‘conflict’, unfortunately, denotes a violent collision and in recent history the number of conflicts has escalated astronomically because the break-neck progress of globalisation’s wave has begun setting hitherto sheltered, almost inviolate cultures on a the beginnings of a bone-rattling collision course.
As borders dissolve and cultures are forced to meld, the proponents of world unification have pressed on blindly, heedless of the jarring consequences of such an upheaval on the norms and values of other people, especially those in eastern regions and parts of the developing world, where social reactions have ratcheted from mild perplexity to outright hostility. Thus the advantages of this truly revolutionary development is lost on a people who feel beleaguered by an invasion of standards they do not understand, standards which threaten everyday to erode irreversibly their collective identity as a commune.
What people do not understand, they are more apt to dread and despise, and as pressure builds, other festering sores of malcontent have been triggered, provoking desperate measures of self-preservation, ineluctably violent ones.
Considering that the source of conflict is basically a lack of understanding, one would naturally seek a solution through the most obvious means – education. Indeed, in the Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary, ‘culture’ is synonymous with ‘education’, and given that conflict is fundamentally a clash of cultures, redefining what worldview our children are taught to accept should be the most logical step. Sadly, there are no resolutions to that effect proposed at UN plenary sessions, and curricula in the schools of member countries have remained largely unchanged.
The dilemma is academia has from times past methodically, albeit unwittingly, tailored into textbooks the subtle indoctrination that a class of superiority exists, with the inalienable right to subjugate inferior classes. In the bigger picture, the supremacy of the Western civilisation leaps off the text pages, from the conquests of British imperialism, through the unsurpassed sophistication of Greek philosophy, to the redoubtable ingenuity of Western scientists. This warp in academic viewpoint is evident in the smaller picture as well, where the accomplishments of major ethnicities are unreservedly extolled, while the minorities inhabit the shadows of ignominy. That their achievements are genuinely laudable does not remove from the disquieting silence concerning the significance other cultures have constituted to the advancement of human knowledge. This prejudice has been inadvertently embedded in the psyche of our children and the education still proffered today, if anything, only serves to deepen the sense of resentment and frustration of those who feel their ways of life have been suppressed unjustly.
Previous efforts at mending the fences have de-emphasized this root problem, which may only find remediation if the looking-glass of literacy avails our children an unbiased intellectual sojourn into world cultures, both theirs and others. This could be achieved through the following strategy of curricular harmonisation. In every nation concerned, extensive research to accurately evaluate and restate the historical contributions of every minority culture or ethnicity in all academic fields should be conducted, and new textbooks reflecting these revisions should replace current ones in the curriculum from primary to tertiary level. Courses delineating the secular values of democracy should by all means be incorporated, but this should also be accompanied by a fair abbreviation in the accented criticism of other forms of governance besides democracy, given that the practice of democracy itself is hardly ideal.
The importance of learning foreign languages should be emphasised, with foreign language lessons enforced up to secondary level and encouraged through university. Furthermore, especially in regions where religious beliefs are singular, the secular study of other religions should be introduced and maintained to secondary level. Cooperation at an international scale is vital; as such the education agency of the United Nations, UNESCO, occupies a crucial vantage position to coordinate these synergised steps of educational reform. For such a radical initiative, some resistance is by nature expected, and it is imperative that the implementation does not override the wishes of these nations’ citizens. Nevertheless, calls for adoption should be persistent, while pursued with tact and moderation of tempo.
The results may be gradual, even barely discernable at first, but in the end, this initiative should engender in our children an enduring appreciation for the accommodative, tolerant spirit of human fellowship that unifies the multicultural mosaic we call our world, coupled with a renewed confidence in their roles fulfilling mankind’s unending quest for progress and prosperity. The elixir for peace may prove not so elusive after all.
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