All cultures have both strengths and weaknesses

The May 20, 1999 issue of The Chronicle published a letter by Professor Edwin Locke from the University of Maryland, who was weighing in on the recent controversy at Duke regarding the possible addition of a Hindi major. Although it may be true that a Hindi major should not be added at Duke, the debate has evolved into a large one on the supposed superiority of one civilization.

Locke argues for the superiority of Western civilization based on respect for human rights, reason and science. I assume he is willing to dismiss as "temporary exceptions" (to use his own words) the Holocaust, slavery and the Western colonization of large parts of Africa and Asia, just to name a few instances where human rights and reason were ignored. He seems willing to ignore the rampant prevalence of drugs and violence in our society when he talks about quality of life. He uses life expectancy as a measure of the best society, but does not touch upon the fact that the concept of family-based care of the old in India is arguably better than shunting the old into retirement homes as is done in the West.

I can go on and on, but the point is that all societies have positive and negative aspects, and it is perhaps impossible to say that one society is objectively the best. Arguments that focus on the positive aspects of a society, and intentionally ignore the negative aspects are simply not objective.

It is indeed disappointing that a professor at a prestigious institution like the University of Maryland would resort to such arguments.

Prasad Kasibhatla

Assistant Research Professor

Nicholas School of

the Environment