The relationship with the "different" has been approached by us Westerners in a different way in the various historical periods: sometimes we have been irremediably fascinated, sometimes we have undertaken some powerful enterprises of approach and knowledge, sometimes we have not hesitated to crush him barbarously.
Even today the question has not been completely resolved, so much so that the position of the governments and the dominant culture towards "the other self" is very burning and ambivalent. Italy, in particular, being at the center of the Mediterranean, is called with particular urgency to find a clear and effective answer, on pain of confusion and bewilderment that favors the proliferation of more closed and intransigent currents.
What does the different represent and how can I welcome it in the best way for the benefit of both? What are the bases for a relationship of acceptance and collaboration in mutual respect? How should the legislative system guarantee rights and duties on both sides?
These are just some of the questions on the table that await a response from a political point of view. Yet it is not the only one: how can we as a civil society relate to diversity? What does it represent for us?
Well, the world day of cultural diversity for dialogue and development on May 21st is a good opportunity to reflect on it.
Protect diversity
Speaking of diversity and dialogue is more urgent than ever, especially with a view to establishing a world of peace and collaboration among peoples, indispensable for the survival of our species .
The Western value system is literally eating entire areas not only economically, but also culturally: languages, traditions, millenary customs overwhelmed by the advance of European / American culture disappear. This homologation constitutes a very serious loss of our non-material wealth and creates a sterile and lethal homologation.
Hundreds of discussions could be opened regarding the protection of diversity and the strategies through which to deal with it. We can intervene from this point of view mostly indirectly, that is through the choices we make inside the voting booth.
In the daily life, in the small, we really can potentially make a big and significant difference: how?
Through sustainable choices from an economic point of view, perhaps favoring local or certified products .
Fighting social stereotypes and offensive clichés in every occasion and context.
Encouraging the knowledge of other cultures with an open and unprejudiced spirit. Educating from the earliest age and on school desks to the beauty of diversity, to its protection, to the priceless wealth it constitutes.
Finally, trying to be aware, informed and rational adults who, beyond personal political ideas, are living examples of tolerance, dialogue, solidarity towards others beyond any territorial, religious or political boundary.
The importance of knowing each other
Perhaps not everyone agrees with our invitation (which is then that of the united nations) to embrace an open and welcoming spirit and we do not ask you to passively "believe" our words.
However, we invite you to build an objective opinion by reading books and magazines, perhaps deepening those cultures that are most intolerable to you or studying those who think in a way that is diametrically opposed to yours.
Not to change ideas necessarily, but to have a picture of the whole that is intellectually honest and humanly meaningful and that is placed, however, in a sensitive and empathetic way, even if firm in its positions.
In this way all the positions of peace will be welcomed and will at least be willing to dialogue with friendship : it would already be a great step forward.
