peaceful coexistence

[miriam_e]

It wasn't very long ago that it was common for people to positively hate anybody who looked different, or dressed differently, or even fellow countrymen who spoke with slightly different accents. Nowadays people are more tolerant that at any time in history.

I remember back in the 60s how ordinary Australians (some of the most educated and tolerant people in the world) expressed utter disgust at people whose hair was just an inch or so longer than "normal". I remember people saying that they couldn't possibly shake hands with people of another color because they couldn't bear to touch their skin. I remember people speaking out publicly that rock music was evil, and I remember how amazingly common that feeling was.

The present day sees popular enjoyment of more kinds of music than ever before, classical, trance, rock, jazz, punk, pop, metal, ambient, tribal, hip-hop, rap, bebop, big band... literally hundreds of different kinds. In the past you could number on the fingers of one hand all the popular forms of music. Now many colors and cultures of people are readily accepted by the bulk of society, and slightly different accents pass by almost unnoticed. Dress, hair, and even body decorations are considered largely irrelevant by most people.

People are getting much more tolerant, and this change for the better is happening incredibly quickly.

Comments

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Gosh! Your father sounds a charming person. :(
He sounds like the best advertisement against physical punishment I've heard of. It's a damn good thing you weren't hit more, or you might have turned out more like him. And that would have been a shame. I count myself as very lucky to have met you.

The changes go back further than Clinton and the internet. They have been gathering pace for ages, but the acceleration is most visible recently, naturally. I think the internet may be a factor in the current high rate of change, but it can't be attributed entirely to it because many of the changes were underway before it exploded onto the scene. Clinton may have had positive effects inside the USA, but little effect outside it.

I think this is a natural effect of culture and its evolution as people become more knowledgeable. The real task before us now is to spread information as widely as possible so that other cultures have the opportunity to participate and become part of a more tolerant future. It is no accident that religion and racial intolerance are strongest amongst the least knowledgeable.

[slave-driver.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. Long hair became acceptable in the 70's and the stigma toward rock music ended in the 60's. Clinton and the internet have both contributed to this change toward social acceptance, but you're right, it started long before that.