Kwame Anthony Appiah's The Case For Contamination

Throughout all of history, it has been quite evident that successful cultures have been able to strive and prevail due to the globalization of items, knowledge, and practices and the contamination of aspects of one’s cultures spreading throughout another. However there are still cultures, ruled or dictated by religions, that cannot mimic such progress because of the unyielding attitude and strict belief of those who support religion and hinder they growth of their culture by remaining in their old actions and beliefs. The article “The Case for Contamination” by Kwame Anthony Appiah flawlessly shows these points through the examples of different religions and practices and after reading this article, my approach to this topic is quite similar

When a new house needed building, he would organize it. He would also make sure his dependents were fed and clothed, the children educated, marriages and funerals arranged and paid for. He could expect to pass the farm and the responsibilities along to the next generation. Nowadays, everything is different. Cocoa prices have not kept pace with the cost of living. Gas prices have made the transportation of the crop more expensive. And there are new possibilities for the young in the towns, in other parts of the country and in other parts of the world. Once, perhaps, you could have commanded the young ones to stay. Now they have the right to leave.

If their father was a carpenter, then that’s what they learned. A few got lucky and were able to apprentice under someone outside their family but they majority were not so lucky. With the progression of globalization and contamination, things changed for the better. People had more options and chances to have better lives than their forefathers. The influx of knowledge, did not just better the individual but also the society as a whole. Some cultures lack this growth because they are ruled or dictated by religion or by religion center governments. This hindrance is caused by many being stuck in their old actions and belief. It is not till they are contamination by other cultures do they gain growth and