Adam Garrie |
Many individuals throughout the world are aghast at the open displays of vulgarity and sexual obscenity in northern Europe and Scandinavia in particular. While western governments and commentators are quick to criticise Asian cultures due to their “tribal origin”, in reality, all modern cultures and states are a result of the coalescing of ancient tribes into broader, more integrated units.
However, while the west often points the tribal finger at Asia, the Middle East and Africa, in reality, northern Europe remains among the most un-reconstructed tribalist areas on the planet.
Most countries which are part of the Germanic ethno-linguistic group derived from the ancient tribes of northern Europe.
In the case of Scandinavia, while the idea of statehood while fully realized on a legal, diplomatic and economic level, the region remains largely tribalistic on a cultural level.
When uniting tribal groups into a common unit or a state, one of the key elements to consider is a unifying belief system whether religious or secular.
Whether the Byzantine Empire, Arab Caliphate or Ottoman Empire or Russian Empire, one sees a clear pattern of a majoritarian or official religious state policy, where levels of tolerance for religious minorities differ on an individual basis.
Pakistan became united around the religion of Islam, the DPRK around the Juche idea of Kim il-Song and the Soviet Union around Marxist-Leninism.
One can for example, also look at the Confucianism belief system as a unifying force in ancient China and also in nearby states such as Korea and Japan.
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In the modern era, post-colonial and revolutionary states also find unity behind a common belief system. Pakistan became united around the religion of Islam, the DPRK around the Juche idea of Kim il-Song and the Soviet Union around Marxist-Leninism.
Scandinavia had been particularly slow to embrace Christianity and even when Christianity was formally established, its practices were highly integrated into local pagan cultures.
While many point to the decadent cultures of northern Europe as a result of liberalism, the roots which allowed these places to so totally embrace the most extreme elements of liberalism, have very ancient antecedents.
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Scandinavia had been particularly slow to embrace Christianity and even when Christianity was formally established, its practices were highly integrated into local pagan cultures. Today, the adherence to a universal faith such as Christianity or Islam remains low among indigenous Scandinavians, however, a sense of identity derived from ancient tribal identities remains strong.
Take for example, a recent so-called “sexual education” video from Norway that has shocked many online observers. The internet gives people the opportunity to glimpse into the cultures of foreign lands more thoroughly than previous technologies allowed.
The video which, in a censored form has gone viral on international social media, is, in its original uncensored form, nothing more than graphic pornography.
In other words, the video was not produced as an act of rebellion or provocation, because it was only intended for consumption among fellow members of a culture which views such obscenity as normal.
Such a video could hardly be legally produced in a society guided by Islamic or Christian values. It also could not see the light of day in a society like that of the former Soviet Union or modern China.
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A Christian or Muslim could say that the video is blasphemous and a secular-socialist could say that it is degenerate. But to the Norwegian people who produced the video, it is considered normal. In other words, the video was not produced as an act of rebellion or provocation, because it was only intended for consumption among fellow members of a culture which views such obscenity as normal.
In this sense, while many see the ultra-liberalism of northern Europe as a reaction against the holy wisdom of religion like Christianity and Islam, it is merely a function of an ancient tribal mentality that has not become as integrated into more modern moral belief systems as one would expect.
In this sense, one can say that northern Europe and Scandinavia, in particular, are not so much intentionally blasphemous as they are underdeveloped and overly tribal.
Videos such as the vulgarity produced by so-called educators in Norway should be seen less as an act of rebellion and more as an insular and even backward exercise in a local, tribal rite.
This is not an attempt to excuse such sick behavior, but it merely serves to put into context, the behaviors of backward people who ironically point to more developed and modern Asian societies thinking that they know best.
Adam Garrie is the managing editor at The Duran and is a frequent guest on RT, Press TV, and Digital Divides. He is an expert on Asia/Eurasian, Middle Eastern, Russian and US history and politics. He tweets:@adamgarriereal. The views expressed are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.