life’s process. The enjoyment of music and art, in all their many forms, is universal.
There are also countless religious and philosophical values that bind people.
From this brief discussion, you can recognize that people are very much alike in
many significant ways. In a multicultural world, it is important to recognize these
commonalities. As the late Professor Samuel Huntington said,“People in all civiliza-
tions should search for and attempt to expand the values, institutions, and practices
they have in common with people of other civilizations.”^60Recognize and Respect Cultural Differences
In addition to finding commonalities among people and cultures, it is equally impor-
tant to recognize, understand, and respect cultural differences. Former President of
Israel Shimon Peres provides an eloquent summation of this ethical precept:“All peo-
ple have the right to be equal and the equal right to be different.”A foundational
objective of this text has been to instill an appreciation that culture produces varying
beliefs, values, and behaviors. Understanding and respecting those cultural variances
enables you to develop an intercultural awareness with an ethical perspective. In
short, you must keep in mind that people are bothalikeanddifferent!
World travelers today can order a latte at a Starbucks in Mumbai, eat a
McDonald’s Big Mac in Berlin, drink a Coca-Cola in Nairobi, visit an Apple store
in Beijing, purchase a Toyota Corolla in Cairo, try on a pair of Zara jeans in Moscow,
find a Louis Vuitton store in Rio de Janeiro, and connect to Google.com almost any-
where in the world. And there is a very good chance that in each city, you will be
able to speak English with the salesperson. The internationalization of commercial
activities can give the impression that everyone everywhere has a similar lifestyle
and enjoys the same things. However, this is an illusion. Over twenty-five years ago,
Barnlund vividly illustrated this double-sided nature of cultures:
If outwardly there is little to distinguish what one sees on the streets of Osaka [Japan] and
Chicago—hurrying people, trolleys and busses, huge department stores, blatant billboards,
skyscraper hotels, public monuments—beneath the surface there remains great distinc-
tiveness. There is a different organization of industry, a different approach to education, a
different role for labor unions, and a contrasting pattern of family life, unique law enforce-
ment and penal practices, contrasting forms of political activity, different sex and age roles.
Indeed, most of what is thought of as culture shows as many differences as similarities.^61
The observable similarities that Barnlund wrote about not only remain today but
also, in many cases, have increased. Yet the cultural differences endure and continue
to influence interactions.
The need to recognize, appreciate, and accept cultural similarities and differences is
essential to developing a complete and honest intercultural ethical perspective. This
perspective will help you better access the potential consequences of your communi-
cative acts and become more tolerant of others. It is appropriate here to recall
Thomas Jefferson’s advice about accepting differences:“It does me no injury for my
neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God.”Be Self-Responsible
Earlier, we referred to our ability to exercise free choice and the need to be“mindful”
because our choice of communicative behaviors can cause both intended and unin-
tended consequences for other people. Our final ethical consideration places thoseGuidelines for Intercultural Ethics 405Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).