182 Ethics in Higher Education: Values-driven Leaders for the Future
necessarily following Western values (Huntington 1998) or sequences,
but rather with a re-strengthening of core values from different traditions
of knowledge and living.
It is about equal access as citizens of a nation and of the world into
the mainstream society, with an emphasis on equality – i.e. the right to
participate on an equal footing in a negotiating partnership. Western
modernization, progress and thought is seen as a temporary epoch in
human history with both advantages and disadvantages which must, and
is seeking to re-engage with the more holistic integrated
conceptualizations of sustainable life held by cultures that have,
fortunately, not been down the path of “westernization”.
In other words, it is a rapprochement of modern and older cultures,
including modern culture’s older roots where each complementing the
other opens up the possibility of a viable future for humankind
(Huntington 1998, Fatnowna & Pickett 2002).
I end this paper by quoting Howard Zinn in his book: A People’s
History of the United States, who states that there are several paths
available to the historian. One can lie outright about the past. Or one can
omit facts that might lead to unacceptable conclusions. Or, one can take
what has become a fairly “safe” way: i.e. mention the truth quickly, then
proceed to bury it a mass of other information.
This third option, Zinn states, is the way to say to the reader with a
certain infectious calm: yes, mass murder took place, but it is not that
important - it should weigh very little in our final judgements; it should
affect very little what we do in the world.
He argues that while it is a useless scholarly exercise to indulge in
accusations, judgements and condemnations, the easy acceptance of
atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress
(imperialism, colonialism, Hiroshima, and Vietnam – to save Western
civilization; Kronstadt and Hungary to save socialism; nuclear
proliferation to save us all) is still with us. One reason why these