The Ethologists’ UnpaidDebtsto Spencerand Sumner 267The truthof the mattergoesunacknowledgedby Rothschildand Borsook.Spencerdocu-
mentedmanyof the sameobservationsthat Rothschildwouldofferabouteconomiesover
a centurylater.
Sumnerand Ethnocentrism
Comparableto Rothschild’s errorsis the mannerin whicha handfulof populartwen-
ty-first-centuryevolutionarypsychologistshavecongratulatedthemselvesfor complete
originalitywhenspoutingtheoriesthatWilliamGrahamSumnerhadalreadyformulat-
ed—albeitin a simplerform—in his 1906textbookFolkways. Yet anothergapingironyin
this matteris that,thoughSumner’s outlookon politicaleconomyhas renderedhimone
of the mostpoliticallyincorrectfiguresin Americanhistory,he actuallycoineda termthat
the academic“multiculturalist” Left findsindispensablein advancingits PC agenda.That
termisethnocentrism. Dictionary.Comstatesthatethnocentrismis the “beliefthatone’s
owncultureis superiorto all othersand is the standardby whichall otherculturesshould
be measured.”^18 The academicLeftdenounces,as a right-wingethnocentrist,practically
anyonewhopronouncesnegativejudgmentuponilliberalpracticesof non-Westerncul-
tures.Yet somemilitantlyIslamicNorth-Africancommunitiesinsiston mutilatingthe
genitaliaof babygirls.Shouldwe believethatthe Westhas no businesspronouncing
judgmentuponanyotherculturalpractice,it followsthatpronouncingjudgmenton
forcibleclitorectomiesis verboten.
A near-consensusof modernanthropologistsandsociologistscreditsSumnerwith
inventingthis neologism,ethnocentrism.^19 AsFolkwaysintroducesthe word,“Ethnocen-
trismis the technicalnamefor this viewof thingsin whichone’s owngroupis the center
of everything,and all othersare scaledand ratedwithreferenceto it.... Eachgroup...
boastsitselfsuperior,... andlookswithcontempton outsiders.Eachgroupthinksits
ownfolkwaysthe onlyrightones,andif it observesthatothergroupshaveotherfolk-
ways,theseexciteits scorn.”^20 Fromthe late 1960sonward,the counterculturalandaca-
demicNewLefttookholdof this term.Thisdecisionwassupposedlya correctiveto the
assumptionof numerouspeoplethateverysingleinstitutionof Westernsocietywas
preferableto anythingdifferentin any otherculture.^21 Suchinstitutionscouldrangefrom
the majorones,suchas bankingand double-entrybookkeeping,to moreinnocuousones,
suchas eatinghamburgersor wearingfootwearinsideone’s ownhouse.Thosewho
assumedthata customwasgoodsolelybecauseit wasWestern,wereaccusedof ethno-
centrism.
To my consternation,the NewLeft “multiculturalist” intellectualswhopervadeacade-
mia do not stopthere.Theygo to the otherextremeof assertingthatno culturalpractice
can be deemedbetterthananother.Consequently,morethana few“multiculturalists”
resortto accusingan Americanmanof bigotryand ethnocentrismif he criticizesas inhu-
manethe treatmentof womenin SaudiArabiaas second-classcitizens(or worse),or the
Aztecs’ totalitariangovernmentsystemandimpositionof atrocioushumansacrificesto
avertan imaginaryapocalypse.^22
Andlots of multiculturalistsgo farther,intimatingthateveryinstitutionassociated
withthe Westis insipidat bestandimmoralat worst,particularlyinsofaras theyjudge
Westerncultureto be generallyindividualisticandegoistic.Thesemulticulturalistsdis-
paragethe respectivevaluesof commerceand industrializationand individualism,which
theyinterpretas predominantlyWesterninstitutions.Conversely,theyuphold,as uncon-
ditionallyacceptable,everyaspectof any non-Westernculturethatseemsto clashwith
thesevalues—suchas socialcollectivismand animisticreligionsin variousnon-industri-
alizedtribes.Theseparticularmulticulturalistsveerfromtheiroriginalcontentionthat
eachcultureis equallypraiseworthy,and end up sayingthat everycultureis equalexcept