Curses of Culture: Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is the belief that our culture is exclusively the best, that all others are inferior, and that it is inherent upon us to impose our control and the "benefits" of our culture on those inferior cultures and people for their own good. At the extreme, ethnocentrism even calls for the extermination of the "lesser" group. That extreme is ethnic hatred, viewing those other cultures as a threat to our way of life.
European imperialism of the 17th through 20th centuries was based on a blending of ethnocentrism and greed, and those empires treated other cultures with disdain and disrespect.
It is a central belief of some of the most destructive countries, organizations, and people in world history: Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and the Japanese empire in World War II, tribal massacres in Africa, the KKK and white supremacist movements in the U.S., people like Steve Bannon, groups like ISIS Al Quaeda, the Shiite regime in Iran, etc. etc. etc..
Trump, Bannon and their ilk would take us down the path of ethnocentrism. That is a path toward tyranny, human degradation, and cultural decline that we cannot afford.
Most Trump supporters don't understand more than the concepts of "us" and "them", and anything more complicated than black and white concepts makes them angry, because they don't want to seem stupid or admit that they don't know something (vital).
When a third of the country is ov the above mentality, it becomes really dangerous.
You're absolutely right in your analysis of what is currently going in regards to the direction that Trump is taking the country. What is especially shocking is how many followers he has and how ignorant they are. What is especially sad is that the human race has not learned it's history lessons in order not to repeat past mistakes. Evidence of the degradation can be seen in all the policies that are helpful to people and the environment that Trump has abolished.
I couldn't agree more. But ethnocentrism surely is produced by the religious concepts of god given rights, and being "his" chosen people etc. So it gets back to the destruction wrought by a belief in a god.
We must also acknowledge that ethnocentrism was a major force in our foreign policy for over 50 years. Starting in the 1850s the concept of "manifest destiny" dominated. Manifest destiny is the name we give to the belief that due to our superior culture, it is our manifest destiny to extend the benefits and controls of our superior culture to other, lesser peoples -- whether they want it or not. Bannon, Trump and the white supremacists want to revive this evil set of beliefs. Ethnocentrism is the only slightly less evil twin of racism!