[lbo-talk] Reform and annihilation

[Thiago Oppermann]

>> When you remove children so as to indoctrinate them out of their
>> cultural norms, you are doing something very different than if you were to
>> undertake reforms, or even a revolution.
> 
> There are, however, certain situations in which bad cultural norms lead to
> situations where the children _ought_ to be taken away.  If an African
> immigrant father wishes to remove his dauther's clitoris, I think we should
> consider removing the daughter from her father's care.
> 
> -- Luke

No doubt we should consider it, after we try to convince the father, and on
a case by case by case basis, with the burden of justification placed firmly
on us. Even so, this is a very different case from the one we were
discussing before. I should have made myself clearer: what I had in mind was
the indoctrination of a child so that  she doesn't retain anything of her
parent's culture. That was the goal with the Australian policy, and is
clearly not what you mean here. Your intended goal  would not be  to
exterminate the African culture in question. My point is that such a goal
would be an attempt at genocide.

Thiago