I suppose people will think I am advocating moral relativism. Actually I am not making any sort of moral argument, my argument is aesthetic. I am celebrating the existence of times and places that are rich and strange worlds unto themselves, whether it be 17th century Venice, 18th century Tahiti, 19th century London, or 21st century Tokyo.
I hate how our discussions of “the far” always implicitly assume that we are right and they are wrong. If East Asian culture is more puritanical than us in some respects, we are to believe that they are Objectively Wrong. And if in other respects the very same society is less puritanical, well they are also Objectively Wrong in those practices.
