The Noble Savage

      The idea of the “noble savage” preceded the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.  Rousseau popularized the idea in the 18th century.  He quite possibly based his theory on the behavior of the orang hutan (people of the jungle) or orangutan.  The idea was reaffirmed by Franz Boas, the "Father of American Anthropology.” While studying the Inuit culture in Canada Boas wrote, "I often ask myself what advantages our good society possesses over the savages.  The more I see of their customs, the more I realize that we have no right to look down upon them." Boas’ theory was reinforced by his student, Margaret Mead.  Her Coming of Age in Samoa stressed what she saw as the sexual liberalism of the Samoans.  The noble savage theory has morphed into the basis for multiculturalism.  Multiculturalism is ordained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the General Assembly on 13 September 2007.  It states, “that all doctrines, policies and practices based on or advocating superiority of peoples or individuals on the basis of national origin or racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences are racist, scientifically false, legally invalid, morally condemnable and socially unjust.”  

      Once it was established that all cultures were equal the next step was to recognize that Western culture was actually inferior.  This theory has been accepted by the leftist elite for quite some time.  Eric Hoffer commented, "Nowhere at present is there such a measureless loathing of their country by educated people as in America.”  Susan Sontag declared the “white race is the cancer of human history.”  The educational establishment has succeeded in brainwashing an entire generation to believe that the West is somehow inferior to the third world.  Dinesh D'Souza has written, “Multicultural textbooks, which are committed to a contemporary version of the noble savage portrait, typically find it difficult to acknowledge historical facts that would embarrass the morality tale of white invaders despoiling the Elysian harmony of the Americas.”