A civilizational gap, it seems is a difficult thing for Americans to admit. When Kiron Skinner, former Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, floated the idea that China hailed from a different civilization and that their principles are not our principles, she was promptly attacked. Dangerous idea, said The Washington Post, notwithstanding that Skinner was expressing a "kind of respect" for China in doing so, failing to understand that this is exactly how the Chinese would see things.
But a civilizational gap exists nonetheless. Between the U.S. and China, the differences go far beyond tastes and customs and enter the realm of values, morality, and even something as basic as the nature of truth. It is almost as if the brains of the two societies are wired differently, and therefore each side must painfully reorient itself and question its most fundamental assumptions, to gain even a glimpse into the workings of the other. That is also why a mutual understanding -- society to society -- is impossible. But perhaps we can, singly, achieve what is impossible collectively.
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