Cultuurverschillen

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Het is niet erg moeilijk om in de pers berichten te vinden over toestanden die kenmerkend zijn als cultuurgebonden voor de VS, de EU (ik kies Nederland als vertegenwoordigende jurisdictie), Saudi Arabië en China. Ik geef van elk een voorbeeld. De gedachte is dat de overheidsgedragingen die aan de orde worden gesteld zouden moeten kunnen worden verklaard met behulp van kennis over de cultuurverschillen. En dat die kennis bruikbaar zal zijn om in te schatten hoe de verschillen in de behandeling van COVID tot stand zijn gekomen. Om die vraag te illustreren laat ik na de tekstfragmenten de grafieken van het COVID verloop voor de vier jurisdicties, die ik als plaatsvervangers voor de vier culturen koos. (Vier, omdat ik gemerkt heb dat de VS en de EU in toenemende mate cultureel uit elkaar zijn gedreven, in mijn ervaring sinds 9/11 (2001), en niet meer als één cultuur kunnen worden gezien.

Teksfragmenten

USA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_impeachment_of_Donald_Trump#2021_storming_of_the_Capitol (visited March 6, 2021):

The House of Representatives of the 117th U.S. Congress adopted one article of impeachment against Trump of “incitement of insurrection”, alleging that Trump incited the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. These events were preceded by numerous unsuccessful attempts by Trump to overturn the 2020 presidential election, as well as his pushing of voter fraud conspiracy theories on his social media channels before, during, and after the election. A single article of impeachment charging Trump with “incitement of insurrection” against the U.S. government and “lawless action at the Capitol” was introduced to the House of Representatives on January 11, […] Trump called on his supporters to come to Washington D.C. on January 6, on the day that Congress was counting the electoral votes, to the “March to Save America” rally on the National Mall. At the rally, Trump as well as other speakers repeated the false claims that the election was stolen, used the word “fight”, made an analogy to boxing, and suggested that his supporters had the power to prevent President-elect Joe Biden from taking office. When the United States Congress convened to certify the electoral votes of the presidential election, supporters of Trump crossed the Mall and stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to prevent the tabulation of votes and protest against Biden’s win. Trump supporters unlawfully entered the Capitol and gathered on both its eastern and western sides, […] Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died as a result of the riots, while several improvised explosive devices were found on and near the Capitol grounds.

The Netherlands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_childcare_benefits_scandal (visited March 4, 2021):

The Dutch childcare benefits scandal (Dutch: kinderopvangtoeslagaffaire or toeslagenaffaire, lit. ‘[childcare] benefits affair’) is a political scandal in the Netherlands concerning false allegations of fraud made by the Tax and Customs Administration while attempting to regulate the distribution of childcare benefits. Between 2013 and 2019, authorities wrongly accused an estimated 26,000 parents of making fraudulent benefit claims, requiring them to pay back the allowances they had received in their entirety. In many cases, this sum amounted to tens of thousands of euros, driving families into severe financial hardship. The scandal was brought to public attention in September 2018. Investigators have subsequently described the working procedure of the Tax and Customs Administration as “discriminatory” and filled with “institutional bias”. On 15 January 2021, two months before the 2021 general election, the third Rutte cabinet resigned over the scandal following a parliamentary inquiry into the matter, which concluded that “fundamental principles of the rule of law” had been violated.

Saudi Arabia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia (visited March 4, 2021):

Women, as well as men, may be subject to harassment by the country’s religious police, the mutaween, in some cases including arbitrary arrest and physical punishments. A UN report cites a case in which two mutaween were charged with molesting a woman; the charges were dismissed on the grounds that mutaween are immune from prosecution. In some cases, victims of sexual assault are punished for khalwa, being alone with an unrelated male, prior to the assault. In the Qatif rape case, an 18-year-old victim of kidnapping and gang rape was sentenced by a Saudi court to six months in prison and 90 lashes. The judge ruled she violated laws on segregation of the sexes, as she was in an unrelated man’s car at the time of the attack. She was also punished for trying to influence the court through the media. The Ministry of Justice defended the sentence, saying she committed adultery and “provoked the attack” because she was “indecently dressed.” Her attackers were found guilty of kidnapping and were sentenced for prison terms ranging from two to ten years.

China: The Gender Legacy of the Mao Era – Women’s Life Stories in Contemporary China, Xin Huang, © 2018 State University of New York:

In March 2015, one day before International Women’s Day, five Chinese feminist activists were detained by the police for organizing multicity campaigns against sexual harassment on public transport. They were detained for thirty-five days and charged by the police for xunxie zishi (寻衅滋事, picking quarrels and provoking troubles).

Grafieken

Om de details in de PRC-gegevens na 24 april weer te geven, geef ik de tweede China-grafiek, die voor dit doel is aangepast.

Discussie

Het is natuurlijk een onmogelijke opgave voor een jurist-programmeur om zelfstandig een deugdelijk ontwerp te kunnen maken van de ontwikkelingen van een pandemie in vier verschillende culturen. Maar dat hoeft ook niet. Voor een eerste benadering gebruik ik deugdelijke literatuur, gemengd met persoonlijke ervaring. Maar het belangrijkste argument waarom dat ontwerp niet meteen goed hoeft te zijn is dat ik van plan ben om, in de geest van de AlphaZero benadering, een spelsituatie te integreren waarin het model leert van het spelen tegen zichzelf op zoek naar de beste (‘winnende’) voospellingen van de pandemie in de verschillende culturen.


Reacties

3 reacties op “Cultuurverschillen”

  1. […] Het is natuurlijk een onmogelijke opgave voor een jurist-programmeur om zelfstandig een deugdelijk ontwerp te maken van de ontwikkelingen van een pandemie in vier verschillende culturen. Maar dat hoeft ook niet. […]

  2. […] 15 januari 2021 was de regering afgetreden vanwege de kindertoeslagenaffaire (zie het citaat). Tussen 17 maart en 1 april werden alvast verkennende activiteiten ontwikkeld of en zo ja welke […]

  3. […] 15 januari 2021 was de regering afgetreden vanwege de kindertoeslagenaffaire (zie het citaat). Op 17 maart waren de verkiezingen. Tussen 17 maart en 1 april werden alvast verkennende […]