The expression "Hottenton moral" about the principle of double standards has long been rooted in psychology. This principle of thinking is present not only among your friends and relatives, but also in politics. What it is and how it works, you will learn from the text below.
Who are the Hottentots?
The Hottentots are a South African Khoi tribe. The population of this nation is about fifty thousand people.
The African Hottentot tribe got its name from the Europeans, who were the first to explore their way of life. Pagans during their ceremonies quite often cast a spell that was heard by Europeans as "Hottentot".
Everyday speech also resembled the sounds of monkeys, therefore Europeans considered them wild, similar to ancient people. From Dutch hottentot translates as "stuttering." It was stuttering that gave the name to this tribe.
Where did the expression "Hottentot ethics" come from?
Once a European missionary visited South Africa, where he studied Aboriginal people. In particular, he communicated with the Khoi tribe (Hottentots). To find out what kind of morality the locals live, what is good for them and what is bad - he asked one of them if he knew what was good and what was evil. Hottentot replied that he knew what was good and what was bad, without any doubt. According to the Hottentot, evil is the case when your cattle and your wife are being stolen from you, and good - when you are stealing someone else's cattle and wife.
The question of the veracity of this story is debatable. Some researchers have noticed that the Khoi are very kind people. For example, the Christian clergyman Guy Tashar noted the good nature of Khoi and wrote that they really like to share.
In Russia, the expression "Hottentot morality" became popular after the article by S. Frank, addressed to Bolshevik immorality.
What is a Hottentot ethic?
The essence of the psychology of such thinking is as follows. All that we do and what we do, everything that leads to our own happiness and benefit is good. And everything that brings pain and harm is evil. It is important to consider only personal desires and aspirations. What is good, only the subject of the relationship knows.
If the action will benefit us, then it is virtuous. Everything is considered kind and good, which gives us satisfaction and happiness. But if another performs similar actions with us, then this is perceived as evil.
An African native thinks that his evil towards another is good if it brings him joy. A completely different case where the same "good" is done by the Hottentota - he does not like it.
The definition of Hottentot morality is reduced to the formula: "All means are good," if they are useful to me. Hottentot ethics are also called double standards. For one who acts according to this morality, there is a standard of action that applies only to him, while others apply a different standard of behavior. However, double standards work at higher social levels.
So, Hottentot ethics and double standards are essentially the same thing.
The moral of double standards
Double standards are approaches to the characterization of actions and rights of the general population, states, and peoples. Officially, these approaches are not recognized by anyone, but their existence is widespread.
Following the logic of double standards, it is possible to evaluate the same action, applying different interpretations of laws, principles, rules, and get several justified decisions (most often these are two opposite decisions).
In simple words, double standards are a biased attitude to any events and their unfair assessment. These events must be assessed by the same subjects. This is a discriminatory approach, deliberately covering events in a negative light for one object and in a positive light for another.
Double standards can be found in politics, journalism, economics and other humanities.
Double standards in international politics
Most often double standards are used in international relations. In the 21st century, the method of Hottentot morality acts as a weapon in the struggle against each other. The growth of international conflicts, aggression, terror - all this leads to wars, but not physical, but information.
The means of covert war are precisely double standards. The politicians of the warring states act covertly, undermining each other's authority and strength. In international relations, the subject is a state or a union of states that promotes a double standard in the international arena with respect to an object, that is, another state.
At the international level, the ethics of double standards seems to everyone as if it defends democratic ideals and fights imperfection in other states and countries, thereby distracting from similar problems in a state using a double standard. Accusing other countries of non-observance of universal rights and freedoms, such countries are most often guided only by their personal benefits.
A huge role in supporting such a policy is played by the media, which covers an event in accordance with the required standard. It concerns even such a serious issue as terrorism. If necessary, terrorism can also appear as a struggle for justice and freedom, which is completely unacceptable.
Double Standards Terminology
How are double standards manifested? The most common way of working is to use different words in relation to the same problem, object or action. In this case, the terms become emotionally colored.
For example, the concept of "war" among some and others may be interpreted as a "battle for peace." For us, scouts are the heroes of the country, and for others, spies.
Any words, sentences, expressions, events are subject to double standards. Absolutely everything can be turned in an advantageous way for one country to the detriment of another.
Double Standards Policy
If we characterize the actions of the subject depending on who this subject is for us, then we will pursue a policy of double standards. Our friends will receive a more pleasant assessment than strangers. This principle implies a stricter attitude towards one of the groups of people.
The policy of double standards in international relations is to accuse a state of violating universal principles, rights and freedoms. Moreover, the prosecutor himself violates the same principles as part of his international and domestic activities.
This approach is not new, it has existed for many tens or even hundreds of years, politicians, leaders, ordinary people are actively using the system of double standards.
Examples of Double Ethics in Politics
The following are examples of a double standard policy in international relations.
- The pro-Western orientation of presidential candidates justifies a large percentage of voters. For example, M. Saakashvili as a pro-Western candidate wins the presidential elections in Georgia with a large percentage. In this case, they talk about the victory of democracy. A significant percentage advantage and victory of V. Putin from the western point of view are rigged and anti-democratic.
- They welcome the referendum in one country and oppose in another. For example, the West agreed with the referendum on secession of Serbia and Montenegro, but did not agree with referenda in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
- Preferential prices for resources to the brother countries. For example, during the collapse of the USSR, everyone was opposed to Russia supplying its resources to post-Soviet countries at preferential rates. But when, after the Orange Revolution, Russia began to supply its resources to Ukraine at prices similar to those on the world market, it was called blackmail and undermining the economy.
There are many examples of double standards in world politics. Almost every event that happens is a double standard.
Double standards at work
The policy of double standards is relevant not only in international politics. Its obvious manifestation is a double sexual policy towards women and men.
A striking example of double standards is the hiring system. In none of the laws of a developed country do you find facts that men have priority in hiring over women.
However, behind the scenes you will be convinced that the employer is more likely to hire a man to work, even if both candidates are of the same age, have the same education and work experience.
The same applies to pay. Earnings of men at the same enterprise may differ from women’s because of more effective work of men than women, due to, for example, physical skills, etc.
Gender policy of double standards
A special role in this matter is played by the reproductive role of women. Many employers refuse to hire women because they can go on maternity leave, sick leave because of children, and so on. Such an employee is less priority only because she is a woman.
The dual principle with respect to women and men exists not only in relation to work. Modern society is dragged on by gender stereotypes, when the same fact of cheating on a man is perceived by many as a normal act. Men themselves are inclined to consider their inadvertent treason as ordinary, and a woman's treason is perceived as something immoral and is in every way condemned by male traitors.
These facts are confirmed by polls. One in four men considers abusive cheating on his wife. Four out of four consider cheating on women to be immoral.
This striking example is not the only one. The policy of double standards towards women is widespread.
Double standards in personal relationships
Each person’s life is filled with double standards. And this is not only politics, the media, art or science, it is also the personal relationship of people.
From the point of view of psychology, double standards are not something abnormal and incomprehensible. They are natural for any person who is disposed to himself much more favorably than to others.
It’s easier to understand oneself. Even when we do something wrong, we can justify ourselves, because we know exactly why we performed this or that action. But in relation to another person, we behave differently - we are more strict about his actions, because we do not know and do not want to know what prompted him to commit one or another act.
It's easier to find a speck in someone else's eye than to see a log in one's own. All this happens due to the fact that a person puts himself above others and believes that he has the right to a better life, while others do not. To the maximum degree of development, this develops into a narcissistic mental personality disorder.
Thus, Hottentot morality, or double standards, are literally inscribed in our daily personal lives, in relationships with each other. Media - newspapers, the Internet, television - all replete with obsessive stereotypes of thinking. The actions of politicians in the modern world are not without double standards. The international information war uses the double standard method extensively. States vying with each other drag a blanket of justice on themselves, constantly accusing others of what they themselves are wrong.