Western Culture Must Reclaim Good Prejudices to Survive Against Stronger Cultures
Source: Wade Stotts. "Why You Should Probably Be More Prejudiced." March 4, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that everyone has built-in biases and gut instincts, and that's actually good when these come from traditional wisdom. Western culture is dying because we've thrown away our good cultural instincts, while other cultures like Islam and Hinduism kept theirs strong and will eventually take over.
Conclusion
Western societies should cultivate and strengthen beneficial prejudices (traditional cultural norms) rather than rejecting all prejudices, because this is necessary for cultural survival against stronger, more cohesive cultures
Premises
- All humans inevitably have prejudices - they are inescapable cognitive shortcuts based on ancestral wisdom and experience
- Prejudices can be beneficial when they embody accumulated cultural wisdom that guides behavior without requiring constant rational deliberation
- Culture is essentially the collective prejudices of a people, serving as 'common sense' that preserves valuable lessons across generations
- The West has weakened itself by systematically rejecting traditional prejudices in favor of radical individualism and blank-slate thinking
- Modern prejudices are now shaped by algorithms and mass media rather than trusted elders and real-world experience, making them unreliable
- Other cultures (Islamic, Hindu) have maintained stronger cultural cohesion and will dominate weakened Western societies that lack shared norms
- Legal frameworks alone cannot preserve cultural identity - shared prejudices about 'how we do things here' are necessary for cultural boundaries
Assumptions
- Traditional cultural norms generally embody accumulated wisdom worth preserving
- Cultural homogeneity and shared prejudices are necessary for societal cohesion
- Rational deliberation alone is insufficient for making good decisions in daily life
- Cultural competition between civilizations is inevitable and zero-sum
- The presence of other cultures' institutions in Western societies represents a threat rather than diversity