The Potential Contributions of the Moi to the Cultural Landscape of Indochina

Extract

In thinking about the claims to independence of the large civilized nations of south and Southeast Asia, we are prone to forget or to ignore the fact that these regions also contain more than eighty million tribal minorities. These large minorities are not negligible quantities in the ethics of democracy; not even a single individual is of such trifling importance as to be brushed aside with the classical adage de minimis non curat praetor. Professor Robert M. Maclver has emphasized that, just as the human being is unable to unfold his potentialities without the protection and care of society, so society cannot attain its maximum development without granting to every individual every opportunity for full self-realization and individualization. The same is true, I think, also of minority groups.