News Snapshot:
Human beings have, ever since they developed distinct cultures, always worried that their purity might soon be blemished. In ancient Greece, Therpandrus caused offence by adding an extra string to his lyre. In 16th-century China, the emperor ordered all seafaring ships destroyed because of fears about the cultural changes that foreign trade missions might induce. In 19th-century Germany, the composer Richard Wagner worried that Jews might spoil the authenticity of German culture. Traditionally, it has been the right that opposed and the left that defended new cultural influences. But, in recent years, many progressives have also started to worry about...
