Their peculiar, droning institution

The vuvuzela is the bees-buzzing horn blown continuously by South African soccer fans. Despite an otherwise fantastic job of hosting the World Cup, this highly irritating sound has come to define the event.

It creates a mindless and continuous noise. Players can’t hear coaches. Fans can’t either praise or condemn through their yelling. And people attending the events have said that it’s deafening to the point of distraction or headache, if not harmful to one’s hearing.

What’s fascinating is that commentators seem reluctant to condemn it because they feel we should respect the differences of other cultures. South Africans themselves have celebrated the decision not to ban it, since, “The vuvuzela is ours, made here on South African soil.”

Notice that this explanation is no explanation at all. Instead of offering a rational justification, the sentiment here is simple cultural relativism. It’s as if they were to say, “We admit it’s stupid, but who are you to tell us not to be stupid?” The vuvuzela itself matters very little in the scheme of things, but the cultural relativism such discussions take seriously matters very much indeed.