Cultural Invasion

In cultural invasion, the actors draw the thematic content of their action from their own values and ideology; their starting point is their own world, from which they enter the world of those they invade. In cultural synthesis, the actors who come from "another world" to the world of the people do so not as invaders. They do not come to teach or to transmit or to give anything, but rather to learn, with the people, about the people's world.

~ Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Let us acknowledge first that we do, in fact, come from different worlds. (We includes all of us, though it can be defined differently depending on the situation.) By what authority do we think we have the right or even the ability to enter into a "world" that we do not come from, and therefore cannot immediately identify with, and bestow answers upon people we have failed to listen to?

Might we not enter first into the lived experiences of others before writing a prescription? Better yet, are we willing to let those we wish to "help" do the prescribing?