"I see myself as being cultured and civilised."
"Compared to who?"
"Well, compared to the...eh...'other'. You know those street cats, bloody savages they are... rummaging in the dustbins."
"So you are cultured and civilised compared to 'savages'?
"Well, if you want to put it like that."
"But doesn't all this type of thinking, you know, being civilised and cultured stem from imperialism and colonialism?"
"Call me an old colonial or imperialist if you like...I am still cultured - nothing I like better than pondering on a passage of the Aenid, or soaring on a Brahms concerto, or...."
"But doesn't 'culture' have its etymological roots in rural labour?"
"Perhaps...eh... well...I dont know."
"But isn't 'culture' just a ritual of unconscious conformism?"
"I am sorry...you will have to excuse me, there is a bowl of milk waiting for me."
"I will join you and we can continue..."
"No, sorry, if you dont mind, I dont like people to watch me while I am eating...it's not civilised."
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