[ExI] The Evils of the West

[Dan]

--- On Tue, 4/14/09, Eschatoon Magic <eschatoon at gmail.com> wrote:
> Why not just "On the world stage,
> this means trying to help all
> societies acquire the institutions that deliver the goods",
> without
> "Western"?
> 
> In practice I agree that the Western civilization has
> produced a lot
> of good things that should be made available to other
> civilization.
> But I do not agree that all that is Western is good, and
> all that is
> not Western is bad. Perhaps we also have a few lessons to
> learn from
> others.

I thought two of the quintessential Western traits -- dating back to the Ancient Greeks -- were 1) to be self-critical and 2) to learn from others.  Think of Herodotus and Hippocrates.  (To be sure, I doubt Westerners had or have a monopoly on these traits.  It's perhaps more accurate to say these traits tend to be more extreme, historically and currently, among those in the West.  I grant that probably many if not most in the West do not adhere to these traits and just sheepish follow whatever fads are current.)

Regards,

Dan