Given the sheer weight of Western achievement - and by West I mean European and non-European English-speaking territories - achievements cultural, artistic, scientific, technological and military, can anyone seriously adopt a culturally relativist view and reject the central notion that the West is in fact not the Best?
I do not seek to argue that the West and a loose model of liberal democracy has the answer to everything; only that it is currently the best model, among a group of many competing models, available to us. That is, in terms of liberty, in terms of standard of living, in terms of artistic expression and in terms of scientific development. What can other cultures possibly offer, except curiosities and items of antiquarian interest?
Does anyone have a good or interesting argument to rebut this?
i think it is fair to say that west is best, and has been best since the industrial revolution. i think we are in a period where the english speaking countries can remain best or asian countries (japan or china likely) will take over
Luke Moore
Remember, there was once a time when Muslims ruled half the known world, and a time when Mongols ruled the world.
The west is strongest, as of now. That is all you can say about it.
Kevin Ortiz
the only people who rank civilizations ad cultures on some arbitrary hierarchy are literal man children who don't actually enjoy the study of history but use to confirm modern ideologies and opinions
Gabriel Cruz
Is it weird if I don't find western culture appealing at all? I don't really like it's focus on folklore like knights and dragons, and as its art goes, being as realistic as possible. I also don't like it's consumerist culture.
There is something however that's very appealing to me in semetic culture. I like the idea of being a sheep guided by a benevolant shepard, I like the extended family, I like the mythicism behind religions like Judaism, I like the focus on studying religion, I like the abstract art used to represent God's presence
Is there something wrong with me? I'm irish, dutch, french, and native american as far as im aware
Nathan Brooks
Considering Semitic culture is ingrained in you to some extent through your Christian heritage, it makes sense and there's nothing wrong with you.
"Western" culture (if there ever was a unified one) has been slowly evaporating since the enlightenment. The consumerist stuff you're seeing is a product of Americanism (note, NOT THE SAME AS AMERICAN CULTURE), which has been spread throughout the west since roughly the 1940s and is completely erasing the independent cultures of the countries it infects.
It's good that it doesn't satisfy you because it is not culture, it is the absence and erasure of culture in the pursuit of monetary profit and market dominance.
The truth is you've probably never actually experienced "western" culture, especially if you're an American (which it sounds like you are).
Dylan Phillips
The East did just teleport a photon you know. But yeah circumnavigation was dank.
Lincoln Davis
yes a solid military state focused on meritocracy and the advancement of the human race via war hammer levels of devotion to our cause would ultimately produce an all powerful population
Gavin Perez
The West is decadent, right now. It is still richer and more powerful than other parts of the world, but it is having increases in depression and other mental illnesses, families are fractured. hedonism dominates and so on.
Who do you think is going to become "the best" next? Also do you think the European (at least the Western) people will march on? Or will they fade into history like so many people before them?
Julian Lee
>I don't really like it's focus on folklore like knights and dragons, and as its art goes, being as realistic as possible. I also don't like it's consumerist culture.
Is that what you seriously think is all the West and its culture amounts to?
Elijah Williams
You're just a faggot.
Joshua Anderson
>implying anyone of us would amount to anything more than scum, survive being completely impoverished on some backwater low-tier planet and not die a cold and tortuous death if we weren't killed by some xeno first
Nathaniel Reed
/thread
Evan Rodriguez
It's the best. People are risking lives to come to Europe. Just look at the immigration waves.
John Cooper
>The West is decadent >Not the world is decadent
Dominic Russell
That's alright, user. When it comes to observing culture I see a little bit of merit in every peoples' but as far as contemporary Western culture goes, it all looks a bit too uniform for me across countries, yet lacks any real cohesion through the presence of dominant subcultures. It's a weird paradox..
Kevin Bailey
Or they study history to understand the paths we've tread, and the mistakes we've made, so we can overcome the past today and make a better future. For that, you need to be able to acknowledge the unequal effectiveness among things.
We die, we are dead, we are reborn, we live again, we die again.
Hunter Long
that is bullshit, it shows why you havent learned anything history related STEMfag autist
you would know the fact a culture or civilization could exist is proof enough of its effectiveness
isolated jungle tribes were surviving fine on their own and theyd "rank" bottom on your autism list
Mason Lee
/thread
OP fuck off, im fed up of your kind. It's getting really tiresome
Jason Wright
> ze west
> religion changes every time a pope farts > so no one really gives a shit about religion > so the moral foundation is really superficial > so you just fight wars against yourselves for no particular reason
Compare to Russia:
> religion came from the longest lasting empire in the world > largest country in the world > literally saved Europe twice
yeah wow keep blaming Russia undercover frog
Isaac Butler
this
Luke Taylor
The islamic world was more developed than the west until the siege of Baghdad in 1258. Some of the most important scientific discoveries originated from Islamic countries. Avicenna and al Khwarizmi are, arguably, the most important mathematicians ever What about Azophi, whose Book of FIxed Stars describes the Andromeda Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds? Is that not impressive? Al-Biruni calculated the correct radius of Earth. The west couldn't do that until the 16th century. What about hospitals? Arabs started building them in the early 9th century. Their doctors even had to have licenses before being allowed to practice medicine.
I really don't understand why some people feel the need to rank cultures in terms of "greatness".
Jackson Lee
Yeah but a hospital in the 9th century was just a building to keep all the sick people in one place
Owen Campbell
But the arabs actually cured the sick people
Jordan Gomez
>this third worlder damage control >'w-we didn't even manage to invent th-the wheel and you might have kicked t-the absolute shit out of us, but th-that's j-j-just and ar-arbitrary measurement of success!' *shits pants*
Matthew Cruz
Productivity is harder to achieve than survival. Successful societies don't measure by survival and rightly so.
