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Reader comment on:
A Convergence Of Civilizations
in response to reader comment: No doubt - oversimplistic- but working at a basic truth

Submitted by Bill, Mar 19, 2008 22:32

Is there a single West standing opposed to a single East? No, there are multiple wests, overlappingly in various states of attachment, distance, and tension with likewise multiple easts.

Is the question, can people of eastern descent succeed in living in democracies? Yes.

Is the question, can the current states of the "east" succed in building democracies in their formerly autocratic states? The Koreans, Indians and Japanese glance at Germany and Bulgaria. Yes, heavens yes.

Is there a general tendency for autocratic states to exist in the east? Currently, statistically, yes. But in 1775 there were no democracies. And in 1900 there were a few, but they tended to have squashed the possibility for other places to establish their own.

And in 2008 we the world are still heirs as much to Anglo-French-Spanish imperialism as we are to Sino-Persio-Mongol despotism. Why is Iran messed up? Really? You'll recall something about the world's leading democracy messing around with the government there (not wholly responsible, but you get the picture). Ho Chi Minh asked for American support against French imperialism. No, too bad, so sad.

A substantial part of the blame for Asiatic tyranny today can be laid at the feet of the halls of power of the world's leading democratic states.

Which strongly suggests the absence of a protracted "west."

Lord knows Haman wasn't the one who pulled off the genocide. Lot of good the West's universals did my people. Which might discount them as universals, upending the question entirely.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
Jesus Christ, Mohammad and Gautam Buddha were all Asians. It is interesting that the West has got its religions from... [MORE]	Dev	Mar 23, 2008 12:59
Of course, Pagden is very simplistic. Nor do I see any reason to compare the relatively benign Persian Empire --which... [MORE]	Elliott A Green	Mar 22, 2008 19:41
Thank you for writing this article. Everytime someone claims "the EAST" is pitted against "the WEST", I get so grated... [MORE]	Daniel	Mar 21, 2008 18:26
It is not just the different between india, arab region, eastern asia there is also a big difference between even... [MORE]	esraa ahmed	Mar 24, 2008 10:26
When Adam Kirsch concludes by beating Padgen with the club of Western slave trade and the Holocaust, we know he... [MORE]	Doug McMillan	Mar 21, 2008 12:38
It is an aberration of the 'civilized' mind to create false dichotomies based on make-believe abstract categories, i.e., 'East' and... [MORE]	SDG	Mar 21, 2008 11:26
When Kipling said East and west are on different polar he want to tell that West's philosophy and India's philosophy... [MORE]	Ramesh Raghuvanshi	Mar 21, 2008 02:33
The longtime attempts of often scurrilous authors to paint the West, particularly during any era of conflict, as the exclusive... [MORE]	Caleb Carr	Mar 20, 2008 19:30
C. Northcote Parkinson, the author of Parkinson's Law, wrote a fine book on the same subject, called East and West.... [MORE]	Graham Asher	Mar 20, 2008 11:37
Iran's first election is for religious extremists. Seems the same as 2000 yrs ago. [MORE]	don	Mar 20, 2008 19:31
The author seems to be unaware of the fact that both East and West--Europe and the Middle East, which Kipling... [MORE]	RBC	Mar 20, 2008 08:35
Readers may wonder why this "2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West" startswith Greek sources. The Bible offers narratives of earlier... [MORE]	Don Phillipson	Mar 20, 2008 08:32
The next lines of Kipling's 'Ballad of East and West', run like this: "... But there is neither East... [MORE]	ferengi	Mar 20, 2008 08:00
Kipling was right when stated that philosophy, way of life are polar between India and West..He refered India versus West.... [MORE]	Ramesh Raghuvanshi	Mar 20, 2008 03:15
The attempt to read much of human history as conflict between East and West is as Adam Kirsch points out... [MORE]	Shalom Freedman	Mar 19, 2008 03:29
Is there a single West standing opposed to a single East? No, there are multiple wests, overlappingly in various states...	Bill	Mar 19, 2008 22:32

Reader comment on:A Convergence Of Civilizationsin response to reader comment: No doubt - oversimplistic- but working at a basic truth

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Reader comment on:
A Convergence Of Civilizations
in response to reader comment: No doubt - oversimplistic- but working at a basic truth