the west

[mrmcdonaldduck]

is the west the reason for all of the major problems facing the world?

lets start with the environment, indonesia is the in the top ten of emmiters becuase of deforestation caused by the wests need for palm oil. the same goes for brazil, an increasing need for beef means deforestation. this is caused by 1.4 billion people. that is the damage the west does to other countries. Then there are the emmisions of the western world. australia is the most emmiting country in the world per capita, a western country. closely followed by america.

then there are the economic problems, something like 80% of the worlds wealth is in the west, while we have only a 6th of the population. instead of taking the easiest way to help other countries, get rid of their debts, which can conprise 40% of their budgets, we send them aid, most of wich is not government funded.

then their is cultural things, many of the worlds most cultural places of the world are becoming westernized.


why are we like this?

[Whisper]

Yaaa....its aaalllll the wests fault if only we were more like Sudan or Niger or Liberia!! DAM US!! DAM US ALL TO HELL!


dude the western civilization has been directly responsible for more progress and good on all fronts from scientific exploration to improving the living standards and civil liberties of its citizens than any other culture
maybe just maybe we're being imitated because we're the preferred option

its not perfect
but I'll take it over the other options out there
as far as the problems were facing your acting like its armageddon there will always be a huge issue looming overhead it was the same for our parents and their parents before them and their parents before them
there will always be an economic crisis, a threat of nuclear war, severe terrorist attacks, climate change, fuck dude a meteor could hit North America 5seconds from now
shit happens

thats life

[Modus Operandi]

Well, ever heard of China? I partly agree with you Jason, but there are many other places than just the west causing these sorts of problems.

[INFERNO]

is the west the reason for all of the major problems facing the world?

lets start with the environment, indonesia is the in the top ten of emmiters becuase of deforestation caused by the wests need for palm oil. the same goes for brazil, an increasing need for beef means deforestation. this is caused by 1.4 billion people. that is the damage the west does to other countries. Then there are the emmisions of the western world. australia is the most emmiting country in the world per capita, a western country. closely followed by america.

The Western societies are part of the problem, however, they're not the only reason. Every society has their faults and for the Western ones, this is some of their fault, however, do bare in mind that they've led the way for such technological advances and economic growth.

Before you go pointing your finger at Western countries, take a look at the other countries, the ones you're not blaming. Are they any better? Do they have their own fare share of problems?


then there are the economic problems, something like 80% of the worlds wealth is in the west, while we have only a 6th of the population.

This has to do with the development of international business relations and the types of labour Western societies do. We no longer have a lot of factories where people work for cheap wages, that's done in other countries, such as China, which ironically is a massive contributor to pollution and problems. Instead, Western societies are more focused on finance, business, management and sciences with less emphasis on needing many human workers. Western societies make use of technology to do the work and not need many human workers in factories while other countries, the poorer ones don't have as much technological advances.

You can think of it as Western societies as being the owners of production or capitalists while cheaper places are the means of production or workers. There are far more workers than there are capitalists and capitalists want more profit and one way to do that is cut costs on labour, so either have the products made by people who you pay less or you use labour-saving machines.


instead of taking the easiest way to help other countries, get rid of their debts, which can conprise 40% of their budgets, we send them aid, most of wich is not government funded.

Sending them aid has a logic rationale to it. Suppose that we are going to send some resources to country X and country X is in turmoil, it's politically unstable, plagued with diseases, poverty, etc... . Now, if we are going to help out X's unstable government, then imagine for a second how that is likely to turn out. X's citizens are not any better off because we haven't helped them out at all, in fact, we've completely ignored them yet we want to help out the overall country. Seems somewhat hypocritical. Also, think about how long it would take to help out their unstable government versus providing more basic aid. If we only try to help out their unstable government, then part of the problem that their government will want to address is the poverty, disease and such, however, they lack the resources to do so.

Now, let's rewind this and provide some aid to country X. We haven't touched on their unstable government directly, however, we have benefited their country and helped tackle some of the large problems that their government is unable to deal with. Once X's citizens are in a better standard of living, the next issue is to tackle the problems their government is facing, which thanks to our help, some of these problems are already resolved and so it becomes easier to help them out.

Also, by sending them aid, we allow their economy to improve which helps tackle yet another problem that their government is trying to tackle.


then their is cultural things, many of the worlds most cultural places of the world are becoming westernized.


why are we like this?

This isn't something that's a new phenomenon. Various places that had their own tight-knit communities and cultures didn't always adhere to their cultures, they had their own internalized beliefs. This is much the same. Westernized places are less culture-bound and more places are becoming like this for numerous reasons, such as working for Western societies, immigration, emigration, better technology for better communication, etc... .

[mrmcdonaldduck]

ok i will admit china is a major emmiter. but china is 1.4 billion people, that is the pop of the west, so they have to have a large amount of pollution if they have that many people. but it is not nearly as much as the west and is caused by the wests demand for cheap products

[Sage]

ok i will admit china is a major emmiter. but china is 1.4 billion people, that is the pop of the west, so they have to have a large amount of pollution if they have that many people. but it is not nearly as much as the west and is caused by the wests demand for cheap products

I don't like what you say. I kill you.

[mrmcdonaldduck]

how excactly?

[Sage]

how excactly?

If you missed the point in my last message, there's no use explaining it to you.

[INFERNO]

ok i will admit china is a major emmiter. but china is 1.4 billion people, that is the pop of the west, so they have to have a large amount of pollution if they have that many people. but it is not nearly as much as the west and is caused by the wests demand for cheap products

The pollution in China isn't caused by what Western societies want, it's caused by China itself wanting to produce the goods in order to maintain their economy. Don't forget, China is quite technologically-advanced, it's about just as advanced if not more than Western societies. China may very well be over-populated, however, that is not due to what the Western societies want. You seem to be determined to blame the West for everything and have all other non-Western societies be simply innocent slave-like countries to the West.

[Hyper]

Its rather the western way of life and that is spreading everywhere, every developing country is striving for it.

[Whisper]

Its rather the western way of life and that is spreading everywhere, every developing country is striving for it.
well ya...duh
its superior to most (ask anyone living in poverty in a 3rd or 4th world nation) so they try and mimic it, I would too
we live longer lives with allot more amenities than most of earths population we have shelter with heating, A/C, running cold and hot water, grocery stores everywhere, electricity, our own vehicles, fridges, stoves, dishwashers, TV, computers, phones, internet, cellphones, yada yada yada

I quite like my way of life
That doesn't make us horrible people
that's like saying the Romans were assholes because they had running water and the Gauls didn't

[Hyper]

well ya...duh
its superior to most (ask anyone living in poverty in a 3rd or 4th world nation) so they try and mimic it, I would too
we live longer lives with allot more amenities than most of earths population we have shelter with heating, A/C, running cold and hot water, grocery stores everywhere, electricity, our own vehicles, fridges, stoves, dishwashers, TV, computers, phones, internet, cellphones, yada yada yada

I quite like my way of life
That doesn't make us horrible people
that's like saying the Romans were assholes because they had running water and the Gauls didn't

I didn't say anything bad about it

Also for a long time the Romans water system actually shortened the Romans life span because it was poisoned by led if I remember correctly

[Whisper]

...
your missing the entire point of my post

as for the romans yes i know
BPA's bad for you too
shit happens