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I'm not sure, I don't mean to imply any wrongdoing with any certainty, only to give pause to people who blindly believe that they are helping. But, what about

I'm not sure, I don't mean to imply any wrongdoing with any certainty, only to give pause to people who blindly believe that they are helping. But, what about cultures that, for example, believe that pain is integral to the human experience? Or possibly those that believe that humans are better off having suffered some amount in their youth? These ideals are inconsistent even among the developed world[1]. I guess the question is, are we wrong in assuming that our ideals regarding medicine and necessity for treatment are universal? And if we are, are we wrong in stepping in and attempting to improve quality of life according to our first world notions? Then there's the question of whether we really have made things better in, say, much of Africa over the last few decades. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16252372 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16252372

Kalium 9y ago
You're absolutely right! Many cultures have different attitudes than ours. Pain is an excellent example. Are you aware that it's also a cornerstone of Western Imperialist Medicine that the patient has the right to refuse any treatment, such as palliative treatment for pain? In this way, our attitudes are not forced on other cultures. Members of other cultures are offered personal choices. Though I recognize that some regard this as a cultural imperialist imposition on cultures where personal autonomy is not valued. Personally, I think that western cultural imperialism has drastically improved lives through items such as anti-retrovirual drugs, mosquito nets, and drinking water filters. But I understand that some might choose to value traditional ways of life and ways of knowing and folk beliefs - and the attendant human suffering and deaths - over imposing our cultural that values human lives and the reduction of suffering. It's just perhaps possible that, having carefully considered this issue, and aware of the historical context wherein this is not assumed but thought about, some people may have concluded that this is an acceptable imperialist imposition. Thank you very much for your kind, caring, thoughtful ideas!

Kalium 9y ago

You're absolutely right! Many cultures have different attitudes than ours. Pain is an excellent example. Are you aware that it's also a cornerstone of Western Imperialist Medicine that the patient has the right to refuse any treatment, such as palliative treatment for pain? In this way, our attitudes are not forced on other cultures. Members of other cultures are offered personal choices. Though I recognize that some regard this as a cultural imperialist imposition on cultures where personal autonomy is not valued. Personally, I think that western cultural imperialism has drastically improved lives through items such as anti-retrovirual drugs, mosquito nets, and drinking water filters. But I understand that some might choose to value traditional ways of life and ways of knowing and folk beliefs - and the attendant human suffering and deaths - over imposing our cultural that values human lives and the reduction of suffering. It's just perhaps possible that, having carefully considered this issue, and aware of the historical context wherein this is not assumed but thought about, some people may have concluded that this is an acceptable imperialist imposition. Thank you very much for your kind, caring, thoughtful ideas!