Keep in mind that this article was written in response to a book that an anthropologist recently wrote. At the risk of sounding distrustful of academics, I do s

Keep in mind that this article was written in response to a book that an anthropologist recently wrote. At the risk of sounding distrustful of academics, I do sometimes wonder if some anthropologists view the world through an "us vs. them" lens - trying to understand the differences in cultures. FWIW, as a person of 100% European decent who grew up in New England, I consider all of Latin America to be Western for the reasons you pointed out (with the exception of the un-contacted Amazonian tribes).