4 ms·

Totally unrelated but why the land of rising sun (cannot go east than that) is being called a western nation.

• swilliamsio 6y ago
  Western as in democratic, high income, economically prosperous, broadly supportive of human rights, etc.
  • skrause 6y ago
    A better term for that is "developed country".
    • adamjb 6y ago
      Not really. That implies that a) there's some kind of objective end state for a country and b) they've reached it.
      • yunohn 6y ago
        I definitely don't think "western" was the right term for it.
  • de_watcher 6y ago
    Another chilling moment when I realise that I'm way too old and can perceive slow changes of things (like the meanings of words). Please don't do that.
    • swilliamsio 6y ago
      I highly doubt you are old enough that western did not always have that meaning for the majority of your life. It's a holdover from the Cold War, after all.
• ashtonkem 6y ago
  “West” is a vague notion that is neither coherent nor consistent. It’s particularly annoying because it’s named after a geographic concept, even though the selection criteria (as much as it exists) is socio-political. The big giveaway here is that we now consider the great Greek writers as part of the “Western Canon”, while the Greeks and the Romans of the time considered the Greeks to be eastern. Oh and the byzantines are considered mostly considered to be Greek speaking easterners, even though they considered themselves to be Romans and the name “Byzantine Empire” was created long after it fell. It’s a very confusing thing.