3 ms·

so in your etnocentric (and maybe outdated) point of view the west would only be USA, Canada and parts of Europe? Where does Japan, NZ and Australia fit in tha

by soapdog 12y ago

so in your etnocentric (and maybe outdated) point of view the west would only be USA, Canada and parts of Europe? Where does Japan, NZ and Australia fit in that world view because they are in the east but aligned politically with the west... I find extremely odd what passes in the concepts inside the minds of some readers here. "Broad definition of the west would include latin america", WTF! Most of the countries here are ex-colonies of European invaders. Most countries are dominated by capitalist interests with mostly democratic governments. What requirement countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, etc are missing? I wish people paid more attention to whats has been going around the world the past 50 years and got rid of silly outdated concepts of the west, the east and other useless labels.

deleted 12y ago
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joshuapants 12y ago
NZ and Australia share a European colonial heritage and are culturally aligned with other countries of "the West." Japan is somewhat westernized in terms of business, but overall aligns much more closely with "the East." These labels are frequently debated in light of recent cultural changes and geopolitical events. You will notice that in my comment I mentioned that Latin America can be (and often is) considered to be part of the West, but it is also common to include it in another category.
- sdm 12y ago
  > NZ and Australia share a European colonial heritage and are culturally aligned with other countries of "the West." The same goes for pretty much all of Latin America. Remember, the majority of South Americans are white and steeped in European culture. In my experience it's only Americans that don't consider them part of the west -- often trying to ignore that they have followed every similar development processes and have very similar culture.
  - _delirium 12y ago
    > the majority of South Americans are white and steeped in European culture This varies greatly between countries in South America, and often within regions of countries. Argentina is an example of a country where what you say is true, but it's somewhat unusual for the region, having killed or displaced most of the indigenous population, somewhat like happened in the United States. Many South American countries are a much a more complex mixture of ethnic and cultural descent. Often the upper classes are more white and more culturally European, while the lower classes are more indigenous and less culturally European. Many countries have active cultural and political conflicts between the these segments; for example Bolivia fairly recently elected its first non-white President (Evo Morales) after years of the minority white-European population forming the ruling class.
icebraining 12y ago
Most of the countries here are ex-colonies of European invaders. That's part of the point, really. It's not a question of regime, nor of geography; it's a definition based on an history of power and influence. See the countries where the IMF directors come from? That's the West. And it's very much not outdated.
curun1r 12y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world It's a historical term, and one that hasn't been widely considered to be insensitive. You can argue that it is, but arguing that people using it are is just being ignorant of history.

by soapdog 12y ago

deleted 12y ago

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joshuapants 12y ago

NZ and Australia share a European colonial heritage and are culturally aligned with other countries of "the West." Japan is somewhat westernized in terms of business, but overall aligns much more closely with "the East." These labels are frequently debated in light of recent cultural changes and geopolitical events. You will notice that in my comment I mentioned that Latin America can be (and often is) considered to be part of the West, but it is also common to include it in another category.

sdm 12y ago
> NZ and Australia share a European colonial heritage and are culturally aligned with other countries of "the West." The same goes for pretty much all of Latin America. Remember, the majority of South Americans are white and steeped in European culture. In my experience it's only Americans that don't consider them part of the west -- often trying to ignore that they have followed every similar development processes and have very similar culture.
- _delirium 12y ago
  > the majority of South Americans are white and steeped in European culture This varies greatly between countries in South America, and often within regions of countries. Argentina is an example of a country where what you say is true, but it's somewhat unusual for the region, having killed or displaced most of the indigenous population, somewhat like happened in the United States. Many South American countries are a much a more complex mixture of ethnic and cultural descent. Often the upper classes are more white and more culturally European, while the lower classes are more indigenous and less culturally European. Many countries have active cultural and political conflicts between the these segments; for example Bolivia fairly recently elected its first non-white President (Evo Morales) after years of the minority white-European population forming the ruling class.

icebraining 12y ago

Most of the countries here are ex-colonies of European invaders. That's part of the point, really. It's not a question of regime, nor of geography; it's a definition based on an history of power and influence. See the countries where the IMF directors come from? That's the West. And it's very much not outdated.

curun1r 12y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world It's a historical term, and one that hasn't been widely considered to be insensitive. You can argue that it is, but arguing that people using it are is just being ignorant of history.