Tag Archives: Western culture

More Modern and Less Western

Just because Twitter and Facebook carpet the globe, we should not assume the wholesale acceptance of Western values. The current terrorist horror, the Islamic State, exploits digital diplomacy but hardly condones democracy, capitalism, or individualism.

Some admire Western values but would prefer a full stomach first. Many wish merely to go bed with no fear that a bomb will fall on them during the night. Others in less precarious situations are repelled by our country’s partisan politics, the amount of money we spend on our elections, and the immorality they perceive in our culture.

Almost two decades ago, Samuel P. Huntington, a political scientist, wrote the following:

“As Western power recedes, so too does the appeal of Western values and culture, and the West faces the need to accommodate itself to its declining ability to impose its values on non-Western societies. In fundamental ways, much of the world is becoming more modern and less Western.”
—Samuel P. Huntingdon, Foreign Affairs (November/December, 1996).

 

What Do the Youth of Afghanistan Want?

 

An article in The New York Times examines the youth of Afghanistan. They have adopted bits of American culture, some of the clothes and music. However, they also appear wedded to the mores and customs of their parents.

One young Afghan woman protested against Western values. She expressed fear that her society would be “corrupted like that of the West.”

These ideas are discouraging to many Americans. Women have been brutalized in that traditional society. We surely want an end to the inferior status of women.

We may learn other lessons, however. The first is that American culture is not always as desired in the rest of the world as we sometimes think, or, indeed, as it used to be in the past. We treasure equality and the freedom to pursue one’s own path. Others in places like Afghanistan see us as condoning drugs, promiscuity, permissiveness, and dysfunctional government.

Although we wish to see changes in Afghanistan, we can be sympathetic also to the views they have of America. We are, perhaps, not the beacon we once were.