Quote Originally Posted by Kanamori
Then, as I'm pretty sure you see this coming, where do places like Japan stand? They are certainly a succesful democracy, and they have many cultural portions of his Christian "West". Perhaps a better question is: If the advent of Civil Liberties, Democracy, and the Scientific Method come from the West, as you have defined it, why is the West still superior to any other place that has adopted Western ideals?


I can agree with the majority of what he has said, but it is reminiscent of Kipling's The White Man's Burden, and all of the problems a superiority complex can bring.
Japan isn't a Western nation. From the Meiji Reformation forward Japan has adopted or had imposed certain elements of the West. Several of these elements have become more or less settled, but the source remains foreign: the primary civilizational impulse remains Far Eastern.

My use of superior was historical and moral. The West produced these 'goods'. I think they are superior to rival claimants. For example: I think science is demonstrably superior to superstition when dealing with the world. I think the same is the case on the moral plane: I think democracy and civil liberties are superior to autocracy. As these ideas spread to other arenas I think the people there naturally benefit: Japan is an example. I hope Iraq proves to be as well.