Western Culture

Western Civilization includes architecture, the arts, and forms of government, which are not what I wish to speak of here.  They are deeply related to customs, attitudes, and beliefs, certainly, but I'd like to keep a little closer focus on the less-visible aspects.  Some beliefs common in the west have been described as White Supremacy Culture. That seems to be going out of one's way to be insulting. The discomfort that some white people - and not only white people - have expressed in that characterisation has not been an opportunity to rethink and reword, but evidence that the lesson is working.  Right off the bat we're seeing what the difficulty is here, if mere precision of thought and understanding cause and effect are going to be held as markers of white supremacy.

There is a good deal that is true about some attitudes being more common in our culture. Individualism is much rarer across the world.  People regard themselves as part of a clan or tribe as their most important identity.  It is foundational to Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes, which I discussed over two years ago. We, and Americans especially, are the odd ones here. American students often project onto people in other times and places their own attitudes, as in "I would never have put up with being treated like that.  I would have rebelled and been my own person."  Not likely, Taylor. You can't assume you understand them. In the Anglosphere there was a gradual trend toward nuclear families rather than extended.  Now I'm not sure we have even that.  This has spread to the rest of Europe, and somewhat to those who emigrated to America and Canada from many other places. Among some groups it disappears in two generations, in others it persists.

Sense of Urgency was also mentioned.  I'm not quite sure what to make of that, but there may be some resentment that Westerners expect others to be on time.  Norwegians are fanatic about it.  The puritans were obsessed with keeping track of time and "improving the time," and improved the accuracy of timepieces.  Swiss watches are legendary. Many things can be accomplished just as well without much attention to punctuality, but business ventures often require it. Efficiency isn't just one of those eccentricities of the West. More people get fed, have shelter, and have protective clothing because of it.

There was criticism in one presentation that White Supremacist culture is obsessed with objectivity, because it implies a belief there is only one right answer and an unwillingness to accept other points of view.  This is not entirely unjust, as you can find Americans insisting their POV is the best answer all the time. Yes, we do this. However, so does everyone else in the world.  It's not peculiar to the West.  I say it is actually less universal among us.  Objectivity implies choosing among at least two, and more likely several, possibilities. I have dark suspicions about what is driving this complaint.  Are there a few specific answers we are not allowed to come to, or even consider, even if there is evidence they might be true - because that would hurt someone's feelings? Or is this something that Westerners do better than others, and it works? We have been practicing it for a while, but I don't think it's unlearnable. The Japanese seem to have a handle on it.

Objectivity seems to have worked well for minorities before the law in the US. I doubt we want to go back to more subjective standards of whether we think someone is guilty or not.

Speaking as the primary representative for Western Culture, I offer that one advantage of these values is that they seem to work very well for many people, not just the few.  Women get to keep their property and even be educated! Factories and trains running in efficient time means food and medicine get to more people, including the poor.  What other places should we be comparing ourselves to where life is better? We like relaxing on vacation in places with a slower pace, and build up a mythology of how much better things are there.  Well, yes, vacations are fun.  We spend lots of money for other people to do things for us and that's nice.

I suggest that our culture is being compared to some mythical one that dreamers are just sure would work just great.