Bashing West or idolizing?

Quite a few readers appear to entertain the thought that I am constantly bashing the West through my columns and hence they opine that, after 63 year of independence, it is time that we put our own house in order rather than bashing the West for our ills.

This premise, to say the least, is unfortunate because I am an admirer of many things that is 'Western' and especially in my view this world would be a much poorer place to live in, if not for the technological advancements spearheaded by Western nations. Thus, while we appreciate all that is good our criticism is for channelling the power of that technology for questionable ends which are not in the best interest of human civilization. The West is entitled to their own values, strategies and methods but it is when they impinge upon accepted human decencies that criticism is warranted.

Scientific knowledge

I have often wondered why the West is more advanced than the rest of the world. True it is because of science and technology but how come they acquired that advantage over the rest of the world when scientific knowledge is the rationale study of forces of nature in this universe which anybody and everybody could have access to. So how come only the people in the West were intrigued by these forces whereas the people in the rest of the world just took such forces for granted.

Some try to build up the theory that the West have been rationale in their thinking while the rest of the world had been mired in superstition. That does not appear to be tenable because West has a worst record than the East in persecuting its rational thinkers for their 'out of the box' thinking against the establishment. Socrates was called a 'sophist' and done to death. Even eminent scientists like Newton and Galileo carried out their experiments in secrecy for fear of being persecuted. Even the Protestant Christian Churches were persecuted for going against the established order of the Catholic Church and it is a fact that the wars between sectarian religions have killed more people than wars between states in the West. Thus superstition and dogma has caused more damage to the West than to the East.

Climatic conditions

On the other hand the habitat of the East and the West could give clues that are more acceptable. The Westerners have always been exposed to extreme climatic conditions and the changes in their ecology have had a considerable impact in their day-to-day lives than those of the Easterners. Life in the West changed every three months whereas in the East it had been a monotony of rain and sunshine. For instance a refrigerator would never have been invented in a country like Sri Lanka that is not exposed to extreme temperatures in its climate. Thus it is a fact that harsh climatic conditions and their empirical impacts on the lives of average Westerner have had a far reaching effect on their outlook and character. Therefore that climate in Europe has not only made you fairer in complexion but it has also toughened their character.

Physical forces

Since biology has not identified glaring genetic differences between the various races in the world, it necessarily has to be attitude and outlook to life that makes one race stands out from the rest. The Westerners are extremely practical in their approach to problems in life while the Easterners appear to be confused with doses of emotion and spirituality in their approaches to issues. In the East they believed that life has to embody more meaning beyond just secular benefits but in the West, despite all that pontificated belief in God, life essentially revolved around the physical forces on earth. Even God they have owned up and that is why the Bible was used to conquer the rest of the world. The average Westerner thinks he lives in the 'Kingdom of God' but paradoxically he works day in and day out towards a world where the 'consumer is the king'.

European history is full of battles between countries for domination of the region. This is another aspect that needs to be emphasized in this inquest of superiority of races for enmity sharpens your survival skills and bring forth latent talents. The World Wars staged by the Europeans brought about battles for scientific inventions to out do one another.

Servile thinking

Yes, for whatever the reasons, in the present world civilization the West remains great and they set the trends and control the rest of the world. But the reality is that even the other nations also have to survive in this milieu of domination. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned our specific lamentation against the West is that we were subjected to a colonial agenda for 443 years. The tragedy of colonialism is that it leave behind a legacy of servility where the subjugated are not capable of thinking beyond their master; to think with confidence and to think for themselves.

This servitude to the West is a state of the mind and it is certainly not the same thing as emulating the West or learning from the West. Ranil Wickremesinghe does not lean from the West and nor does he emulate them. If he had learnt from the West he would have studied how they handled terrorism in their country and would have followed a similar course of action here. But Ranil only took their advice as the 'only solution' because his conditioned mind is not capable of thinking beyond what is being advised. That is mental servitude, after effects of colonialism of a few generations.

Thus it is not easy to be your own master after having been the servant for so long. In addition, those who aided and abetted the robber barons will continue in their praise for they could never expect the same privileges ever.

Thus it is not the West that we are bashing but those among us who pursue this line of servile thinking that obstruct our development and independence.

[email protected]

Socrates Born: c. 469 - 470 BC Died: 399 BC (age approximately. 71) Era: Ancient philosophy Region: Western Philosophy School: Classical Greek Main interests: Epistemology, ethics Notable ideas: Socratic method, Socratic irony

Sir Isaac Newton Born: January 4,1643 Died: March 31, 1727 (aged 84) Nationality: English Fields: Physics, mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy, alchemy, Christian theology Known for: Newtonian mechanics, Universal gravitation, Infinitesimal calculus, Optics, Binomial series, Newton’s method

Galileo Galilei Born: February 15, 1564 Died: January 8,1642 (aged 77) Nationality: Italian Fields: Astronomy, physics and mathematics Known for: Kinematics, Dynamics, Telescopic observational astronomy, Heliocentrism