sharrowman Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I think there is no unifying conception of Western Values, the promotion or defence of which seems to be the justification behind many current military conflicts. These values are a hypocritical smokescreen disguising the total lack of both morality and politics in modern global economics. Ta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Western Values: As a first and last resort, sex sells everything. Wealth = Status. Train, don't educate. The individual is always right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharrowman Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 Western Values: As a first and last resort, sex sells everything. Wealth = Status. Train, don't educate. The individual is always right. Well, I can certainly see these concepts have considerable cultural traction. I doubt that this is what is meant by our lofty politicians extolling the virtues of Western Values. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishcake Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I think there is no unifying conception of Western Values, the promotion or defence of which seems to be the justification behind many current military conflicts. These values are a hypocritical smokescreen disguising the total lack of both morality and politics in modern global economics. Ta How is this any different to the rest of the world? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonb Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 How about refraining from spitting in the street? Yes I know certain "western" people do it but they know it is anti- social. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharrowman Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 Fishcake, you are terribly astute - this is pretty much the point of the thread - that the moral highground long ago became a swamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharrowman Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 Gordonb, erm, though charming in it's simplicity, I am not sure that refraining from spitting in the street could be seen as a widely accepted western value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quisquose Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Just a few names off the top of my head, and in no particular order: Voltaire, Baron de Montesquieu, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, Immanuel Kant, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, Isaac Newton, Thomas Paine, John Wilkes, Robert Ingersoll. There is no such thing as “Western Values”, but we can be grateful for the secular values that were developed during and after the period which we call The Enlightenment. Embracing science, reason, logic and the freedom of the individual against the superstitions, corruptions, and hypocrisy of religion and political power. Promoting the concepts of religious freedom for all, equality before the law and the supremacy of human reason. These are the values that I am grateful for, and when we allow religious and political powers to ignore them, and we have many that want to, we allow atrocities whether in “The West” or anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharrowman Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 "Embracing science, reason, logic and the freedom of the individual against the superstitions, corruptions, and hypocrisy of religion and political power. Promoting the concepts of religious freedom for all, equality before the law and the supremacy of human reason. These are the values that I am grateful for, and when we allow religious and political powers to ignore them, and we have many that want to, we allow atrocities whether in “The West” or anywhere else. " Little to disagree with there, of course, how do we prevent religious and political powers from ignoring them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Doing what you want because it's what YOU want to do and not because somebody tells you what you can and can't do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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