[WikiEN-l] So write an article about it (was: Anent Dartmouth, Again)

Tue Aug 31 19:33:33 UTC 2004

Christiaan complained:

> Just to clarify, I never argued that these people died and suffered 
> _because_ of these ideals. My argument is that our culture has 
> extensively used and abused such ideals simply to make its membership 
> feel good about itself when collectively implementing the opposite 
> (imperialism, intolerance of other economic models, war, etc.). 
> Cognitive dissonance often being the outcome when actuality comes to 
> light.

If you think Western Civilization has not lived up to its ideals, please
write a Wikipedia article comparing and contrasting Western ideals with
Western actions. I am not suggesting you do original research, but that
you summarize the extensive body of writings on this very topic. You
could start with Chomsky, easily the best known critic of the West. But
don't forget Toynbee (you wouldn't want to write a biased, unbalanced
article, would you?)

Along the same lines, if you interested in non-Western civilizations,
you might want to do a similar compare and contrast for East Asian,
Hindu, Islamic or other great civilizations. How well do these live up
to their own ideals (or compare to Western ideals, for that matter?)

This project ought to keep you busy, and I'd be happy to help.

Ed Poor