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A review by prairie_fairie
The War on the West by Douglas Murray
informative
medium-paced
5.0
After reading Murray's "The Madness of Crowds", it was hard NOT to pick this up when I came across it. The War on the West is an interesting and intelligently informative read about the changing political and cultural landscape occurring in the world today. Murray shows his worldly knowledge in music, art, foreign culture, global politics and the current trends in Western and briefly, non-Western societies.
This book is not an attack on the west. It is an indictment on some of the people attacking the west, which broadly speaking has many roots in Judeo-Christian ideologies and while Murray doesn't focus on this much, the sentiment is there. Murray demonstrates with example upon example how many western people denounce the western ways and demonize it by calling it 'white' and the broad strokes with how white western culture is so demonized, if it were reversed, those crying foul on Western culture (while enjoying its relative freedom of expression) would indeed suggest it was racist. Because it is.
Many western nations have practically fallen over themselves to try and make up for the real or perceived mistakes of their colonial ancestors, whether or not, their ancestors were responsible for smallpox blankets or displacement of peoples. If not them, most likely it would have been someone eventually. The demonization of Western ideals is a common trend in today's society and this has given way to a collective shame that has encouraged whole governments and corporations to 'reeducate' their staff into ways that are actually quite ludicrous. When we are expected to feel guilt for things not done or said and it's perfectly acceptable, yet if the roles were reversed it would be victimization, then we have a problem. When it's perfectly acceptable to pick apart the ways of the West, yet not consider the histories of other lands who often don't give people the ability to speak, practice beliefs freely, or permit backchat on their own nation, nobody is seeing a problem with that? Perhaps the West has had it too good for too long that maybe those who are vying to come here at risk of drowning, or being shot at borders deserve the West more than those in it.
Read this book. If nothing else, read the conclusion and then start from the beginning.
This book is not an attack on the west. It is an indictment on some of the people attacking the west, which broadly speaking has many roots in Judeo-Christian ideologies and while Murray doesn't focus on this much, the sentiment is there. Murray demonstrates with example upon example how many western people denounce the western ways and demonize it by calling it 'white' and the broad strokes with how white western culture is so demonized, if it were reversed, those crying foul on Western culture (while enjoying its relative freedom of expression) would indeed suggest it was racist. Because it is.
Many western nations have practically fallen over themselves to try and make up for the real or perceived mistakes of their colonial ancestors, whether or not, their ancestors were responsible for smallpox blankets or displacement of peoples. If not them, most likely it would have been someone eventually. The demonization of Western ideals is a common trend in today's society and this has given way to a collective shame that has encouraged whole governments and corporations to 'reeducate' their staff into ways that are actually quite ludicrous. When we are expected to feel guilt for things not done or said and it's perfectly acceptable, yet if the roles were reversed it would be victimization, then we have a problem. When it's perfectly acceptable to pick apart the ways of the West, yet not consider the histories of other lands who often don't give people the ability to speak, practice beliefs freely, or permit backchat on their own nation, nobody is seeing a problem with that? Perhaps the West has had it too good for too long that maybe those who are vying to come here at risk of drowning, or being shot at borders deserve the West more than those in it.
Read this book. If nothing else, read the conclusion and then start from the beginning.