America, Fuck yeah!

Seriously, that movie is like a documentary of my country

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So very lazy

Mhmm, I wouldn consider commies as "eastern" (unless we talk about China), the Russians are still Europeans (particularly unfortunately for Poland ). I think that generally the farther you go east, the more savage people you encounter. Barbarian invasions of Europe always came from the East - the Huns, the Mongols, the Saracens, the Turks. Islam was founded in hostile times and was a religion of combat for centuries, which spread intolerance and death across large portions of Africa, Asia and south-eastern Europe. Of course, in the beginning the Muslims had superior sciences and technology, but they soon got behind Europeans. It's only my opinion, but I think that the idea (abandoned in 1683) of Muslim conquest of western Europe kinda comes back along with the migration of thousands of Muslims to France and Germany, the former beacons of Western culture (mainly during the enlightenment age, which really created a basis for the Western sphere, expanded significantly by the British). I'm really afraid of what is gonna happen if all these masses start to demand 'rights' which would make them superior in our countries.

So, for me the Western culture is:
-tolerance, which the Europeans learned after religious wars of XVIIth century,
-serious fine arts - music, paintings, sculptures,
-quick advance in technology and science,
-Christian moral rules - you don't have to be a Christian to follow them, but at least here they were noted down,
-great respect and admiration for freedom and liberty.

But I don't think the West is absolutely the best - I'm trying to be quite as objective as I can And sorry for a long post, but I couldn't resist, people read so little these days

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I'm not racist, I've got color television!
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cheers dude. I want long comments. Gives me more to think about.
And I agree with most of the points you made here.
I guess communism orginated in Germany. But only those 3rd worlders and easterners ran with it.
Your pretty close to those countrys being in poland. What about Serbia and Romania? I think they have an eastern flavor. The Russians have a lot of mongol blood mixed with theirs also so maybe they have some culture from that too. And their onion domed buildings kinda resemble arab architecture like mosques etc.

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Join the club ~20thCenturyWarfare

"The Pope! how many divisions has he got?"
- Stalin

The Balkans are generally interesting, because since the middle ages they were the arena of bloodshed between Christians (both Roman Catholics and Orthodox) and Muslims, both religions co-existed and fought there. Over time a mix of those two worlds was created, what we can see today. I don't know much by Romania, but it's like an isle of Romanic relics in a Slavic sea. But I admit it's a bit exotic for me.

About the Russians - we might say it's also a mixture of East and West. Russia was baptised by Constantiopole which was indeed a vivid and colourful mix. But I can say that during the XVIIthe century Poland also had some Eastern spice inside - most of orthodox christian Ukraine was Polish, constant Tatar raids, Cossack uprisings, wars with Turkey. It's something intriguing, as well as whole West vs. East history

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I'm not racist, I've got color television!
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Sounds like a cool project
If what you're looking for is something to glorify the west... then... well... you're gonna have to lie
Nah J/K

I don't know much about it but you could go classical and make something about democracy, freedom of speech or liberty whatsoever

But I warn you.... That kind of art can start a small storm even if it's not for real There are many *ssh*les out there (me included)

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Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim: Any problem on Earth can be solved with the careful application of high explosives.

heh, i came from the east. And if you wanna know what up with us is that the eastern people never like to lose. Sure, you can beat us, but we have our grudges and we believe one day we can win.

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some artists are assholes because they are self concious of their skill in art; and they don't need YOUR validation to massage their ego

Being an Asian who grew up back in the East AND an adopted Westerner, I consider the West primarily as a cultural force.

Western movies, music, fashion, technology, and languages are now widely circulated around the world and on other cultures. Not only that, but "modern" is now synonymous with "westernized" because non-Western countries are very quick and eager to emulate western culture. "Western in cool."

Sure, western politics is still a very powerful force. But to me, the best indication that the west has truly conquered the world is not with history or by military bases, but rather the fact that so many people from non-western nations are so eager to be just like westerners. It's all cultural.

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I saw my entire life life flash before my eyes...it was pretty boring.

I'm just a dead man
Lying on a carpet
Can't find a heatbeat...

I'd like to throw in that the term "Western" usually has Caucasian connotations associated with it. The superiority of the white race and whatnot. This is why Russia is still seen as mostly a western nation: despite sharing a huge border with China and having a large percentage of Asian ethnicities, the most powerful people in Russia have white skin.

Also, democracy. However flawed democratic politics might actually be, the Western school of thought is that democracy is the best form of government, and by extension that the Western world is by default the best. The West, then, has the moral authority to control the East, which is seen in the contemporary mind as savage and oppressive.

By all means feel free to use my response.

West vs East. It makes it sound like it's in conflict doesn't it?

At one time, Eastern culture was dominant on the world. For a very long time in fact. They (Chinese generally) still have a kind of societal bias against outsiders as being lower. In that respect, since the West became ascendant, there is a conflict.

But I don't think it's really a conflict. It's a difference in thought, in societal patterns. In beliefs. There doesn't necessarily have to be a conflict. Japan, South Korea, and in some respects China are good examples of West and East coexisting. Maybe not entirely peacefully, but certainly does coexist.

There are similarities though. Culture wise, both think they are superior to the other. Moving away from Asia to the Middle East, you have the Religious part of it, where again...both sides think they're superior. Christians vs Muslims. And it doesn't have to be that way. But humanity naturally abhors change. They like things to be the way they are. Overall, humanity wants to live well, comfortably, and to provide for their own without anyone screwing with them.

West and East are both sides of the same coin. The human coin. Different ways of going about reaching the same goal, for all intents and purposes.

There are good things to both cultures. And there are bad things. We chose to take umbrage against that which we don't understand, and because we don't understand it, it must be wrong. Instead of trying to learn from each other and live and let live. It isn't culture that makes a conflict. It is but a part of it. But there is conflict because humans are territorial, and have a hard time sitting back and listening first. In the end, we want to be left alone, to continue the line, and to live comfortably. These do not necessarily work out, nor do they always work together.

West vs East. Differences in thought in how to reach the same goal.

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