[nukkad] East v.West

["Dr.M.C. Gupta" <>]

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WHICH IS BETTER: EAST OR WEST?

Shall I answer that question? No. Why? Am I shy? Or, ignorant? Nothing of
the sort. I shall not bother to answer that question because it not a
question at all. Or, to be blunt, yet true, it is not even a silly but a
foolish question.

That question would be like asking: which is better, North or South? Can the
world exist without the four directions? Similarly, can the world exist
without any one of the two cultural streams, Eastern and Western? The
answer, obviously, is No. Then, if each of them is essential to the survival
of the humanity, is it not irrrelevant to ask which one of them is better?
It might be tantamount to saying: Well, both hands and feet are essntial for
the body, but which is better?

OK. Where is the catch? The catch lies in the mindset that wants to brand
everything as good or bad. Which is more good, East or West? Which is less
good, East or West? Which is bad, East or West? That mindset must be
changed. As long as that exists, the world cannot progress harmoniously.

Well, why then all this talk about the East and the West? Why at all this
monologue? The reason is that East and West are two cultural realities. They
are different. They can't be wished away. Their differences can be reviled
and accentuated and emphasised, each side running down the other; or, they
can be viewed holistically, in an integrated manner, trying to emphasise the
similarities and minimising the differences. Minimising them does not mean
hiding them under the carpet. Minimising means analysing them logically,
jointly, in a spirit of understanding the reasons for the differences, their
genesis and utility, and ascertaining whether, whatever be the genesis in
the olden times, do they continue to have utility now? Are they, even,
counterproductive? Only a serious dialogue can resolve this issue.

If this issue is not resolved any time soon, the waters are going to
get hotter. Let us examine the issue with respect to major regions  of the
world. The two major contenders for primacy are the White Christian West,
WCW, and the Brown Muslim East, BME. These two are the major contenders for
the titles of East and West. No doubt, the billion plus India and China are
both in the Eastern boat. Also, the African continent is there, which is
strictly geographically,  neither East nor West. But, from the point of view
of the other two characteristics, they fit rather in the BME group. We have
only to read B as black, not brown. The majority of Africal population today
is probably Muslim

The present aggressive posture of the Muslim world against the West is not
spontaneous. It is borne out of a genuine feeling that they have been
wronged. Two reasons, amongst others, are prominent. ONE, artificial
creation of Israel with US support. This could well have been the Western
ploy to get a foothold in Arabia. The second is looting of its oil, on
unequal terms, under coercion, force or blatant agression, in the name of
that much ill used term, 'the global fight against terror', which, in fact,
is 'US aggression for grabbing oil'.

The concept of East v. West is not a new creation. Kipling famed himself by
using that expression about 'East is East and West is West'.

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/900795

At level of serious research, Professor Samuel P. Huntington, a political
scientist, has formulated the theory of clash of civilizations, which can be
viewed at--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_Civilizations


M C Gupta

-- 
Prof. M C Gupta
MD (Medicine), MPH,  LL.M.,

Advocate & Health and Medico-legal Consultant

mcgupta44@gmail.com
www.writing.com/authors/mcgupta44
http://mcgupta44.blogspot.com/

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A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of 
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