Occidentalism

I'm sure these "elective subjects", which you have to choose on your own, are part of your curriculum as well. I've chosen to attend a lecture under the name "Foundations of cultural theory". It turned out to be very affecting. The major focus of this lecture is to show us how people construct reality. The topics covered are totally interesting. But today's lecture was very special and it really motivated me to write a blog about the subject matter - "Occidentalism"

"Occidentalism is the belief that the Western (or "Occidental") way of life is inherently, irreparably base and depraved and that anyone living a Western lifestyle has become less than human. The first and foundational belief of Occidentalists is that the West has been destroyed by its materialism. We've all heard of this critique. Westerners have replaced Spiritual authenticity with the empty worship of money and property. As a result, the Western lifestyle is soulless. The cosmopolitan city - the 21st-century Babel - is the setting for our desolation." (Edward Said)

 

Reading this for the first time made me mad, but I guess that's just the natural reaction of a "Westerner". I tried to find some arguments to disprove this harsh critique. I failed.
The West has created it's own way of living, far off from real significant values.
It seems to me that the half of the world in which we are living circles around one aim: To gain money and to become wealthy. And the people, we, are forced to follow these rules. To avoid being a dropout you have to be educated, go to university in order to gain money one day and pay taxes, get yourself a nice car and flat, give birth to at least 3 children, etc.
And if you miss one of these checkpoints of the "perfect" life, you'll get kicked out of the elite society. The distance between poverty and the prosperous society is getting bigger. The West system means a two class system! We aren't actually conscious of the fact that everyone of us is just a poor victim ;-)
The West makes us feel competitors to each other. At least I have experienced some weird situations and I don't know how this is going to turn out in 20 years. But I miss the warmth already.

"The Masses, they are us, the sheep, the people divided in classes."