Alex Knepper provides readers with little evidence to believe that "the West has won." I take issue with his opinion on two critical areas. First, while Western values might espouse cultural elements of tolerance, secularism, equality and reason, it is hardly synonymous with the achievement of these ideals.
For example, the United States failed to sign a United Nations doctrine favoring universal minimum wage standards. Moreover, secularism is challenged today with the rise of evangelicals voting for politicians willing to institute alternatives to secular theories such as that of evolution. Knepper's argument that one should be more outraged by Iran's outlawing of homosexuality in Iran versus limited tolerance in the United States is moral relativistic. Gays and lesbians face setbacks, socially, politically and economically. The age-old saying still goes: "actions speak louder than words," especially in the believability of Western superiority as Knepper will have us take at face value.
Second, the author's argument falls flat on fallacious, ethnocentric grounds. The theory of multiculturalism is not merely one that advocates respect for cultural diversity translated via moral equivalence. Cultures are intricate and multifaceted. It is one thing to promote Western ideals in the name of development - social, economic and political - but to disregard the unique complexities of the plethora of cultures (and subcultures within dominant ones) is na've. It is also distinctly Western to assume that benchmarks of progress are those that identify as being distinctly Western. Non-western nation-states can work toward progress within their respective cultural contexts, but they need not follow a Western outline. A resulting byproduct might be the achievement of those Western ideals, but it is hardly the case that they be the sole components in the measurement of growth.
Kristopher Pengelly 2nd Year M.A. Candidate, School of International Service
