How the Rest should Beat the West

During the 19th and 20th century the West arguable dominated the World affairs in areas of commerce, culture and of scientific progress - creating liberal paradigm, and the discourse we currently are part of. The “other” – at times colonial, at times dependedant or peripheral nations did not participate in the creation of wealth and resulting achievements, but were in fact sucked of their wealth, robbed and plundered by the rising power of Western Europe and US. Non-Western civilizations were sidelined and did not contribute to the intellectual developments of the modern thoughts, beyond Russia, Latin America and, much later, Japan.

The lives of 21 century could not be more different. Despite the so called unipolar world with US firmly at the top, we are also presiding over moral and intellectual decline of the Western-generated ideas. While absorbing certain practices of the west like in Japan, the World is still preserving its diversity and should, in fact overcome the inferiority complex over much richer, but declining West. I have outlined few thoughts on how to overcome this, and not by belligerence, rhetoric and other actions, that are harmful to our common Home.


Innovation
To me the biggest limitation of the non-Western countries, is their limited technological progress, with all great universities and research institutions located in the West. The education should become truly global, in par with World’s population as is its funding and atmosphere should be created that helps innovation from an early age. Here everyone is still losing to US by a mile – only truly global effort will help to turn the tide.

Takeover of English language

It is important that people of the world take the language of Shakespeare as rightfully theirs and own it. It has become worldwide language, and if this is so - the World – not UK or US have a right to modify and improve the structures of it. It should, while still governed by set of rules, become ever more flexible and disassociated from its Anglo-Saxon heritage. We should think of English as a link that binds us all together, and not as a of tool of domination.

Adoption of Western Business practices
Western-owned businesses and financial instituations were extremely successful in all of the fields of human endeavour, and their wealth generating methods should be copied by all. Static economic system, with limitation on private initative, do not work, as was proven. Gradually, “Global Boardroom” will become ever less male and “white”-dominated, and with passing of the age, we will be able to create our own, truly global, business culture.

Substitution of democracy paradigm.
Currently, the ideas behind so-called liberal societies of the West have not lived to expectations of the peoples of the World. Now, alternative, “illiberal” societies present themselves as plausible “third way”. Despite the claims to the contrary China, which over last decades created its own system of checks and balances is out there in force. Other hybrid societies, with different structures of power are in the ascendance from Russia to Malaysia. They are creating their own institutions with only a token respect to the Western concepts of democracy. Yet these societies are fair in their own way. Future societies may look different, and may be free but not liberal.

Stealing their Thunder

The developing countries should take charge of their own affairs, lead and be aware of issues of poverty, climate change and terrorism, work together overcoming petty squabbles. And most importantly, the inferiority complex - disease that hundreds of years of Western domination of the World brought - should be healed.