One could say the world is dominated by two halves: the orient (countries from Asia) and the occident (countries from Europe), or also known as the east and the west. Coming from different sides of the world, the orient and occident countries have very differing worldviews, religions, and cultural aspects that tend to clash with each other. Generally, we see that the west considers themselves as more dominating and superior, looking down on not only countries of the orient but the rest of the world. Towards the east, they objectify their cultures as something “exotic”, even exploiting off of it for their own benefit. This issue was present in the case of African Venus, where a young woman from South Africa named Saartjie Baartman was smuggled into England in hopes that her oversized posterior would make fortunes at London’s theater of human oddities. This is an example of the concept of the west’s hunger for material wealth, as explained in chapter 3 of The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography. The desire for material wealth derives from the European imperialist mindset and in this case, exploits and objectifies Baartman for the west’s personal gain.
Exploitation of minorities and their culture is still alive today. For example, the exploitation and sexualization of Asian culture continues with Halloween costumes labelled such as “geisha” and so on, allowing Halloween costume stores to profit off of culture for their personal gain.
The west and the east are so divided due to many factors such as the different geographical locations, existing religions, and cultures ultimately affect the lifestyles of those from the orient and occident. Regarding religion, those dominant in the east follow numerous gods (polytheist) and focus on the human existence as a whole while religion in the west follow one god (monotheist) and focus on aspects of human condition. Christianity moving eastwards most likely had an impact on how they viewed themselves as a more superior, rationalized and developed religion. It is possible that they believed that their religion helped develop countries anywhere outside of the occident. The contrast between Islam and Christianity is an example of how divided the west and east are. With events such as the terrorist attack on 9/11, it has caused a rocky rift between followers of the two religions. Such tension between the two religions has caused an increase of Islamophobic behavior in countries of the west. Another and very recent example of the clashing orient and occident is the straining relationship between the United States and China regarding the current events around COVID-19. The United States has antagonized the Chinese due to the circumstances of the virus, and thus has caused a spike of xenophobic events in the west. These two examples show how the west hold themselves more highly and superior to countries of the east.
The short documentary American Psychosis directed by Chris Hedges describes living in a world with modern day consumerism and totalitarian corporate power. Hedges speaks how society has conditioned people to blindly follow the collective mind and certain standards or norms. He also states that life fulfillment stems from contribution and acts of service to the community rather than pursuing wealth. As humans, many of us fail to think critically first and instead conform immediately to societal norms. Modern day consumerism and corporates have totalitarian ways of influencing the human mind and hold power across the globe.
References
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Gallup. (2020, June 08). Islamophobia: Understanding Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the West. Retrieved August 12, 2020, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/157082/islamophobia-understanding-anti-muslim-sentiment-west.aspx
Hedges, C. (Director). (2020, August 08). American Psychosis [Video file]. Retrieved August 12, 2020, from https://vimeo.com/293802639
Lewis, M. W., & Wigen, K. (1997). The Cultural Construct of Orient and Occident, East and West. In The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography (pp. 73-103). Berkeley: University of California pess.
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Ng, C. (2011, October 25). Ohio U. Students Hit ‘Racist’ Halloween Costumes. Retrieved August 12, 2020, from https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/ohio-university-students-hit-racist-halloween-costumes
Parkinson, J. (2016, January 07). The significance of Sarah Baartman. Retrieved August 12, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35240987
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