Can The East and The West Ever Become One??

The world has been divided into seven continents, two hemispheres and hundreds of smaller countries. The latest concept based on this which has cropped up is that the West is more superior to the East. Is this true? Are these divides justified? It is true that there is a presence of differences between the Western nations of the United States and the whole European continent and the nations of the ‘Dark Continent’ and many nations of South-East Asia. But is it possible for the West and the East to unite and be one? I certainly do not think so and I will so be justifying it.

As we compare the nations of North America and Europe with some of the nations of South-East Asia, the first point which is brought to light is the level of development in these nations. Most of the nations of the Western region are classified as developed. Maintained populations, a high level of investment in infrastructure and other services, and a steady income for most of the residents are some of the aspects which contribute to the high development of these nations. But on comparing the Eastern nations on the basis of these points, the picture which is painted in our minds of a place where there is no equality. It is true that the East contains several nations like China and India, which are rising through the pipes of the advancement at a faster rate than even Western countries, but that is not the noteworthy dilemma. Riddled with unstable governments, wars, and soaring populations, these nations are pulled back into the dust by the evils of crime and extreme poverty. The vicious circle of poverty as described in economics troubles these people night and day, and it continues to pull them into its unfathomable circles. And we say this is just one reason why the East and West cannot be one.

God. The Creator. An image printed in all of the world’s populace, but with different faces. Christ, Allah, God and the list goes on. It has always been people’s right to have their own beliefs, but quarrelling and bickering in the name of the Holy One is not the way to express the belief. One of the latest statistics of posted by Yale University said that around 30% of all the murders and almost all of the acts of terrorism take place in the name of the Holy One. The acceptance of all of the various religions in the West is another reason why the West is the West. People in the West continue to live and work with their coworkers irrespective of their religion and race. There, work is worship. He is the one who provides what is needed. And the people have heartily accepted that. This acceptance can fill the hearts of the whole human race, but for this equality to be achieved, the factor needed abundantly is time. So, in the short run, this acceptance cannot be induced, and thus the West and East cannot be one.

Economics is one part of the sciences which can be used to judge the value and net worth of a nation. There are a variety of ways in which this knowledge is helpful in this discussion. The use of the values of the GDP, growth rates and other measures of the living standards of people can be used to great measure to compare nations. An index brought forward by ‘The Economist’ measures the time taken by a worker to earn a Big-Mac in different nations. Even though this index does not take into account exchange rates, this knowledge is very useful. In this index, the longest times taken to earn a Big-Mac originate in most of the nations of Africa and South-East Asia. In comparison, the countries in the West take just around 12-15 minutes which is around one-tenths of the time taken in the East. Values of GDP and other measures of living standards can be used to the same effect and this yields the same result. According to this as well, we can conclude that the West and East can never be one.

In contrast, we can say that as all of the human kind is one and the same, there should be the presence of equality and unity in the all of the human race. This is absolutely a necessary step to ensure the continuity of the human race. But, as we see the differences present between the different races and castes, we cannot ignore these completely. Even if the economic differences and measures of development are ignored, there are the social and cultural differences which have to be contemplated. As the presence of these points cannot be ignored, we can conclude that complete equality and unity can never be achieved.

As the human race continues to feed of this wealthy planet and instead of making better returns out of the scarce resources, it generates more of the evils rather than do some good for itself. Wars continue to infuriate the world; scams keep popping up every new day at every place in the world; and crime levels rise at a higher rate even than the population. The people of the West assert that the crime rate is lower in their part and the East claims the same. Who is correct? Is it acceptable to create a divide in the wall of humanity? No it is not. The next and enhanced question which arises out of this situation is that can the East and West ever unite? I do not agree that this can happen. But this view is just mine.