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Question about culture?

[c=#002673]USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Scandinavia, Spain, Greece, Australia, New Zealand etc. These are all considered to be “western” countries. They all have different cultures BUT they do all share some commonalities between them that define them as “western”. What do you think are some of the qualities that all “western” cultures share?[/c]

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basilfawlty89 · 31-35, M

Its an artificial construct created to bolster Eurocentrism. Much of what is "western" came from the east i.e Anatolia, the Caucasus and Mesopotamia

Cr3ami · 36-40, M

@basilfawlty89 What then is western and is not Anatolian, Caucasian and Mesopotamian anymore? Because those two sides today differ from each other.

basilfawlty89 · 31-35, M

The point is Western Civilization vastly borrowed from those civilizations and areas. The very religion most people practice in Europe is a Near Eastern religion (Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism), our alphabet is Phoenician traced back(Phoenician->Greek->Latin), our number system is Arabic.

What about indigenous Americans? Mesoamericans and South Americans such as Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, etc. were far-western geographically and in Latin America those people still exist and the general culture is a blend of European, Indigenous, African and to a smaller extent Near Eastern. Why is Latin America not counted as western? Latin America shares a religion with much of Europe (Catholicism) and the main language of trade is a European one.

Ultimately - "western" is usually a weasel word for "white".