danial_yazdaniii 's review for:

The War on the West by Douglas Murray

---

Another book by another author that reeks of privilege and misses the point of a greater conversation. Just from reading the introduction, you immediately hear this "but what about me?" tone, in which the abhorrent crimes and interference of the Western world are completely overlooked because apparently, the Eastern world is just as bad. And that may be the case. Bigotry and racism and slavery and other horrific social constraints have existed transnationally and still do. Countries like China and its communist regime, India and its stratified caste system, and Iran and its quashing of women's rights exist outside of the Western world and civilization. But, on a global scale and through a careful retracing of the last few centuries, many countries can attribute parts of their failings and misfortunes to Western hegemony. No one is saying that it is only the Western world that has acted inhumanely. But, it is the legacy of the Western world in other nation-states that is still being felt in its full brutality. Murray missed the point in the introduction, so why should I waste my time on another 300 pages of whiny, deflective recounts of why the Western world is so amazing? In reality, it isn't. Neither is the Eastern world. Both have committed heinous historic acts of violence and suppression. But it is ultimately the influence of the Western world that we still continue to live under and continue to glorify in our institutions. Murray, you don't even deserve a one-star rating.