This entry is about my newfound understanding of resentment towards the West.
The more I learn the more I analyze the ways in which we are brought up to think.
I can bet there is a large percentage of people out there who would say that Middle Eastern and Central Asian people hate us because of the preeminence of our consumerist-driven culture; in other words because of things like McDonalds. They more or less see us as substance-lacking heathens: no values or morals, no traditions, no respect, and most importantly no significant history. The U.S. really is a baby. There are sidewalks in Portugal older than this country. We are a big giant heathen baby running the world.

Now, the above partially explains why non-Westerners (and France) think we’re douche bags. But the West as a whole (which from this point on I am referring to the U.S. and Europe only) has played a part in the emergence of today’s conflicts. I’m not that far into the books I’m reading, but I can’t help but become a little annoyed at some facts. (To some extent, we all know that our country has done some shady shit, but it’s disheartening to read proof of it, right there in black and white)
It seems that for years and years and years the West has been making promises to less powerful and developed countries, and breaking them without so much as a second thought. The West (yes even fruitcake France) has occupied and divided up lands at whim. It has misled populations to achieve its own ends. People trusted the West to help or protect them, or at least live up to its end of the deal. But unless their plight somehow fit into the overall scheme, they were pushed aside and left to fend for themselves. And worst of all, the West continues to play its game of strategy. The West’s foreign policy is “what’s in it for me?” policy.
But times are a-changin
So as I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, today we are interdependent. Yet the “every man for himself” mentality hasn’t changed (or should I say, every state for itself).
The West is still spouting hopeful rhetoric and making hollow commitments.
No wonder people feel so betrayed. No wonder people are bitter. No wonder entire populations hate us, or at least dislike us intensely.
I guess the level of resentment depends on whether the West is showering the aggrieved with empty words or with bullets.

But I can understand how deeply rooted this hatred is. We dismiss it as a backlash against our superpower status; against our take-charge, recreation-loving, money-grubbing society.

It’s because of this that no matter how many buildings are bombed we will never see it as anything other than irrational aggression from some bearded freak.

I am not justifying terrorism in any way. But our overall perception is the basis for why we think we can stop terrorism with military force.
It’s much too complex, and frankly, rather puzzling.

I don’t think we’ll ever really be able to pinpoint why it is people want to kill us or how to stop them. Every human being has formed their own opinion of the West. We’d like to think those less partial to us are misguided, but maybe it’s we who are wearing rosy-colored pro-West sunglasses.