Thursday, February 19, 2004

The West is Right and So Is The East It's so interesting to me how things have played out in the past twenty years. It has become very obvious, to me at least, that democracy is the best system of governance, or the worst system except for any other system, as Winston Churchill said so eloquently. It is also obvious to me that capitalism can really work. Yes, I know, we have a lot of issues to work out where government needs to play a bigger or smaller role, especially with pollution, for instance. But capitalism works.  When I look at the riches that this system generates in the U.S. and Canada compared to socialist, communist or dictatorial countries, we have it so, so great. In these instances, the West really got it right.  The U.S., Canada and Western Europe really figured out something great, and we deserve credit for it.  In fact, the U.S. was the leader in both of these areas. What an accomplishment. But this comparison flips completely when I look at medicine. Here, undeniably, the East has had it right all these years. As Western countries try to mechanize medicine, we create a system that is more and more dangerous, costly and ineffective. The U.S. spends double the amount on healthcare as any other country, yet we are not healthier.  We are sicker than many other countries, actually.  Double.  Double.  D-O-U-B-L-E!!!! The whole time, China, India, Thailand, Tibet and other Eastern countries have been quietly practicing medical practices that they've used for thousands of years with great effectiveness.  In the West, we grudgingly agree to "study" these techniques, putting them into a laboratory to find the "ONE THING" that makes them effective.  We fail, of course, then we blame that failure on a therapy that's been effective for a thousand years, instead of blaming our own evaluation techniques. The other thing the East got right (my opinion only!) is religion. The Eastern religions make so much more sense to me than any Western religion. Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism seem to have very solid bases, and they seem to relate to the real world in many ways. Catholicism, Protestantism, Mormonism and the like seem to be removed from the real world, wedging us into strange rituals that will forgive our sins (rubbing beads, etc.) or telling us that as long as we have faith in the RIGHT GOD, we'll be fine. An ayurvedic doctor friend of mind says that God is made in the image of man, not the other way around.  Otherwise, how do you explain the fact that there are so many Gods?? So, my scorecard reads: The West - 2 The East - 2 Next round? 6:08:20 PM

© Copyright 2004 Copyleft. Last update: 3/13/04; 6:09:47 PM.