[fieldmarshaldj]

“Asian” isn’t a culture, it’s a continent. Same with Africa. You have psychotics in every race. Stalin wasn’t Asian, nor Hitler, nor Idi Amin, Castro or Guevera or Mugabe or a host of other bloodthirsty lunatics. A lot of this can be viewed through the prism of tribal hatreds, and those are as old as the human race.

[politicalmerc]

Asia is a continent, Asian is a race of people, and yes there is something known as Asian culture. I agree Africa (another continent) and Africans have a long history of war and strife but you guys miss the point entirely with your comments about Stalin, Hitler and the like. I'm not talking about individual mad men. I'm talking about a broader willingness to be cruel.

It seems to me that something about Asian culture devalues life.

[Sherman Logan]

Stalin wasn’t Asian

Well, yeah, he was.

The country of Georgia is generally considered to be located in Asia.

[Old Badger]

Good point that should be always kept in mind.

Incidentally, I really, really, really liked your photo gallery on your about page ......... especially the Bond girl, Eva Green!

[CRBDeuce]

“Asian” isn’t a culture, it’s a continent.

Spot on! Just as there are myriads of cultures in Europe, there are myriads of cultures in Asia...from work ethic, and Eastern mysticism, to Yin and Yang and Feng Shui! Western secular education doesn't lend itself to understanding culture...we seem to get hung up on the 'cult' part.

[OldDeckHand]

" A lot of this can be viewed through the prism of tribal hatreds, and those are as old as the human race."

I think that is a well-put point. But, I do think that there's some truth in the belief that generally speaking, eastern cultures and specifically Asian cultures don't place as much value on the individual life as western cultures do.

Much of it has to do with the philosophies that the cultures are built upon. Individual liberty is an ideal that flows from Greek and Roman statesmen and philosophers. We really don't see a similar or as pronounced equivalent in any of the Asian cultures, which are much more feudally based.

I'm not a theologian - by any stretch - by there's also a marked difference in the three respective leading religions in both cultures - with Christianity in the west and Islam and Buddhism in the east. Christianity's foundational premise is about individual salvation through the willing acceptance of Jesus as the Christ.

Islam, on the other hand, is completely and entirely about submission to Mohamed and Allah, quite different. Also, Buddhism is more collective in nature. It's about finding "harmony" in nature, about blending in with everyone and everything around you. It's primacy is the collective balance of nature over individual achievement or existence.

In short, western civilization celebrates the individual and the inherent (some say God-given) primacy of individual life and liberty. Eastern cultures tend to do the exact opposite - the collective supersedes the individual.