Western attitudes towards the societies of East Asia are a sad reflection of an inability to appreciate the economic achievements of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and, more recently, parts of mainland China. No impartial observer can deny that Asian models of economic and political development are proving successful.
Impressive rates of economic growth have been achieved in at least some East Asian societies, such as Japan and Singapore. The resulting standard of healthcare and education which are offered to the citizens of these countries is superior to that of many Western countries. In addition, communal harmony and social stability are frequently combined with these East Asian economic success stories. It is not uncommon for East Asian societies to enjoy enviably high levels of employment and low rates of crime.
The East Asian picture is impressive and totally justifies the invocation — in Singapore, and Malaysia and, increasingly in China and Japan — of an Asian model of economic and political development. The potent combination of dynamic market institutions and the benefits of flourishing communities, which has already become a reality in parts of East Asia, is one which has eluded Western societies.
Asian models of political and economic development draw on indigenous cultural traditions such as Confucianism. They candidly repudiate Western ideals of individualism, human rights and democracy. Adherence to such models is already delivering prosperity and social stability to the peoples of East Asia so it would seem logical for the West to demonstrate a sympathetic interest.
No such interest is apparent. It remains generally true that Western opinion and policy are based on the premise that Western ideals and practices have universal authority. In other words, there is a widespread belief that success for Asian societies is dependent on their adoption of Western values and institutions.
For many people in the West, modernization implies westernization. They would appear to overlook the fact that their own societies frequently demonstrate features which are far from desirable. Crimes against property in Britain are astonishingly common--with a worse record than even the United States. The foregrounding of human rights in the United States does not alter the disturbing fact that America’s violent crime and homicide record is higher than in all other Western societies. The murder rate in Moscow, in 1993 was only one third of that in New York.
Why does the author give a series of examples of the problems in western society in the last paragraph