Article: Reflections on Ian Morris' Book About the West and China

As is well known, American conservatives tend to be apocalyptic. After World War II, American conservatives were apocalyptic in their anti-communist fervor. But the collapse of the former Soviet Union led to the demise of their anti-communist fervor. However, the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, resurrected their apocalyptic thought-world and gave it new life.

I know, I know, Islamist terrorists embrace an apocalyptic thought-world. But it does not necessarily follow that we should embrace an apocalyptic thought-world as we make efforts to counter them and their efforts. In the ILIAD, neither side in the war indulges in apocalyptic fantasies of good-guys versus bad-guys. I think we should strive to avoid both magnifying and minimizing threats that we face in the world. We should aim to keep our assessments of threatening situations and threatening people as fact-based as we can and without exaggeration.

By contrast with apocalyptic thought-world of American conservatives, American liberals tend to be idealistic, even though liberals historically also indulged themselves in anti-communist fervor against the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. Many Americans perceived the Soviet communists as an existentialist threat. Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, American liberals have energetically denounced certain American policies at home and abroad -" and for good reason. Unfortunately, the problems that started under President George W. Bush have not all been stopped under President Barack Obama. As a result, liberals should not give up the good fight against certain problems that started under President Bush.

Nevertheless, liberals today should read and ponder Ian Morris' book regarding the West and China.

Conservatives who read Ian Morris' book will probably just expand their routine apocalyptic thought-world and see China as they once saw the former Soviet Union. In this way, conservatives may be ready to join Diane Sawyer in saying, "Game on!"

But some liberals may read Ian Morris' book and just shrug and say, "So what if China rules the world instead of the West. What's wrong with that?" I would characterize such a response as unheroic. So I would urge liberals today to embrace a heroic attitude and fight the good fight to advance what is best and most admirable in Western culture, preferably by taking a non-violent approach to social and political action inasmuch as this is practicable. The historical Jesus and Martin Luther King, Jr., lived heroic non-violent lives. To the best of our ability, we should also strive to live heroic non-violent lives.

Therefore, I would prefer not to under-estimate the resourcefulness of liberals as they ponder the import of Ian Morris' book regarding the West and China. Ian Morris is challenging all of us in the West to step back and ponder the big picture of world history, just as Walter Ong has challenged us to step back and ponder the big picture of Western cultural history.

For all the tragic suffering that the West has brought into the world historically (most notably in World Wars I and II) and is still bringing into the world today (most notably in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan), the West today nevertheless is where many Chinese graduate students are coming to study today for advanced degrees. When it comes to undergraduate professional education and graduate education today, the West today stands as Athens writ large to China and the rest of the world today. However, as mentioned above, Alexander the Great conquered ancient Athens. In light of his conquest of Athens, Americans today should pay attention to Ian Morris' wake-up call regarding China.

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