THE WEST AS A BUG IN THE SYSTEM (Zachód jako usterka systemowa)

• Authors: Krawczyk Rafal
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The author opposes to a traditional perception of cultural and civilization-related differences between the world regions expressed in the title of Roger Scruton's book: 'The West and the Rest'. He argues that logic demands a contrary approach and extorts an analysis which gives an answer to the question why the West has proved to be different than the 'rest'. The author's line of thought comes down to pointing out the diversity of the western civilization model in comparison to others: Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or the civilizations of the Far East. The latter created cohesive entities which have two striking features - aspiration to completeness and long lastingness. The former one gave them dynamics up to the moment of consolidation of completeness. The latter was a cause of inherited stagnation occurring after obtaining the former one. The background for those processes was the social system consisting in a dual model: the caste of rulers-warriors and the caste of subjects-workers. The first group provided the stability of the system, the other group provided luxurious consumption for the first one. This way it was possible to solve internal tensions solely through the exchange of roles, i.e. through a birth of a new elite without the need to change the nature of the system.The West is a diverse entity. Still in ancient times, it created a background for the birth of 'the third player' - town environment having a significant autonomy and the right to create legislation concerning its affairs. This is an element which is completely different from the former ones because it exists in an artificial, urban environment, not the country-manorial one functioning in a rhythm close to the rhythm of nature. Such a town chartered according to the Roman Law (called 'the Magdeburg Law' in Eastern Europe) is, by its nature, a dynamic entity aspiring to development and accumulation of wealth in the form different than land. It was born in the western part of Europe and during a millennium dominated most of the continent and its overseas dominions. This is how a civilization possessing enough strength to continue its dynamic development, dominate others and impose its models on them was born. The aim of the article is to publicize the opinion that the West is an entity different from the rest of the world and is in fact a kind of a civilization misfit. The research method is an intellectual analysis of facts and monographs.

Keywords

EN

CIVILIZATION DIFFERENCES; CIVILIZATION OF WEST; WEST AND CIVILIZATIONS OF EAST

Discipline

• ECONOMICS: ECONOMICS

• Publisher: Uczelnia Łazarskiego. Oficyna Wydawnicza
• Journal: Myśl Ekonomiczna i Prawna
• Year: 2009
• Issue: 2(25)
• Pages: 212-236
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Krawczyk Rafal

• Rafal Krawczyk, Wyzsza Szkola Handlu i Prawa im. R. Lazarskiego, ul. Swieradowska 43, 02-662 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

10PLAAAA08648