Why the West Before the Rest?

Paegle Santa
The Firm. Assignment 1. Draft.
16.09.14.

For centuries the Western part of the world has been, without doubt, way ahead of the East in terms of political, economic and social development. This phenomenon has not occured spontaneously, nor are the reasons evident for Europe becoming the economically strongest and most influential region. Clearly, the success of the West is not just a matter of luck or convenient geographical emplacement. In fact, most historians and enthusiasts have taken one of two sides, predicating, that the explanation lies in either the unique cultural and religious prospect of the Western World or, on the other hand, future-focused governmental strategies and the work of institutions, that have leaded the way to prosperity.

“If we learn anything from the history of economic development, it is that culture makes all the difference,”^[1] states David Landes in The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. Before the Industrial Revolution Europe was a prestigious, evolved region with progress-focused cultural practices. Indeed, Europeans have stood out with rationality and, most importantly, cherishing the worth of an individual and unique capabilities – crucial for upgrowth.

The West and the East cannot be compared without taking into consideration the extensive impact of religious beliefs. In my opinion, Christian set of values has put fewer obstacles on the modernisation of Europe than other religions have on Eastern countries. Moreover, where Christian morals have not been in favour, Judaism often has. For example, the economy in medieval Venice, which relied majorly on international overseas trade, could not have operated without charging interest for loans. In Christian society, that was considered a sin, slowing down the development of finance in Europe; meanwhile, in Judaism, charging interest was allowed, being significant for the modernisation of the region.^[2]

Another considerable viewpoint is the West dominating because of successful policies and institutions – something the East failed to introduce. The well-known economist Hernando de Soto explains this correlation stating, that capital is the key element of creating wealth. With the lack of property rights and adequate policies, the value of possessions the poor have is not efficient. “They hold these resources in defective forms: Because the rights to these possessions are not adequately documented, these assets cannot readily be turned into capital.”^[3] What encouraged progress was the West “mastering the conversion process required to transform the invisible to the visible”^[4]. Egypt nowadays is a living proof of the importance of property rights. More than 90 % of the population holds assets illegally, meaning, that close to 400 billion dollars would be implanted in the countries’ economy in case of legal property ownership.^[5] Most of Europe dealt with this issue after industrilization, resulting in more successful, stabile economies.