The Problem with the Way We View the East

A little less than a month ago, it was revealed that a man named Seungri, member of the Korean pop group 'Big Bang', was the head of a prostitute ring taking place in a club he owned in Seoul, South Korea. It was discovered the women were being drugged and filmed without consent, and that some of the women involved were underaged. Under many articles about this scandal, many American fans gave their opinion about the situation such as, "What do we expect? Countries like Korea are 20 years behind countries like America" despite the fact that the Korean general public was disgusted with his actions, and Seungri was physically assaulted on his way to the airport. So even though Koreans and other Asian fans have completely turned their backs on him, why is it that we as westerners are so convinced that Asian people would knowingly let this happen? And why do we pretend like the exact same things haven't happened in western media if not worse?

We as westerners are under the impression that "The East" is more inhumane, they are less tolerable, more conservative. They oppress their women, hate gay people, and look down on anyone who goes against the status-quo. We think of ourselves as being so much more morally sound than "The East". Though we don't think of them as "animals" or "savages" as we do Africans or Native Americans, we still view them as people in need of our saving graces. We think they need a lesson in our morality like we're so much better. Because America and Europe, who have colonized 90% of the world whose militaries are arguably the largest terrorist organizations as we know it today, need to teach eastern countries, which are arguably the most developed countries in the world, about humanity. We look at the suicide rates of eastern countries and think "Wow, I'm so glad we're not like that" as if our suicide rate hasn't increased 24% since the turn of the century. We look at countries like China and North Korea and sigh in relief because "We don't have a president like that" when Donald Trump wants to waste $25,000,000,000 on a wall that will ultimately be ineffective. We think that "The East" is so stuck in the past when Neo-Nazi parties and the KKK have more supporters now than they've had in years. So why are we, a country with a myriad of national problems, so focused on how eastern countries need to improve? It's simple really, western countries have a long history of colonialism. And while we may not be landing on the banks of Saudi Arabia or Laos and converting everyone to Christianity and forcing them to learn English like we used to, we maintain a colonizer mindset. Because "The East" doesn't live the same way we do, that they need our help, regardless of how well their citizens are doing or the advancements they're making. Because who wouldn't want to be like a western country?