Orientalism, according to Said, was the way that the West negatively viewed the East (non western cultures). This view supported and encouraged the political dominance of imperialism. Westerners accepted and internalized this view to allow them to rationalize their imperialistic beliefs and actions towards other cultures. This was epitomized by Westerns view of Eastern as "sly, devious, despotic, mystical". By applying these stereotypes to Easterners, Westerners were able to separate themselves and make themselves seem superior and really believe they were.
One of the fundamental stereotypes of twentieth century orientalism is that easterners are religious fanatic and incapable of practical beliefs. This attitude persist to this day. You can observe this by the way westerners fear Muslims. They believe all Muslims are radical Islamic who want to impose their fanatical beliefs on Westerners at any cost. Including Jihad. Certain republican presidential candidates are capitalizing on this stereotype and making people fearful to gain a political advantage. However, I remain optimistic that cooler heads prevail among my peers.
Good point about how certain Republican candidates, basically ALL of them, bank on the belief that all Muslims are radical terrorists. I consider myself relatively cool-headed and obviously know that that is not the case. Feel the Bern!
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