Bill142 From Australia, joined Aug 2004, 8326 posts, RR: 9 Posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 14 hours ago) and read 1192 times:
Could someone explain this to me? If I look at map and use the prime meridan as the starting point an longitude 180 as the end, then Australia becomes an eastern country, Just like most of europe. So why is it that we get called "westerners" when countries north of here are considered "Far East"?
I suppose the simple answer is culture?
I'm Australian and proud of it, but I am not a westerner.
Quoting Bill142 (Thread starter): I'm Australian and proud of it, but I am not a westerner.
You are a westerner, Australia is a western country. You could argue if that includes the natives nowadays, their "original Australia" was certainly not western.
Walk together, talk together all ye peoples of the earth. Then, and only then, shall ye have peace.
KaiGywer From United States of America, joined Oct 2003, 12043 posts, RR: 42 Reply 4, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 12 hours ago) and read 1156 times:
ANother From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 12 hours ago) and read 1150 times:
Actually what used to be called the '1st world' now seems to be called the West. 2nd world countries seem to have disappeared (except for maybe China) and what's left is the 3rd world (aka 'developing countries').
KaiGywer From United States of America, joined Oct 2003, 12043 posts, RR: 42 Reply 7, posted (7 years 1 month 1 week 11 hours ago) and read 1134 times:
Quoting QANTASforever (Reply 6): Please don't force me to change my opinion of Americans. You'll find yourself in an extremely heated argument.
Well exactly. How can we be defined as west when there is no natural reference like the equator. We have an agreed East-West starting point of the prime meridian and if you use that then clearly a large portion of the population are actually from the east.
Quoting KaiGywer (Reply 4): Becase you're really a bunch of Brits
So are you, but that point seems to have gotten lost somewhere.
Quoting ANother (Reply 5): So what do you want to be? Western or developing?
Last time I checked, Australia was a developed country. So, yes, I would rather be from the developed world.
QFA380 From Australia, joined Jul 2005, 2044 posts, RR: 1 Reply 10, posted (7 years 1 month 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 1094 times:
One could define the East and West of the world by saying that the section of crust that faces the sun at the exact moment when the year ends/begins, but I'm sure that would probably ber somewhere in the middle of the Pacific or its just that the years ends/begins in a different place every year. Who knows.
QANTASforever From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 11, posted (7 years 1 month 6 days 18 hours ago) and read 1078 times:
Quoting Bill142 (Reply 9): We have an agreed East-West starting point of the prime meridian and if you use that then clearly a large portion of the population are actually from the east.
So the people of Cardiff are from the Western World, while the population of Dover are from the Eastern World?
I just find the whole "western" nation/hemisphere/culture very eurocentric.
BNE From Australia, joined Mar 2000, 3156 posts, RR: 13 Reply 12, posted (7 years 1 month 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 1057 times:
The meanings are used in 2 different situations.
Eastern Hemisphere is from East 0-180 which covers all of Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. All these places have a longitude of East 0-180.
Western Hemisphere is going West from Prime Meridian across the Americas and across the Pacific to the 180 line.
A few Round The World tickets mention the EH(Eastern Hemisphere and Americas.
For your query on the Western World, I checked google and got this response.
The term Western world or "the West" can have multiple meanings depending on its context. Originally defined as Western Europe, most modern uses of the term refer to the societies of Europe and their close genealogical, linguistic, and philosophical colonial descendants, typically included are those countries whose dominant culture is derived from European culture.
So the term can from Western Europe and those countries that ties to it and their way of living.
KaiGywer From United States of America, joined Oct 2003, 12043 posts, RR: 42 Reply 13, posted (7 years 1 month 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 1055 times:
Quoting Bill142 (Reply 9): So are you, but that point seems to have gotten lost somewhere.
Oh hell no! We invaded England, stole their women, and burned their houses I'm a Norwegian viking, stuck in America
i've always wondered about this east and west thing. is it based on geography or race/culture? a native american (both north and south america) for eg. are they westerners (i wonder about african american as well)? how about a third generation of asians in either europe, or the americas. i also wonder about africa. i flew to cape town a while back and someone mentioned south africa is a western country. is that right?
Ladies & Gentlemen, we will now demonstrate the use of the safety equipment on this aircraft...
Quote: n modern usage, after the end of the Cold War, the term First World has come to denote the 'developed' Industrialized-Capitalistic nations that in 2000 had a higher GDP per capita than $15,000, as stated by the World Bank. This would include the United States, Canada, Japan, the countries of the European Union (in 2000), Singapore, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. Additionally, Hong Kong and Taiwan may be described in these terms but they are exceptions as these territories are not recognised as having sovereign status by the UN and thus do not possess particular characteristics representative of a country. The World Bank also denotes these as "High Income Economies."
Marambio From Argentina, joined Oct 2004, 1158 posts, RR: 28 Reply 18, posted (7 years 1 month 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 1011 times:
This reminds me of a quote by former Argentine Foreign Minister Bonifacio del Carril, who once said:
"Estamos con occidente porque somos occidente."
"We're with the West because we're westerns."
But yeah, I think the East and West division has to do with culture. I personally don't agree with it, just like saying countries in the Northern Hemisphere are rich and countries in the Southern Hemisphere are poor. Australia and New Zealand are rich countries and are in the South; Haiti and Chad are in the North and they are poor countries. Get my point?
Saludos,
Marambio
Aerolíneas Argentinas - La Argentina que levanta vuelo.
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