A treatise on culture, west and east.

Western culture is rooted in strife. Wars of territory, ideology, food, possession, and honor. The idea of war, of battle, is central to central to western thought. It is the strife that makes us strong, that supports our system of government and economy. Thus it is cleverness that wins when all else fails.

Eastern culture is rooted in cleverness. True, wars and feudal lords were just as common there as they were here, but wars were not won on the size of your army or their muscles and armor. Wars were won and lost on their commanders tactics, on traps, terrain, and flanking. There is a reason that China has the works of Sun Tsu and the great military epics while England, France and Germany have folktales of great warriors. In much the same way as cleverness can sweep up the victory in the west, a well orchestrated blunt move, a barbarian or a sudden coup by a displeased general, wins in the east.

This is the fundamental difference between the east and the west: While the “normal” is revered and responsible for daily life, it is the extraordinary that is responsible for changing society. This means that while western society is based on bloodshed, it’s laws and rules are based on cleverness. In much the same way, eastern (Buddhist, Confucianist, and even Maoist) societies are based on cleverness, but it is the bloody revolutions that form their laws and base.

This is why 2chan works, and is actually a somewhat intellectual discussion board, while 4chan is simply a collection of tards. In America and western countries, the base working of society is the battle. The imageboard is not a battlefield, and it’s very hard to win or lose, so assholes end up spamming each other forever.