I think Yoshie is right on this one. "West" is the West's name for itself: "Western Civilization", "the West in the Cold War", etc. I think Lou doth protest too much; he is uncomfortable because of the truth in Yoshie's criticism/critique.
As to Yoshie not including herself in it, uhhhhh, you have noticed that she is from Japan , haven't you ? Shhhhh. How white of you to demand that Yoshie include herself as white. This is getting embarrassing. CB Workers of the West , it's our turn. >You can call them leftists in rich countries or leftists in the global >North if you like. To me, they all mean the same thing, except >"Western leftists" has a virtue of brevity. >-- >Yoshie That is just as bad. You are again resorting to an essentializing technique. We are dealing with ideas, aren't we? What difference does it make where people live? But you are too smart not to know what kind of device this is. It is your version of the epithet "petty-bourgeois" that was frequently used in Marxist debates in the past and that is intended to stigmatize your ideological adversaries. It is also very clear from your use of the term that you do not include yourself since the implication is that you have achieved a virtual flight from the decadent West into the vibrant East
