You will find some of the loudest and most belligerent voices these days spruiking loudly about “Western Values”

And the thing that always comes to my mind is what value, what part of western culture, western history are we talking about?

Is it the historical expansion of colonialism?

Where they, often with the force of their cannons and guns, took whatever they wanted from wherever they wanted, I mean you do know where some of the crown jewels came from?

Is it the history of invading countries for one reason or another and destabilising them so badly that it produces terror groups that go on to not only attack the west, but kill hundreds of thousands of civilians in their own regions, who would have liked nothing more than to just get on with their lives and not have to worry about being killed in this week’s latest atrocity.

Would it be deciding that they know better and electing to establish a homeland for one group in the middle of the homelands of another group entirely, not caring that the original inhabitants will go on to suffer decades of deprivation, destruction and death?

How about a history of domestic violence, of western men abusing their wives, beating them raping them, murdering them? Is that a value?

Let’s not forget the history of serial killers, I mean they are all over popular culture, and they seem to all be in the west, so they must be an intrinsic part of Western Values mustn’t they?

I mean what is more common than knowing the name “Jack The Ripper” from history that isn’t anything but Western?

What exactly are these values they seem to covet so much?

Family, friends?

Only if they do as they told, because if they seem to want to be different or an individual in anyway, like, shock horror, an independent thinker, a woman who knows what she wants to do to change the world, explore science, discover new ways of doing things, someone who loves in any way not heterosexual, someone who knows, deep down in the essence of their being that they aren’t the way their body appears to be, well, I’m sorry, that doesn’t seem to be a value some of these people seem to be able to accept.

Western Values eh?

Seem to discard many things a lot of the world, a lot of the species seem to value.

Doesn’t seem so valuable an idea to me.

Saeed Parker - Comments on the show "This Week In Politics"