Uniformity for Peace?

While reading Jeffrey Sachs's book Common Wealth, I couldn't help be feel he was being a little presumptuous. I'm not talking about his humanist worldview (though it is thrust upon the reader), his belief that the governments of the world need to work together (which I agree is necessary, but unlikely on the scale he gives), or even his perky optimism (which I happen to share). By presumptuous, I am referring to his assumption that the current Western style of living, thinking, working, etc. is the best to be had anywhere, and that every single other country should follow our example. For instance, Sachs speaks of an economic theory called convergence where countries below the United States's per capita income (taken as the ideal) experience higher growth in proportion to that difference. Over time, this means that all countries will eventually achieve a uniform growth rate and per capita income.

However, I wonder what type of world Earth converges to in that scenario. While Sachs portrays it as a world of peace and understanding, I think it will also feature a uniform global culture where everyone eats, dresses, and thinks in fundamentally the same way: the Western way. Cultural heritage based on "archaic" traditions and beliefs is dropped to grab onto the modern worldview.

Is standardizing humanity an acceptable price for a peaceful world? Personally, I don't think it is. Such a lack of diversity in Sach's "utopia" seems terrible compared to our present world. After traveling to Egypt and England over the summer, I learned to appreciate the different ways people view the world. Thus, I find Sachs's assumption that every country wants to become just like the US, and his plans to eventually minimize diversity to be rather presumptuous. Hasn't the United States forced its values on people of other cultures often enough?

(Before you think I hated Sachs's book, I should say that there are many parts of it that I liked and think are absolutely true. However a discussion of those bits will have to wait until another blog post!)