The world's most toxic value system (2001)
&gt; Created 19 November 2001, Last Update 30 August 2011<p>Looks like this was created right after 9&#x2F;11. It&#x27;s understandable why he wrote this.<p>&gt; It&#x27;s considered bad form in many circles to criticize another culture&#x27;s values. In addition, the social science literature contains a number of rationalizations for the &quot;honor&quot; mentality. One is that every value system makes sense to the people that hold it. Another is that every value system exists for a reason. Well, of course. The problem is that you can make these assertions about any value system whatsoever. Rape and genocide and embezzlement also exist for a reason, and make sense to people who think a certain way. That doesn&#x27;t tell us whether the values are morally acceptable or even whether they are beneficial to those who adhere to them...So I regard it as trivially obvious that the &quot;honor&quot; mentality exists for a reason and makes perfect sense to the people that adhere to it. I don&#x27;t doubt it for a moment. I merely claim that these values debilitate the societies that hold them.<p>Something this author believes that most people (in our coastal bubbles) don&#x27;t: that some cultures are better than others. It&#x27;s astonishing how controversial this position is even 16 years later; however, I think when this article was written it was even more politically incorrect to say than it is now.