Introduction
The Asian region as it exists today has gone through many transformations. The economic, societal, and political fronts have all experienced major transformations. These transformations have been occasioned by the adoption of Western ideologies. Traditionally, Asia has been a region that has managed to stay aloof from other regions.
However, his has been changing with the passage of time and today most of the world ideologies have found their way into the region. Although this has not been something easy to achieve, the current trends show that the region is opening more to the larger world ideologies. This has in turn influenced the way the region views and approaches the rest of the society. (Niehans 58)
One thing that led to the adoption of western ideologies into the Asian region was the spread of the liberal-market democracy. At the turn of the last century, most of the world was rushing to embrace most of the western ideologies. This was occasioned by the success of the regions foreign policy and the almost unstoppable globalization force. According to the Western ideological perspective, nature is viewed as a resource to be exploited.
This ideology further claims that nature should be exploited to better the life of all citizens. It was this premise that made the spread of the liberal market democracy rapid in Asia. However, by adopting the free-market democracy, the Asian region lost its cultural diversity that defined it. Observers say that the western ideological perspective glorifies its cultural beliefs over those of other regions. This has led to a complete transformation of the Asian economic front to run at par with that of the West. (Geisinger)
The modern era places much emphasis on science and its methods. The growth of science as a civilizing force brought about a revolution in the way the human race understood and treated the environment. This new understanding also widened the gap between people and the environment causing people to aspire to fully conquer nature. The new view by scientists led people to alter the way they connected to the natural environment.
Under the new dispensation, human beings were removed from the care of the environment delegating the responsibility to scientists. This gave rise to the manipulation of nature and its subsequent degradation. As globalization came to its peak, this modern ideology regarding scientists and the environment found its way to Asia. As it is characteristic with all Western ideologies, this gave rise to the total adoption of the new ideology hence the negligence of the Asian environment. (Liu)
Another Western ideology that found its way into Asia was the economic front. As the industrial revolution peaked, it brought about changes in the economic and communal structure of the society. The existing small shops were taken over by bigger divisions of manufacturing and nature and human beings were replaced by machines.
This gave rise to large cities and farms. Due to an increase in productivity, there was ready labor for the factories and enough food for those who were not farmers. This led to work and resources being exchanged in the marketplace and the general tradition gave way to marketplace economy.
As the formations began to revolutionize, there was need to come up with new theories to address the new economic affairs that were coming up. This gave rise to modern capitalism that gave emphasis to the creation of wealth and neglect of the family. With time, the role and place of the extended family as it existed was lost in favor of the nuclear family. From the West, this economic ideology soon found its way into Asia thus altering the economic and societal perspective of the region. (Grant 27)
With the inception of a new society, capitalism became intricately attached with the current autonomous status. The state where people were ignoring other matters to pursue material growth made governments to lose their original visionary goals. This was heightened during the Great Depression where capitalism became more intertwined with the democratic front.
With time, the government lost its moral authority and instead dwelled on creating wealth for its citizens. As industrialization continued to take root and more people favoring Western policies, the new political ideology found its way into Asia. This eventually changed the way governments in the Asian region were treating their citizens. (Galbraith 33)
Conclusion
The adoption of Western ideologies in Asia came as a gradual process. This was heightened by the introduction of free-market democracies and the rapid spread of globalization. Overall, the modern ideologies changed the way the Asian region addressed issues in the economy, societal and political fronts.
As a result of adopting the modern ideologies, the region ended up achieving high and unprecedented economic growth. However, the dictation that all areas of the Western ideology had to be absorbed in full brought about many problems for the Asian region. This caused the region to drop their core values and adopt the new Western ideologies in total. In return, the area ended up suffering and losing its cultural significance in the international front.
Works Cited
Galbraith, Kenneth. Economics in Perspective: A Critical History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. 33–34. Print.
Geisinger, Alex. Sustainable Development and the Domination of Nature: Spreading the Seed of the Western Ideology of Nature, n.d. Web. Oct 16. 2010. <https://www.bc.edu/>
Grant, George. Tackling the Poverty of Nations: Why So Many Are Poor and What We Can Do About It. Xlibris Corporation, 2009. 25-32. Print.
Liu, Henry. Demon and Deity, 2004. Web. Oct 20. 2010. <https://www.asiatimes.com>
Niehans, Jürg. A History of Economic Theory: Classic Contributions, 1720–1980. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. 56-61. Print.