Superior culture
Sir: In your article 'Power to Miss CherrY' (Politics, 10 November), you state that 'we in the West think of ourselves as wiser than Africans.' I believe rather that we think that it is our culture (social organisation?) that is superior. The individuals may have equal potential, but a culture, which takes centuries to evolve, channels the collective potential. The Western culture has among its important ingredients a general deter- mination to disdain and curtail activities which favour personal gain at the expense of the general good, and a tradition of, and pride in, activities whether voluntary or with low material rewards which form the backbone of society (community service, participating in the democratic process, and many others).
In concurring with your implied rejec- tion of the Brandt Report's 'massive trans' fer of resources' as a long-term solution to Third World famine, I would offer a further argument. Not every culture has collective material well-being as a primal"' aim — and keeping wealth is no easier than acquiring it. There has been in fact, bY chance, the equivalent of 'a massive trans' fer of resources' to the Middle East. These resources continue to be squandered in an ever-growing ideological bonfire. Witness the Gulf War.
David Dangoor
20 Queen's Gate Terrace, London SW7
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