For some reason, the "reply" link is messed up, so I'm posting a general response to Discofrank.Your relativism, with regard to culture, is very telling. Surely you don't believe warring tribes in Africa to be civilized. Surely you don't believe people living in thatched roof houses to be civilized, with regard to modern standards? If you do, then perhaps I can understand your cultural loathing of western culture.Culture and Ethnicity are intertwined. That's not to say that they are mutually exclusive, but that they are generally correlated. Different people groups produce cultures which bring forth greater advancement. Some peoples are advanced due to greater cognitive abilities. Other peoples are less advanced due to less cognitive abilities, or the culture that characterizes the group.The story of Africa is one of perpetual poverty, sickness, disease, and corruption. All throughout history, sub-saharan Africa has been poor. You can blame the "colonizers", yet the economy of most African countries flourished under colonial rule, but fell into disrepair under self-rule. That should tell you something. Zimbabwe is nothing more than the overthrow of the white Rhodesian government. Now, Mugabe is on a quest to seize the farms of the country, but I hear that they're finally starting to back down on that, as they're not producing enough food without the white farmers.Western culture has brought forth advancements in science, medicine, the arts, music, architecture, as well as numerous other areas. To claim it on the same level as the culture of people living in mud huts is ludicrous.