Has the West done more bad than good ?

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I always thought the Western World (UK, US etc) has tried to do good in the rest of the planet. But I understand the West has done things that I disagree with and should not have happened such as Vietnam or Iraq as I feel maybe the US-led coalition had toppled Saddam Hussein after he invaded Kuwait not 12 years later as there is so much criticism against the US, the UK and other countries for invading Iraq and has led to more violence and hatred. Also it could be argued that a western country started World War 2 which was Germany.

Generally people do what they can to improve their living circumstances.
Through the ages, mankind have created all sorts of methods in order to achieve this objective.

Through the ages, different society structures have evolved and flourished, and in some cases,
died away.

Human behaviour is highly complicated and I would say nothing is black and white.
The west have accomplished great things, but also perhaps are to blame for some terrible things too.

I would say that this fact is not exclusively to only western people, but is a very common human trend,
except for perhaps one or two minority societies, who are less materially orientated and are perhaps
more focussed on either spiritual values or naturist values.

Judging "The West" against itself may not be the best method to answer the OP's question.

To reach a more accurate* conclusion, one should compare the good and the bad of The West with the good and bad of The East, the Middle World, the Third World, and every other civilization throughout history.

I would be very surprised if any modern-day civilization fared much better or much worse than any other.

*Note that "more accurate" is not the same as "totally correct".

Answering that probably requires examining the entire history of 'the west'.
Which then raises the question of, when did 'the west' begin?

And then I suppose that it might also be necessary to specifically define 'the west', 'bad', and 'good' as used in the question so that, presumably, those answering the question are in fact answering the same question.

First define the meaning of good
Second, define what you mean by the word west, not only as an entity but also in terms of what time frame.

Defining what is meant by the west is also a difficult task. Is it fair to judge multi millions if not billions of people based on the actions of a few.

You need to define what exactly are you trying to judge by this task. Are you judging the behaviour and choices made by the leaders / politicians etc. Or are you judging the behaviour traits of a society, or both?...

If you were God, how would you choose to judge? Per area, continent, nation, sub category within culture? Complex your question is.


I personally believe that if judging is to take place, then, it would be fairest to judge each sentient being based on their own merit and in context with their complex circumstances. Not all are born equal.

Complex your question is. Perhaps you need to define your question.
Make it more accurate / precise in order to make it more logical and easier to make conclusion.

I think the west has done more good than bad.

In my personal opinion, western countries are experts at creating problems, then creating the solutions to those problems, then being flabbergasted as to why non-western countries are still criticising them.