All my life I have been surrounded by people scared to leave the Middle East and live in the west. They had this belief that it’s so much safer living in the Middle East than living in the west. Safer in many aspects and not only in the meaning of physical safety. So I had to do some research to come up with why Middle Easterners think so especially that, in my opinion, it’s much more fun and productive to live in the west.
I have gathered so much information that validates their point of view. They are statistics and researches conducted by the western countries and shared to the whole world. I have minimized the list to the top 5 reasons the west is more dangerous than the Middle East.
5
Racism
Racism is a very ugly issue that has been around for hundreds of years. In the Middle East, racism is barely recognized due to the indiscrimination of color, this is a result of the effect wars had on Middle Easterners where they no longer need to think about colors, they only need to think about sticking together and keeping an entire civilization alive. So, in the Middle East, there is no specific gathering area for each race, instead, everyone lives around everyone in peace and harmony no matter where they come from.
Whereas, in the west, racism is one of the biggest still-unsolved issues they are suffering from. Racism is still a conflict between many groups of people from same or different races. So the bottom line is that in the Middle East, you can’t be threatened by anyone from any other race because racism isn’t available in their vocabulary.
4
Nature of the Culture
The nature of the western cultures is mostly neutral. It means that everyone is eligible to take care of themselves on their own at some point. Emotions don’t much get in the way of their logical thinking and life goal. It might be a good thing but it has a long lasting effect on people’s behaviors, either well adjusted or ill adjusted.
The emotional nature of the Middle Easterners is the main reason they haven’t built empires and they still have a deep meaning of the importance of family unity instead of reunion. This emotional nature helps the people to accept themselves and be as humble as possible. It might be a bad thing but if you look at the overall outcome of this emotional nature they have, you will find less crime and more empathy with others.
There is one simple example that can provide enough explanation of the nature of both. Let’s assume a 26 year old man stole some money from his parents’ house. In the Middle East, they try to contain the situation and come up with a solution without anyone knowing except themselves if they found out. In the west, most cases end up in court.
It's also shown in the worldwide wars that had happened. Middle Easterners mind their own business and don't like to start wars and problems between each other. The western countries are usually the first countries to start wars on other countries and history proves this. This is a way of showing that in the west people ten to care about themselves only then care about the people around. But due to the emotional nature of the Middle East, people tend to care about others as much as they care about themselves.
3
Religious Variety
Everywhere in the world, there is religious discrimination between main religions and also between sects from same religions. This is something inevitable and unfortunately something we couldn’t get rid off and I don’t think we ever will. Religions have always been the main reason of worldwide conflicts.
Knowing the mentioned facts will grow a bigger perspective on the living conditions in the Middle East and the west. In the west, there are up to 3,000 different religions and beliefs recognized, but in the Middle East, there are only 207 recognized religions and beliefs.
So, basically, it’s more dangerous to live in a part of the world where there are 3,000 different religions because there will be many cultures and mentalities that can be dangerously effective to your life. The probability of religious conflict in the west is so much higher than in the Middle East, making it safer to live in the Middle East than in the west.
(For a complete religions demographic map please click here)
2
Crime Rate
The international crime rate is higher demographically in the west than in the Middle East by a great amount. Crimes committed in the Middle East can’t be closely compared to the crimes committed in the west every year.
I found an amazing website that has accurate incredible information about the crime rates and with a list of the top 100 countries in crimes. The website also provides a map view of the statistical data gathered that can prove that crime is the top unnatural reason to prove that the west is a more dangerous part of the world than the Middle East.
(For the map that contains the statistical information and numbers please click here)
1
Natural Disasters
This one is the most interesting part. The top reason why the west is more dangerous than the Middle East is a natural uncontrolled reason, natural disasters. Due to the geographical location of the Middle East, the Middle East suffers the least among the entire world from natural disasters. Whereas, almost all other sides of the world suffer a lot from natural disasters and normally the results of them occurring are very dramatic and destructive.
After doing this research I discovered that living in the Middle East is not that bad of a thing after all. It made me more proud to be living in the Middle East and not in the West because after all I want to be living in peace and not in constant worry and anxiety.
