I live in Montreal, Canada, a multicultural city where I meet people from all walks of life. One thing I’ve learned is that people are remarkably good at holding two completely contradictory ideas in their heads at the same time.
But lately, I’ve noticed a paradox that is becoming impossible to ignore. It’s the vocal, often aggressive, condemnation of “White Culture,” “Western values,” and “Colonialist structures” coming from the very people who are doing everything in their power to move to the West.
I was having a conversation with a girl from Morroco, and she was telling me all kind of horrible things about capitalism.
Fatima: Capitalism is a horrible system, it’s based on the exploitation of people
Alain: Out of all the countries in the world, why did you choose Canada, a capitalistic country?
Fatima: Because I want a better life for myself.
The Rhetoric vs. The Reality
If you spend any time on social media or in academic circles today, the narrative is clear: Western civilization is often painted as a uniquely oppressive force. Activists and influencers from Africa, the Middle East, and parts of the Global South frequently speak of “decolonizing” their minds and their societies, labeling the West as inherently racist or exclusionary.
Yet, when it comes time to choose a future—to pick a place where their children will grow up, where their businesses will flourish, or where their human rights will be protected—the destination is almost always the same.
They aren’t lining up at the embassies of China or Russia. They aren’t risking their lives to settle in Venezuela or Iran. They are heading to Canada, the United States, France, Germany, and the UK.
The Hard Numbers of Migration
The data backs this up. According to UN International Migrant Stock data from 2020, there are over 281 million international migrants worldwide.1
| Region | % of World Population | % of Global Migrant Host Share |
| Western Europe & North America | ~14% | 38% |
| Rest of the World | ~86% | 62% |
Despite representing a small fraction of the global population, Western nations host nearly 40% of the world’s migrants. People vote with their feet. If “White Culture” were as toxic and oppressive as the rhetoric suggests, we would see a mass exodus toward “anti-imperialist” utopias. Instead, we see the opposite.
Why the West?
It’s not because people are “self-hating.” It’s because deep down, everyone recognizes that the “Western values” currently under fire—the rule of law, liberal democracy, economic freedom, and individual rights—are the very things that create prosperity and safety.
Most of the countries people are fleeing are not failing because of “colonialism” that ended decades ago. They are failing because of:
- Systemic Corruption: Where merit is ignored in favor of tribalism.
- Authoritarianism: Where speaking out leads to a jail cell, not a “cancel culture” debate.
- Economic Mismanagement: Where the state stifles innovation.
The Staggering Hypocrisy
There is a profound irony in sitting in a classroom in London or Toronto, funded by a scholarship or a visa from a Western government, and using that platform to claim that the society you fought to enter is the greatest evil on earth.
If a culture is so “supremacist” and “broken,” why is it the gold standard for quality of life?
We need to be honest. The West isn’t perfect, and it has plenty of historical baggage. But it has also built the most successful engine for human flourishing in history. It’s time to stop the performative outrage and start asking a more difficult question: Why, after sixty or seventy years of independence, are so many nations still unable to provide the same opportunities that make the West so attractive?
Blaming “White Culture” is a convenient distraction from the failure of local leadership to build something better.