Are all cultures equal?

[Stavros]

no. all hold the right to their culture, but some are more progressive, or more advanced, than others.

But is it culture that determines if one is more 'advanced' than another? The capitalist economy that proved to be so important to the economic growth of Britain moved through different phases from say, the 14th to the 19th century, by which time science and technology was challenging religion as the dominant intellectual discourse, and only beginning to tackle the problem of slavery which persisted in the growth of capitalism in the US following the demise of British America. Other Empires also employed slaves, and privileged religion as the primary mode of discourse, but not much in the way of scientific and technological development. For most of the 20th century, Catholic Spain was backward compared to Catholic Italy. Are we dealing with culture here? Politics? Economics? It is too complex an issue to be glossed over with phrases that upon inspection and interrogation have little meaning.