Tell me more about the cultural trend of disdain toward Western civilization and capitalism. The explanation that I eventually came up with is very simple: modern Western civilization is the only hand that allows itself to be bitten. They have completely secular upbringings and are rejecting Western civilization, which Christianity is part of. But Said was not interested in an even-handed or symmetric treatment of Western civilization; he was mostly interested in trashing the West. He had guest professorships and distinguished chairs, and he got lots of awards for condemning Western civilization.