The Superlative Western World?

I was just nibbling away at a few of the food-for-thought articles "The Economist" magazine is so good at serving up for its readers' consumption. One titled "How broken is Britain?" in the Feb. 6-12 issue brought me up short. The article's author makes his/her case for Britain's societal health degenerating all being a myth and gives a stat or two to bolster the case. The one about child homicides was the one that presented itself to me in capital letters. "(C)hild homicides have fallen by more than two-thirds since the 1970's. Britain used to be the third-biggest killer of children in the rich world; it is now the 17th."
That means, of course, that in the 1970's, a time when we of the west were smugly assuming ours was the best way there was, Britain was actually a rather dangerous place for some of the most vulnerable members of any society - children. Rule Britannia, anyone?
This article really seems to me to be a reminder of how easy it is to become unjustly sure that we in the western world have got everything worked out perfectly right, and that the rest of the world should follow suit. Certainly, if comparison is made between a place like Darfur and Britain, there is really no debate needed as to which one is the better. I just think that the often all-too-arrogant western world should be wary of indulging in the use of the superlative degree to describe its way in comparison to other ways of life.