It is a bastion of civility, upholds high standards of deportment, champions virtues long since abandoned elsewhere, cherishes fair play, honesty and integrity, values that we spend all day and all night preaching to our children.
And the only permissible role for the West is in championing the virtues of the Other.
President Barack Obama's administration is championing the virtues of trade; but, in developing countries, lack of infrastructure is a far more serious barrier to trade than tariffs.
"I was at a fund-raising cocktail party once," he said, "and a man said to me, 'You're a Pollyanna.' And I said, 'I'm a Pollyanna because I'm championing these virtues?' It doesn't seem Pollyanna-ish to believe in compassion.
And I can't take another day of listening to talking heads championing the virtues of knowing nothing.
These comments were often followed by championing the virtues and universality of the percentage, or a 1 10 scale.
So for care ethicists to champion the virtues that have inculcated femininity seems also to champion a patriarchal system that relegates one gender to the role of caretaker.
Never mind that Dahl's original "Charlie," like "Matilda," champions the virtues of quiet inventiveness over attention-seeking boisterousness.
He offered another perspective, they say, and they wonder about what they see as intolerance displayed by a network that typically champions liberal virtues.
In reality, the setback is on a more modest scale precisely because Mr Corbyn has made a point of championing the virtue of honest disagreement.
Thanks to his patronage, other architects and designers visited Clissett's workshop, all fellow devotees of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which championed the virtues of traditional craftsmanship.
