"Is the West more advanced than the rest of the world? Is it capitalist?   Why is there no connection?"

Well, I suppose your opinion of what advanced means in this context counts here.

We may be technologically advanced (but that's not just a western trait), but we have become morally retarded and had our intellects dulled by the soporiphic effects of living in a consumer society.

We are unable to look after the most vunerable members of our society, let alone afford them the respect and dignity they deserve.

We are unable to settle our differences with other societies in the world without frequent recourse to violence.

We cannot curb our own insatiable greed even to save the planet for our children and grandchildren - look at the sales of SUVs and the amount of cheap air travel used to see just how much we give a shit about the world our own kids will grow up in.

Advancement beyond the aquisition of material growth is not some ideological daydream, however - the fact most of us here are musicians shows it is possible.