The expansion of western culture throughout the world unavoidably alters and re-shapes the perspective of the peoples engulfed by the "West." The western "universalist" culture engenders a premium on values such as "democracy, individualism, and a high standard of living based on material productivity" (Von Laue, 1987, p. 267; Philips, 1992, p. 80). The encroachment of the western colonial era in the pacific areas of Samoa, Tonga, and the Cook Islands began around 1722 and continues in many forms to the present.