This theme has been floating around for a little while. The link is to The Belmont Club referring to a couple of writers on the topic. I've also seen related discussion at The Smallest Minority and MuD and Phud.
In some ways I find this an interesting topic, but it really strikes me as apocalypticism. Though I have to admit that the conflicts discussed do appear to be realistic for the most part.
Most of the discussions come down to the villain being Western Liberalism. I'd also add secularism as a portion of that problem. Strange that these are things that generally are seen as the down fall of great civilizations. Rome didn't fall apart because they had effective government and the ability to develop lasting infrastructures.
It is a bit disturbing to think that the present western world could very well be in tatters in only a matter of decades. The examples of the fall of the British empire, Germany, the Ottoman Turks and the Austro-Hungarian empire all occurred in a matter of a single decade.
The question is, are we presently on the same track to failure as other civilizations?
In some ways I find this an interesting topic, but it really strikes me as apocalypticism. Though I have to admit that the conflicts discussed do appear to be realistic for the most part.
Most of the discussions come down to the villain being Western Liberalism. I'd also add secularism as a portion of that problem. Strange that these are things that generally are seen as the down fall of great civilizations. Rome didn't fall apart because they had effective government and the ability to develop lasting infrastructures.
It is a bit disturbing to think that the present western world could very well be in tatters in only a matter of decades. The examples of the fall of the British empire, Germany, the Ottoman Turks and the Austro-Hungarian empire all occurred in a matter of a single decade.
The question is, are we presently on the same track to failure as other civilizations?
3 comments:
Unfortunately, I think we are. My guess is that the majority of people living in those past great civilizations considered their society to be sufficiently superior to those of the past as to exempt them from the one thing all civilizations share...the fall.
To suggest that we are immune from being dragged down into the mud (with help for inside, of course) strikes me as, well, crazy. The barbarians are knocking at the door, and there are those among us who are struggling to unlock the deadbolt.
I suppose that it is possible that on some distant day, on some distant planet, there may be a civilization that comes along at the 'right time' (whatever that is) and is able to survive until either the planet falls into the nearby star or they figure out how to skip around the solar system.
All theoretical crap aside, I believe we are in serious danger of having the bubble of false security popped for real. 9/11/01 didn't do the job completely, I just hope that it doesn't take a radioactive hole where millions of our countrymen once lived to get enough of us to open our eyes.
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And, of course, thanks for the link =).
"Most of the discussions come down to the villain being Western Liberalism. I'd also add secularism as a portion of that problem."
"Western Liberalism" encompasses secularism. You can't be a "Western Liberal" and not be a secularist (even though many Western liberals go to church on a regular basis.)
You can, however, be secular and not a liberal.
The coming conflict need not be apocalyptic, either. Our side could just lay down and die. It's beginning to appear more likely. That's what Steyn's column basically protests against.
The question, I think, isn't "are we on the same track to failure," but "can we get off of it before everything comes off the rails?"
I wanted to add:
If you haven't already, see Peggy Noonan's 11/27 op-ed, A Separate Peace.
Interestingly, she uses the "coming off the rails" analogy as well.
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