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The West – Can Western Civilization Survive? – Episode 6

· Culture Wars · Historical views

The final episode of The West is well worth watching…

June 4th, 2023 |

7 comments to The West – Can Western Civilization Survive? – Episode 6

  • Fred Z
    June 5, 2023 at 4:18 am

    “The West – Can Western Civilization Survive?”

    No. No civilization last forever, they all die.

    The real questions are: “How long can Western Civilization survive?” and “What comes next?”.

    I’m optimistic about the first, Rome lived on even after the Republic died, and pessimistic about the second. Our incurable lust for religious extremism and tribalism are catastrophic.

  • The Wobbly Guy
    June 5, 2023 at 7:50 am

    What comes next? East Asia isn’t the answer, they’re not reproducing themselves.

    South Asia? Maybe, if they’re not squandering their demographic dividend. Where else?

    Eastern Europe, perhaps.

  • Nicholas (Unlicensed Joker) Gray
    June 5, 2023 at 10:05 am

    I think that Africa could be where civilization blooms. Their numbers are growing, and so is Christianity, which is the bedrock of European civilization. And Indian numbers are growing, as you say. Even Australia has a growing population, because of immigration and our warm climate- people want to come here.

  • Paul Marks.
    June 6, 2023 at 8:44 am

    “Can Western Civilisation survive?” – yes, it is theoretically possible that it will survive.

    But “will it survive?” – that seems unlikely given how the state (the size and scope of government) has been on the rise since at least the 1870s, and the economy is now a Credit Money farce (the Cantillon Effect carried to an insane extreme), and, finally, the CULTURE of the people has been radically undermined since at least the 1960s (and, in reality, the rot set in long before the 1960s) – even the fertility rate of women is below 2 (replacement level) now – including in the United States. And children are not being brought up in stable families – the leftist plan to undermine the family, and all other cultural institutions, has worked only too well.

    Still let us hope for the best – and do what we can to defend what is left of Western Civilisation.

  • Mary Contrary
    June 6, 2023 at 7:15 pm

    I have gradually and reluctantly come to the conclusion that the defending Western civilisation is a futile project, and anyone who tries is doomed to failure, disillusionment and embitterment.

    If you are so minded, you might however wish to consider dedicating yourself to rebuilding Western civilisation. That’s not the same thing. Consider what you might expect to do in defence of Western civilisation. Now instead, imagine that you are standing in the wreckage of a defeated and destroyed civilisation: what might you do to begin the task of rebuilding it? It is not the same. It is not a project that will be completed in the lifetime of anyone yet living.

    Best get started right away.

  • Snorri Godhi
    June 10, 2023 at 9:41 pm

    Commenting on the go.

    Just past 14:00, a portrait of Rousseau appears, while the commentary goes on that the Enlightenment “believed in handing over control of society to intellectuals”.

    Of course, Rousseau believed nothing of the sort. He believed in handing over control of society to the General Will — ie, to people who thought like he did.
    Not people who thought like Voltaire.

  • Snorri Godhi
    June 10, 2023 at 10:09 pm

    That wildly-gesticulating, distinctly British guy makes a point after 20:20 that reminds me of Isaiah Berlin’s essay on two concepts of liberty.

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