Western civilization is nearing collapse. What replaces it?

On 30 January 2023 – 18 months ago – TPOL published a column entitled “Western civilization is falling. What next?” Since then, we have endured more and more impacts to the civilization and various members (nations) in it. Including the Fifty States. The members of the European Union. The members of the British Commonwealth, and many others. At the same time, those nations not really part of western civilization have also been suffering from various problems.

Of course, there is really no nation on this planet today that is not significantly impacted by this civilization, which certainly has existed for 600+ years. (If not much longer.) That includes Russia – a fringe or frontier member, China, Iran, and even Saudi Arabia Turkey and a whole bunch of little countries still not fully integrated into western civilization. And actually rejecting much of its tenets, despite the impacts, adoption of many, and economic ties.

As we said then: Western civilization is falling. Like Roman civilization before it. And Greek civilization before that. There are many reasons. It may still take decades or even centuries, but as with Babylon, the handwriting is on the wall. (And since events seem to be faster, overall, today due to technology and population, we may not have all that long.) … There will be something replacing western civilization. Sooner or later.

The trends we discussed in January 2023 have continued. Despite some singular successes in keeping or regaining liberty around the world and in the States, the foundation of western civilization is failing. That foundation is human liberty. The birthright of every human: not just Americans. Or Brits. Or any other group – but all humans.

And it is failing because people are destroying that foundation: around the world, politicians and leaders are actively working to replace liberty with government: more and more government.

More government means less liberty. Less liberty means more misery and more of all of the rest of the trials and tribulations humans face. servility, hypocrisy, denial, waffling, mendacity, degeneracy, squalidness, even brutality and crudity. We see that throughout human history. More government has always meant more intervention, more parasitical government extracting resources, more spending, more waste, and more people employed by government. Therefore less production and more destruction of what is produced: weapons and supplies of war, of course, but more wasted goods. Less services to meet people’s needs.

It takes an incredibly blessed and productive economy and society to sustain that parasitism.

Most government employees are not producing goods or services that people what to buy and have: otherwise they would not need to steal money (tax) to do these things. In the same way, money stolen and spent by government is used inefficiently.  Even though roads and such get built, the overhead costs are astronomical, because the parasites demand their pound of flesh. And much of what is produced by and for government is destroyed: wasted. Americans let government spend trillions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan, destroying still more resources: creating waste.  We are now doing it with billions in Ukraine and Canaan (Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon): tomorrow we may see it in Russia, Poland, and Belarus.

Back in January 2023, we stated: … we need to consider what will replace western civilization, just as western civilization replaced Roman civilization. And many others around the globe. It is a well-established cycle.

Now, it pretty easy to figure out that what is needed must be superior to western civilization even before it spiraled downhill. But unlike the interregnum between the fall of Rome (and its supplantation by oriental near-east civilizations (Byzantine and then Islamic) and the founding of western civilization, the change can be done quickly. And needs to be done very rapidly.

In the first commentary, we stated that a replacement needs to be better: with more freedom, not less. With more liberty and justice for all. Not tyranny, no matter what it is called. The replacement requires knowledge, determination, and… though many may disagree, faith. Especially if we want that replacement to be what humans – all humans, and not some self-anointed elite – should have and need. The choice is ours, and the generations after us. Are we teaching each other to be free people or slaves?

Even with the mess we have, it is our choice whether to teach our children and younger people in general what they will be. If they don’t realize the potential to be truly free, they are more and more unlikely to strive for that.

However, a free society with little or even no coercive government is possible and is a worthy goal. One in which all people, regardless of their social and political status, are treated equally under the law. Not just as far as their rights – real or claimed – but how they are treated when they break laws: laws against real evil acts and not simply “illegal because government says so.” That is, those who aggress and seek to aggress against others. Those who prey upon others – even if their prey are also just more pieces of scum and real (not just de jure) criminals.

Although some writers have tried to visualize and explain such a society, we submit that we can’t really figure out what such a society will be like. We can be sure that all of us – regardless of our love of liberty or tendency to worship human government – will be uncomfortable.

What, dear readers, do you think?

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