28 March AD 2024

THVRSDAY CIVILIZATION VVATCH EDITION

Romains de la décadence
A.D. 1847.  Thomas Couture A.D. 1815-1879; (Credit:
Paris, musée d’Orsay)

Standing Athwart History: Can We Stop the Decline of the West?

. . .that Western culture is in an advanced state of decay is, but a consciousness of this decay goes back further than many people are probably aware.  In his 1997 book The Idea of Decline in Western History, historian Arthur Herman reveals the many phases of declinism in Western thought dating all the way back to the aftermath of the French Revolution.  (Around that time, the German writer Friedrich Schlegel went so far as to suggest that the atrocities of the Reign of Terror signaled that the “drama of human history” was drawing to a close.)  The thrust of Mr. Herman’s book is that declinism & decline theory poisoned Western thought, & decline became a self-fulfilling prophecy.  He treats the history of cultural pessimism from a variety of angles: industrialization, racial pessimism, & eco-pessimism are among them.  One motif that struck a chord with me is the idea that “material comfort & opulence have drained away all creativity & life” from the West—a theme that emerged with the onset of the Industrial Revolution & the Romantic movement & that still resonates today. . .

by Michael De Sapio

How Islamist Immigration Changes Britain: Asia Bibi Denied Entry – Douglas Murray
Islamicized Britain – Rod Dreher
Mothers Against Macron – Joy Pullman, First Things
Revisiting Harvey Milk, Jim Jones, & San Francisco’s 10 Days of Violence – Kyle Sammin, TF
Half the World’s Countries are Not Reproducing Themselves – Marcus Roberts, Mercatornet
Sweden’s Ambivalence on Immigration – Fredrik Sixtensson & Tom Gunnarsson, Amrcn Affairs
British Muslim Leaders Call for the U.K. To Give Asia Bibi Asylum – Zelda Caldwell, Aleteia
Everyone in the West Should Be Concerned About Asia Bibi – Charlotte Gill, Telegraph
Appeasing Islamists Will Only Make Europe More Dangerous – Helen Raleigh, The Federalist
Camps for Uyghurs, “Schools” Or Jails? Exclusive Report, Photos, & Footage – Li Zaili, BW
Will China’s Neighbors Speak Out on Its Uyghur Issues? – Sarah Brooks, The Diplomat
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