Western Civilization

I believe that Western Civilization is not dead, it's dormant.

I think that's what happens when you fight two devastating shooting wars in a generation and a half (WW1 and WW2) then without a pause for rest, leap right into a three generation Mexican stand-off with one of your former allies (Cold War).

It took a lot out of us, it did.

I think that the nap will be over soon.

People are starting to notice things.  They are presently frustrated by being told that what are seeing with their own eyes is not what is happening.  How many lies before you stop believing anything someone says without evidence to back their claim?

I believe that Western Civ will reassert itself.  Notice that I don't say western government.  I am talking about a people here, not a form of governance.

Some things that I've been harping on will start to happen.  We will demand that visitors make their visit and then leave.  We will demand that those who stay adopt our ways and not adapt to theirs.

Sadly, it will likely come to blood.  Perhaps the blood will remind one of our neighbors that they too are part of Western Civ.  It will be the luckiest moment of their miserable history.

We will begin to demand that the nations we support in some way resemble us (assuming we support foreign entanglements) and like us in return.  We should abandon the devils bargains we made in the midst of the Cold War.

There are going to be some awkward moments.

Like explaining to homosexuals that there really aren't all that many of them and it would be far better for them to be hated and ignored than to keep forcing the majority to kow-tow.  The vanishingly small minority of people that actively hate gays still outnumbers them like 4-1.  I support protecting the homosexuals from the heathens.  I don't dislike gay people at all.  What I cannot support is forcing society at large to PRETEND they like homosexuals.  That's actually making the situation worse, not better.

That sort of metric is going to apply to a lot of minority groups.  Western Civ is very accommodating to all manner of variations.  What majorities get sick of is having their lives run by the increasingly sensitive sensibilities of ever smaller fractions of people.  They are asking themselves now, "when do we get to care that what YOU'RE doing is offending the shit out of ME?"

People are starting to ask an important question, "why is this the government's business at all?"  Some have found that it isn't according to the various constitutions.

This is a civilization with several punctuated equilibrium moments where the weight of government was lessened dramatically.  Each correction has resulted in less government than the previous low water moment too.  It's very much like a seismic fault line; pressure builds for a long time then suddenly, without warning, it is released.  I believe we are nearly there.

One of the first signs it's starting will be people no longer looking around to see if their words are offending.  I've noticed that, have you?