One result of this idiotic mentality running through contemporary liberalism, “the olden days were bad,” is that we have discarded wholesale the work and insights of millennia of thinkers. As if now we suddenly know better than all who came before us, an arrogant assumption if ever there was one. So had Douthat taken the time and considerable attention required to read Arnold Toynbee’s A Study of History, he’d have seen how a similar pattern plays out repeatedly with civilizations. In Toynbee’s thesis of history, what he calls “the dominant minority” (perhaps better known today as the One Percent) are responsible for the great scientific and cultural innovations of a civilization in its early stages. This inspires mimesis in the general population or proletariat, i.e. willing”even admiring”cooperation. Over time, however, these elites are unable to maintain innovative responses to new challenges facing their civilization. They typically resort to one of two pre-doomed strategies: 1) nostalgia for the golden period of the civilization, and seeking to recreate it, which is impossible since nothing stays exactly the same; or, 2) futurism, which Toynbee says tends to go along with authoritarianism, since most people fear change and thus must be compelled to go along, just as is happening now with 5G, “The Great Reset,” etc. It’s at this point that elites resort to the last port of call: force. While often terrifying, this use of force is a sure signal that the civilization in question is on its very last legs. Elites may see themselves as the brains of civilization but without the cooperation of the body, they’re impotent.
Nice reply, one that perhaps, offers more insight than the original article.
rackersc
3 years ago
I have noticed this creeping decay for some time, but I did not know if it was simply the result of getting older and set in my ways, or if I was witnessing real cultural change. I did not know how to verbalize the changes that seemed so obvious to me without sounding like an old ‘boomer’.
Thank you for this well-written article.
T Yrt
3 years ago
Douthat could have focused on historical parallels found in extinct civilizations of Persian, Babylonian, Greek, and Roman empires to assess whether the four key factors of decadence were present as they apparently are today in the West. The rise and fall, and clash of empires seem inevitable.
One result of this idiotic mentality running through contemporary liberalism, “the olden days were bad,” is that we have discarded wholesale the work and insights of millennia of thinkers. As if now we suddenly know better than all who came before us, an arrogant assumption if ever there was one. So had Douthat taken the time and considerable attention required to read Arnold Toynbee’s A Study of History, he’d have seen how a similar pattern plays out repeatedly with civilizations.
In Toynbee’s thesis of history, what he calls “the dominant minority” (perhaps better known today as the One Percent) are responsible for the great scientific and cultural innovations of a civilization in its early stages. This inspires mimesis in the general population or proletariat, i.e. willing”even admiring”cooperation.
Over time, however, these elites are unable to maintain innovative responses to new challenges facing their civilization. They typically resort to one of two pre-doomed strategies: 1) nostalgia for the golden period of the civilization, and seeking to recreate it, which is impossible since nothing stays exactly the same; or, 2) futurism, which Toynbee says tends to go along with authoritarianism, since most people fear change and thus must be compelled to go along, just as is happening now with 5G, “The Great Reset,” etc.
It’s at this point that elites resort to the last port of call: force. While often terrifying, this use of force is a sure signal that the civilization in question is on its very last legs. Elites may see themselves as the brains of civilization but without the cooperation of the body, they’re impotent.
Nice reply, one that perhaps, offers more insight than the original article.
I have noticed this creeping decay for some time, but I did not know if it was simply the result of getting older and set in my ways, or if I was witnessing real cultural change. I did not know how to verbalize the changes that seemed so obvious to me without sounding like an old ‘boomer’.
Thank you for this well-written article.
Douthat could have focused on historical parallels found in extinct civilizations of Persian, Babylonian, Greek, and Roman empires to assess whether the four key factors of decadence were present as they apparently are today in the West. The rise and fall, and clash of empires seem inevitable.