Are we witnessing a temporary stumble in Western liberal democracy, or symptoms of a systemic malaise?
History teaches us that great civilisations often appear stable until collapse is imminent. The Roman Empire maintained a façade of strength for centuries before its rapid disintegration. Similarly, the Soviet Union seemed an immovable colossus until its spectacular downfall in 1991.
Today’s West bears disquieting resemblances to these fallen empires. There are multiple signs of decay.
Fault lines of mounting public debt, economic stagnation and a ruling class seemingly detached from citizens’ concerns are all exacerbated by eroding social cohesion. The foundations of Western societies – strong families, civic engagement and a sense of shared values – are crumbling at an alarming rate.
The West’s crisis of confidence manifests across various institutions. Educational establishments prioritise ideological conformity over the pursuit of truth, while much of the media has abandoned factual reporting for activism. The result is a populace ill-equipped to address the complex challenges facing their societies.
These institutional failings have created fertile ground for political upheaval. Populist parties surge across Europe and beyond, capitalising on discontent over issues like migration. Meanwhile, traditional centrist parties struggle to address voters’ concerns.
Alarmingly, our current situation also mirrors aspects of George Orwell’s 1984. From mass surveillance to information manipulation, Western societies exhibit traits Orwell warned against.
In New Zealand the politicisation of the courts is undermining democratic governance, adding yet another layer to this multifaceted crisis. When judges shape policy rather than interpret law, the delicate balance of powers is threatened.
These interlinked challenges paint a stark picture of Western decline. But the crucial question remains: Are these the death throes of a lost civilisation? Or is there a chance of a renaissance of the liberal-democratic order?
We must take the latter to be an article of faith. The West must reconnect with its foundational values: individual liberty, the rule of law and the pursuit of knowledge and truth. It must come to grips with its challenges through open debate and a return to its foundational values.
Our response to this moment will determine whether future historians mark it as a turning point towards renewal or the beginning of a long twilight for Western democracy.
Dr Oliver Hartwich is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative think tank. This article was first published HERE.
Today’s West bears disquieting resemblances to these fallen empires. There are multiple signs of decay.
Fault lines of mounting public debt, economic stagnation and a ruling class seemingly detached from citizens’ concerns are all exacerbated by eroding social cohesion. The foundations of Western societies – strong families, civic engagement and a sense of shared values – are crumbling at an alarming rate.
The West’s crisis of confidence manifests across various institutions. Educational establishments prioritise ideological conformity over the pursuit of truth, while much of the media has abandoned factual reporting for activism. The result is a populace ill-equipped to address the complex challenges facing their societies.
These institutional failings have created fertile ground for political upheaval. Populist parties surge across Europe and beyond, capitalising on discontent over issues like migration. Meanwhile, traditional centrist parties struggle to address voters’ concerns.
Alarmingly, our current situation also mirrors aspects of George Orwell’s 1984. From mass surveillance to information manipulation, Western societies exhibit traits Orwell warned against.
In New Zealand the politicisation of the courts is undermining democratic governance, adding yet another layer to this multifaceted crisis. When judges shape policy rather than interpret law, the delicate balance of powers is threatened.
These interlinked challenges paint a stark picture of Western decline. But the crucial question remains: Are these the death throes of a lost civilisation? Or is there a chance of a renaissance of the liberal-democratic order?
We must take the latter to be an article of faith. The West must reconnect with its foundational values: individual liberty, the rule of law and the pursuit of knowledge and truth. It must come to grips with its challenges through open debate and a return to its foundational values.
Our response to this moment will determine whether future historians mark it as a turning point towards renewal or the beginning of a long twilight for Western democracy.
Dr Oliver Hartwich is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative think tank. This article was first published HERE.
6 comments:
I attribute most of this decline to the ascendancy of the neo-Marxist paradigm that all inequalities in a society arise as a result of group X sitting and shitting on group Y, and the need for the State to close the gap through favouring group Y such as through quota-setting, lowering standards for admission to high-profile university programmes, etc. These measures amount to reverse discrimination and bring about resentment which, when voiced, or leads to non-compliance, is criminalised. Thus we have seen the wedding of a simplistic pseudointellectual paradigm and a totalitarian approach to its enforcement, including the suppression of freedom of opinion and expression; I call this evil mongrel child 'marxofascism'.
Democracy and meritocracy are inseparable and we need to reject all non-meritocratic practices in governance and academe (where, unfortunately, the marxofascists have achieved just about total control). The values of the Enlightenment must be reinstated or we will go the way of the Roman Empire (and others). It is heartening to see the rise of the right in Europe and it will be interesting to see what happens in the US later this year where we just might see a shift towards bullets replacing ballots as the final arbiters. Liberty is very dear to right-wing Americans and they believe in fighting for it if they have to.
Well said Barend. Marxism in the States is prepared to trash their country to stay in power. The liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstates unstaffed drop boxes ahead of the 2024 election. Bullets vs Ballots may well result this time.
Barend wrote: “I call this evil mongrel child 'marxofascism.’
Friedrich Hayek reminds us : “Fascism is the stage reached once Communism has proved an illusion.”
The perceptive Hayek saw that Communism was great at subverting and destroying existing social, political, and economic systems, but offered nothing in replacement.
Marx’s favourite quote was from Goethe’s Faust: “Everything that exists deserves to perish!”
By removing incentives from economic life, a command economy soon dies under its own deadweight.
The Nazi quickly realised that preserving the illusion of private property while strictly controlling what its nominal ‘owners’ could do with it led to a far more sustainable form of totalitarianism,
Here’s Hitler on this matter:
“I want everyone to keep the property that he has acquired for himself according to the principle: benefit to the community precedes benefit to the individual. But the state should retain supervision and each property owner should consider himself appointed by the state. It is his duty not to use his property against the interests of others among his own people. This is the crucial matter. The Third Reich will always retain its right to control the owners of property.”
Sentiments that—other than source—wouldn’t trouble any leftist politician anywhere.
Fascism means Big Business in bed with Big Government for government preferment, and everyone else serfs on the Big-Government-Big Business plantation.
This is where the globalists are headed: use Marxism to destroy a free society, then impose their Fascism on the world.
The One-Worlders are open about their aims in addressing the like-minded.
At the Bilderberg Conference of June 1990, held in Baden-Baden, Germany, David Rockefeller made a revealing statement:
"We are grateful to the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time Magazine, and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world, if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years.
"But the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supra-national sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries."
The notion that human reason can usher in Heaven on Earth is mankind’s oldest heresy.
In the words that the Serpent whispered into the ears of Adam and Eve as recorded in the Book of Genesis, "Ye shall be as Gods.”
The socialist mentality in modern Western thought traces back to Ancient Greece and Plato’s "Republic."
Plato saw mankind as essentially stupid and wicked. Fortunately, a few individuals are better, wiser and kinder than their fellow men.
It is their right—and indeed their duty—to ascend to power and nobly order everyone else about for their own good.
Whenever these people take power we see, not the compassion of angels, but the arrogance of the Serpent, their unholy Father.
The great Classical Liberal, Frederic Bastiat, had this to say on the subject:
“If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organisers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?
"The organisers maintain that society, when left undirected, rushes headlong to its inevitable destruction because the instincts of the people are so perverse. The legislators claim to stop this suicidal course and to give it a saner direction.
"Apparently, then, the legislators and the organisers have received from Heaven an intelligence and virtue that place them beyond and above mankind; if so, let them show their titles to this superiority.”
Not from Heaven ...
Reptiles!
So Eurosceptisim is a sign of the system being in distress and a threat to democracy.
Or being able to question the direction your country is being forced is a sign of a healthy system and a strong democracy. It would be more likely that those that make such claims are the threat to a democracy.
Anon at 12pm - brilliant comment. You need to be writing the articles, not just commenting on them.
To barend and anon @ 12pm. Great thought provoking discussion. I appreciate your input. Oliver, imo it is a foregone conclusion. It's just a matter of time. I hope I'm wrong, I just love being proven wrong.
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