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Nation First looks into civilisational collapse and concludes we are in it right now.

Arab scholar Ibn Khaldun is probably not a name known among many in the West. However, he is one of the most interesting political theorists, largely owing to the fact that he resided at a time when his own civilisation was in decline.

Not blind to what was happening around him, he was first to theorise the cyclical nature of societies: what made them rise, stagnate, and eventually fall.

What has this got to do with the world today?

Well, central to Khaldun’s argument was the shift in values.

A rising society with its strong sense of community, tradition, faith, and martial prowess was able to succeed against those who lacked such traits and thus come to enjoy prosperity, safety, and power.

However, this very state of affluence would come to erode the society of its original values and in its place would come decadence, selfishness, and indulgence.

Eventually, no longer possessing the traits needed to sustain its affluence and might, in a face of a great crisis, that society would begin to collapse or be conquered by another society not encumbered by such negative values.

Modern Crisis

Today, in the West, we are also witness to civilisational collapse even if we are yet to realise it, as the fall has already begun and will only rapidly accelerate, primarily due to the nature of the cultural values that have become dominant within our society.

A sense of community and even familial bonds is weak; an entire generation has grown up coming to hate their Western heritage and identity; and materialism, self-indulgence, and instant gratification are rife.

Consider the bizarre gender fluidity fad that is gripping the youth in the West.

In the USA, despite the fact that less than six per cent of the American population identify as LGBTQIAADGGN-BP/GP/OPST-S, among the Gen Z cohort almost one in five identify as part of that alphabet soup.

(Seriously, it is an alphabet soup… check out Your Dictionary for the list of ‘sexualities’ which is only outdone by the list of imagined genders).

Lacking Stable Identity and Purpose

Bereft of a cultural identity that’s more substantial than hyper-consumerism, the youth of today cling on to imagined identities that seem rebellious but actually fit right in with the cultural mores of the time, at least among the ‘elite’ class.

It brings to mind the old saying: “When you believe in nothing, you’ll fall for anything.”

On that point, we can see that belief in God and a higher purpose has been replaced with immoral atheism and utter nihilism.

The consequences of this shift in values are evident: people in the West have lost their sense of discipline, work ethic, and initiative.

Indeed, like animals, many of us are more motivated by food, sex, comfort, and other pleasures than by a belief in a higher cause, sense of principle, or need for belonging and recognition.

It is the latter that defines us as humans and gives rise to our humanity.

Without them, a complex society cannot remain functioning for long.

Animalistic

Just as an animal is enslaved to the mercy of external circumstances, so too is a society driven primarily by pleasure and indulgence.

In a face of crisis, such a society is ill-equipped to confront it.

In fact, often, it rather refuses to acknowledge it as a real threat.

In the twilight of the Western Roman Empire, when its very borders were being carved by petty kingdoms and barbarian chiefs, the Roman elites were still caught up in their own indulgences and conspired against each other for whatever diminishing pile of wealth their collapsing state could offer.

The same is happening today in the West, which is facing multiple crises.

Yet, our elites are either choosing to remain passive and ignorant of it or trying their best to profit from it in some manner or another.

We have our history to learn from on where we are heading if the current cultural zeitgeist continues without resistance.

We must resist!

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Originally published at Nation First. Photo by Thirdman.