I began this website in March of 2020, which was just as the COVID-19 virus began to take center stage in American affairs. However, the virus was not the reason for the site, except possibly to deplore the various insipid actions of federal and state governments. Rather, I felt an increasing calling to document America's lemming-like march to decline and eventual oblivion, taking with it most of Western civilization.
I was forced to stop work on the site in April of 2020, due to a relocation, and disruptions caused by economic problems. Having witnessed the ghastly election of 2020, I finally decided that I must take up writing again and record, for my own edification if for no one else, what has gone so horribly wrong with the country that once was, in Ronald Reagan's words, the "shining city on the hill".
For a long time, I have been interested in why civilizations and countries rise, flourish, and then decline and fall. Biological organisms (obviously including man) die, but why do social structures do the same? Are they like the dinosaurs, unable to cope with changing circumstances? Or, perhaps, there is an internal cycle that causes the decay, regardless of the outside circumstances. I tend to favor the latter.
As this site develops, I plan to address a number of issues and observations that are of interest to me, and also address the topics above. Perhaps these will be of no consequence, merely serving as the observations of a man in the twilight of his life. Perhaps my family and a few friends will read these lines and understand me better. It would certainly be satisfying to find a larger audience, but that is for the future to decide. Please visit the articles section.
I am working on several themes or article ideas. The first is to review the major ideas of British historian Sir Arnold Toynbee (1888-1975), whose massive 10-volume work A Study of History examined 26 civilization and documented each success and eventual failure.
In Toynbee’s study, he finds a common thread among the 26 civilizations he studied. A civilization begins to collapse when the leaders cease to provide “thought leadership” (my term) that is worthy of imitation, and instead resort to force and intimidation to retain their power. It would seem clear that we have entered that phase. To quote Hugo Gurdon in a 2019 issue of Washington Examiner:
“These are the lachrymose effusions of a national culture steeped in hyper egalitarian grievances over race, class, and gender nurtured and nourished in classrooms and campuses, then carried out into the media and other workplaces to weaken and depress the national spirit. By God, they are dreary!”
I also plan to consider the idea that the very success of a country, society or civilization carries within it the seeds of eventual collapse. The social characteristics that lead to success creates a change in values, where the predominant attitude becomes one of languor and abandonment of the original values.
The list also includes a look at the incredible national debt of the United States. I doubt that anyone knows the real value, but the National Debt Clock has it at $27.75 trillion dollars, or about $84,000 for every person in America. As Herbert Stein famously said, "If something cannot go on forever, it will stop". What that "stop" will look like is anyone's guess, but chances are it won't be good.