George Bernard Shaw made the witty claim that, “Newspapers are unable, seemingly, to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of [Western] civilization.” We have read the same sentiment in articles on DailyKos making reference to “shiny objects” replacing actual perspective in all kinds of commercial media. So we are all surrounded by distractions. We accuse others of living in a bubble, and they return the same accusation to us, so how will we recognize the end of civilization as we know it?
Two of my previous articles have elicited strong opinions but good conversations in the comments. There was once a time I was an expert on Western Civilization, but that was long ago, and I look forward to having my thinking sharpened by present day scholars.
In the introduction to freshman Western Civilization course the book presented three qualities as distinguishing our study. The implication was that these features were unique to Western Civ. First, was the belief in the scientific method. Second, was the conflict of the Christian religion with the various realities of the world. And third was the belief in constitutional systems of government.
In my quest to hold student interest, I’m sure I emphasized war and conflict in Europe more than I did constitutionalism, but I did a good job with the English Constitution, even though the students had trouble staying awake. But with years to observe the world and having the good fortune to teach students from all parts of the wold, I have come to doubt the uniqueness of Western Civ. This, plus the recent events in the USA causes me to believe that a fair minded person cannot claim that Western Civilization is superior or virtuous compared to the rest of the world.
Back in the 1960s, there was a confident belief that science—as represented by provable truth—would dominate the future of our country, if not the world. Furthermore, we believed that if young people were trained in the Scientific Method—even in the USSR—that this methodology would transfer over to governmental decision-making, social thinking, and dominance over superstition and illogical religious practices.
At that point we had no real knowledge--in the USA—of the power of racism and religion to thwart laws of science or the more complex theories based on evidence. It is true that we looked down upon benighted people in other parts of the world who did not respect science, and we had no idea that such forces could be so powerful in the USA. So in the past 40 years, the USA has become more like the rest of the world in elevating tribalism and religion to a position nearly as powerful as science.
Religion in Western Civilization was one continual story of retreat in the face of scientific evidence in astronomy, evolution, and all the way to atomic energy. Only in rare and temporary cases were religious leaders able to hold back the tide of knowledge and after the Enlightenment the religious leaders adapted to new ways of life. Outside of the West, Muslim countries were ahead of our thinking on astronomy and some social issues. However, recently in Europe and the USA, religion became a refuge for tribalism, of which racism is the biggest part. The sexism shown in the most recent election causes educated people throughout the world to think that the USA is no further advanced than they are. At the same time, throughout the world religious leaders struggle to adapt the realities of the world to their own religion. Christendom is not unique in that respect.
Hostility toward modern life, as represented by women’s equality, has seriously threatened constitutional systems that have existed for a long time. More long-term than constitutional challenges of Brexit or Trump’s lack of respect for tradition, is the world-wide crush of population. Out of fear of out-of-control women, birth control has been seriously limited. There was a time, when Zero Population Growth (ZPG) had a chance of restricting the world’s population to six billion or fewer people. We won’t see a population of 8 to 10 billion people without a major stress on constitutional systems. It is as simple as having less space or resources per person which will lead to the need for more rules and laws. At the moment, people are so tightly restricted into national borders that tribalism is exaggerated and disease, starvation, and war will claim millions of lives. At this point, religion is employed as an agent of tribalism. But with a population growth of 75 million people per year, we will not see a reduction in population, only an increase in suffering. On one level, the suffering of people in the US will be less than that in other countries of the world. But on the level of constitutional systems of government, the stress of crowding, the economic changes that resemble the rest of the world, and generalized prejudice and violence, the rest of the world can conclude that our Constitution no longer functions any better than their’s.
Each of the three above points is worth a book-length expansion and indeed many books have been written on those three above points. An unnamed Iraqi man said in about 2004, “Why is it that Arabs are the only people that have to be afraid? Why can’t Americans be afraid too?” My purpose here is to show, especially in late 2016, that Americans are not that different from others in the world. In fact, all of Western Civilization, including Europe, is falling into something that resembles what we used to think of as Colonies, or maybe Eastern Civilization, or possibly an Interregnum with a Lord Protector.
I don’t run across new concepts as often as I would like, but Jon Stewart said something in a YouTube video, recently available, about American Exceptionalism. The really exceptional thing about the USA, he said, was that we are trying to operate a multi-cultural, multi-racial democracy. That has never been done anywhere else in the world. That is something to cherish and to try to keep going.
I want to think that a good study of Western Civilization would enable us to recognize truth in the midst of thousands of “shiny objects” that are thrown in our path almost daily. But the recent election showed that truthiness was more powerful than truth in making the biggest group decision a democracy can make. In theory, a healthy Constitution will adjust and return to stable government that we have known in the past. But with Yogi Berra as witness, “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.”
I’m not sure there is a role for Western Civilization to play any more. I believe if the human race is going to survive as we know it, we will have to think of World Civilization. I conclude this from the high quality students I have had over many years from all over the world. Their hopes and fears for their own countries are no different from those of ordinary Americans.