Thank you for putting into words where my own thoughts have been tending in recent months. I think back to Spinoza’s concept of ‘Conatus’, which he uses to describe the force with which a thing strives to persist and to grow in strength. It feels like, without us even really noticing it until October 7th, the West has almost lost the will to exist, let alone defend itself.
I suppose if you were a young person who really believed all the woke propaganda you’re fed about the history of Britain and the West, maybe you think it might even be a good thing for Britain to be invaded. After all, we’re guilty of so very much – everything from the invention of slavery to making every other country in the world into a patriarchy. Maybe it would be better for everyone else if the West just accepted it had to die that the world might finally live.
So it’s almost if, as Israel struggles against the forces of Barbarism, it turns its face back to the West, asking for its support, and finds that the West isn’t really sure what to do. Israel seeks support from us by saying it defends Western values – but what does this mean when the West is no longer sure it believes in them itself? To seek to defend the West would require spiritual resources which we perhaps now lack. It’s like a slow spiritual death has struck us. The Churches empty, the high streets boarded up, collapsing birthrates.
To paraphrase Orwell, if you want a picture of the future, imagine a blue-haired non-binary feminist holding a ‘Queer Communists for Gaza’ placard stomping on your face, forever.
Very discouraging but an accurate take on things.
Thank you for putting into words where my own thoughts have been tending in recent months. I think back to Spinoza’s concept of ‘Conatus’, which he uses to describe the force with which a thing strives to persist and to grow in strength. It feels like, without us even really noticing it until October 7th, the West has almost lost the will to exist, let alone defend itself.
I suppose if you were a young person who really believed all the woke propaganda you’re fed about the history of Britain and the West, maybe you think it might even be a good thing for Britain to be invaded. After all, we’re guilty of so very much – everything from the invention of slavery to making every other country in the world into a patriarchy. Maybe it would be better for everyone else if the West just accepted it had to die that the world might finally live.
So it’s almost if, as Israel struggles against the forces of Barbarism, it turns its face back to the West, asking for its support, and finds that the West isn’t really sure what to do. Israel seeks support from us by saying it defends Western values – but what does this mean when the West is no longer sure it believes in them itself? To seek to defend the West would require spiritual resources which we perhaps now lack. It’s like a slow spiritual death has struck us. The Churches empty, the high streets boarded up, collapsing birthrates.
To paraphrase Orwell, if you want a picture of the future, imagine a blue-haired non-binary feminist holding a ‘Queer Communists for Gaza’ placard stomping on your face, forever.