Emmanuel Todd, Defeat of the West - the main ideas explained in English

In this video, I explain the main ideas of Emmanuel Todd, The Defeat of the West. This most important book on geopolitics and history has not yet been translated into English. A best-seller in France - this video will explain in easy-to-understand language the complex historical, sociological arguments that Todd uses, and translate key passages of Todd's important book.
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How and why has the West been defeated and lured into a trap in Ukraine? Find out in this video.
Todd, La Défaite de l'Occident is available at this Amazon Associate link amzn.to/45PJSb6

[@cbrace]

Excellent summary, very helpful for those of us who do not read French. One comment: I have trouble conceiving Ukraine (specifically, "Ukraine nihilism") as a trap that somehow drew or sucked the West in. Seen through the lens of realpolitiek, the Ukraine project had been fermented for years if not decades by the neocons on both sides of the Atlantic. They were not drawn in, they deliberately used that tragic country as a trap to weaken if not bring down Russia (regime change in the Kremlin). Merkel and Hollande have both admitted that the Minsk agreements were simply a ruse to stall for time in order to arm Ukraine. This foolish gambit is now backfiring spectacularly. In what sense was the West "lured into a trap"?

[@alainriffault1981]

E. Todd live in France and write in French ;I do think he had to soften his point of view in order to be published ...and not be accused of Putinism by medias .I understand "the west 's trapped in his own trap ...Ukraine being the trap ,Russia the game ,and West the trapper ...trapped!

[@NineInchTyrone]

Self trapped

[@IvanKleshnin]

Or maybe he uses "West" as an euphemism for something else.

[@r3fus32d13]

western citizens trapped by their own oligarchy

[@christophmahler]

It is all as described, with Westernizing the Black Sea region going back to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and then later with Imperial Germany, founding a state of Ukraine from the Russian Empire while having infiltrated Petersburg with LENIN - so the latter is already a familiar picture. The problem is that *the West doesn't understand the East* - due to an image of man, derived from Radical Enlightenment - expecting a 'Homo Economicus' where in fact tradition still rules the hearts of men as demonstrated after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the revival of Orthodoxy - the latter reflected in Samuel Huntington's 'Clash of Civilizations' (1993). When Brzezinski wrote the 'Grand Chessboard' (1997), outlining the integration of Ukraine into the European Union and NATO as another geopolitical milestone toward Transatlantic supremacy and 'global governance', he had in fact plagiarized British geographer Halford Mackinder's 'Geographical Pivot of History' (1904). The problem with pivots is that they can go both ways - and while Mackinder's philosophy of history is flawed in the construction of modern sea power and pre-modern land power as contemporary antagonists - there was always a dialectic between Western and Eastern hegemony with the first empires originating in Mesopotamia, and even the successors of Alexander the Great reaching back into the Aegean Sea from a seat of power in 'Seleucia on the Tigris' (Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan as the more obvious, but short lived examples). It is *a question of commitment* . How much has the Transatlantic maritime periphery to destabilize the shores of the continental 'World Island' of Asia in order to stall it's political integration and modernization - by creating 'shatterbelts' of perpetuated conflicts without becoming overextended in decisive expeditionary battles that favor a concentrated land power on rails (apart from Alfred Millner who would restore the American colonies with Britain as a junior partner by forming a Transatlantic social network, see Alfred Thayer's 'The Problem of Asia' 1900 and William Yandell Elliott's 'The New British Empire' 1932) ? Nazi Germany - inspired by US frontier expansion and Manifest Destiny - thought that it could gain all of Eastern Europe by mere dashing to the oil fields of the Caucasus until it turned out that despite taking millions of prisoners, they were not prepared enough to sustain their own losses, to force their will upon a continental power that was always regarded as culturally backward in comparison to Western and Central Europe and yet had proved resilient already when under attack by the actual genius of a Bonaparte - with a Russian Tsar marching unto Paris in 1815. The Soviet Union had reached Central Europe in 1945 within a mere 35 months - that is the risk that was already addressed in the RAND study of 'Extending Russia - Competing from Advantageous Ground' (2019), but as a bullet point instead of a grave warning. If one were to ask why the West risked to Westernize Asia by force of arms, instead of evolutionary soft power, one can only assume that the rise of China forced their hand. When at the same time all Transatlantic offices are stacked with Wilsonian ideologues while all Western conventional military force is in decay (e.g. Britain's 2010 'Strategy and Security Review' that cut operational assets in half) then the 'Partnership for Peace' in Ukraine would tilt into the very fateful commitment, Russia was supposed to suffer. It was always militarily absurd to have Kiev to do the fighting and dying, alone - NATO had to intervene in order to save the prestige of the alliance, sacrificing the same hundreds of thousands of indoctrinated recruits as from Kharkov and Odessa - until bled white and any further escalation could only be achieved by weapons of mass destruction. Mckinder noted that a shell burst in Asia is only an event in an empty field - the same shell burst in Europe is devastation due to urbanization and population density... In the end, European Radical Enlightenment is the trap as it's 'Modernization Theory' demands of the West to become a liberal empire - antagonizing the traditionalist civilizations in it's periphery to decolonize by whatever means necessary, turning the self-styled parliamentarian 'murderers of tyrants' into tyrants, themselves. I have no idea if Emanuel Todd would answer the question in a similar manner - but to me this is how an exercise in a historiography of 'longue durée' can look...

[@simonsmatthew]

Richard Wolff also talks about the innate tendency towards violence in US society. He traces this to the war against native Indians "the savages" and the role that played in shaping the new nation. I would also argue it is stronly embedded in Britain, and that country would have also played a role.

[@BusinessGamesAI]

Even before the USA and Native Americans, there was the British Empire and slavery, coupled with British behaviour in Australia and everywhere else. It’s a unified Anglo-Saxon feature, but also present in France, Belgium, and other (especially) North-Western European empires.

[@theburningarchive]

Interesting. I have just started reading Richared Overy Why War? that deals with these issues comprehensively, and will do a video for the channel soon. Thanks for raising this point

[@polybian_bicycle]

Eh, I mean, empires do war. Name an empire that never engaged in wars in their periphery.

[@raleighrmb]

​@@BusinessGamesAIExpansion was the feature, violence was found in healthy quantity internal to all the lands the empire landed upon, and the Empire brought its own superior technology with them. What the discussion here is calling for is a simple need for an enemy and actual high stakes - which is a universal group aligment feature. The really relevant question for today is - what is the group inside the west that is in charge? Who is on the inside and who is on the outside? What is the narrative?

[@BusinessGamesAI]

@@raleighrmb I default back to the economic incentives to accumulate capital, when looking for key decision makers. For me, it’s always the richest families of oligarchs (choice of words purposeful). Secondary but also powerful decision makers are large governmental bureaucratic institutions that have their own incentives to propagate themselves, and people within who want to keep their jobs and get promoted. I could take a purely Marxist view that these are all instruments in service of the capital itself, but I also think that in reality they can sometimes go against some capital for their own benefit and survival, though their tendency is usually aligned to the interests of the Big Capital (they’ll happily screw and eat small businesses). In general, the political outcomes play out as a combination of individual actions and decisions of the actors in those two classes, in line with own incentives, but roughly they align. They don’t align perfectly, and sometimes conflict, so the summary outcomes can look somewhat chaotic, but they move in one direction: capital accumulation. Seeking enemies without for group alignment is a narrative tool-I don’t believe anyone inside cares much when push comes to shove, but they happily use all the PR they need to get the vast mass of people to go along with the upwards wealth redistribution, and appealing to external threats is just such an awesome (and relatively cheap) mechanism to get this done. Wars, too, are policy by other means, not an end in itself.

[@IbnBahtuta]

Chapter one. The truth is that the "west" has defeated itself. Chapter two. Think of multiple self-inflicted wounds. The End.

[@theburningarchive]

True, indeed he does say that.

[@IbnBahtuta]

@@theburningarchive He took 35 minutes of my busy retired life to say it. Time is not my friend. rofl

[@afkfromk1]

@@IbnBahtuta the only thing you have is TIME

[@IbnBahtuta]

@@afkfromk1 Tick tock, tick tock.

[@gilles4444-xu3tc]

I’m French, i bought his brilliant book, very interesting and full of many data. He was one of the only one in march 2022 to predict the defeat of Ukraine, his video is still on youtube. He gave data showing that the usa and nato just could not defeat the russian army. This man predicted the end of ussr, severla years before, based on demographic data. He’s a top historian and demograph, with a lot of humour too. Tks for sharing his views.

[@naturebc]

No he wasn't the only one. Anyone with a brain who is not indoctrinated with western garbage could tell you that ukraine can't win anything

[@PhilipWong55]

Asian civilizations prioritized stability and peace due to their long-standing dynastic traditions, cultural philosophies like Confucianism emphasizing social harmony, centralized bureaucracies, and geographical features that encouraged internal development over external conquest. Their relative economic self-sufficiency and focus on internal trade further supported this stability. In contrast, Western civilizations emphasized expansion and domination driven by geopolitical competition among fragmented states, economic motivations such as the search for new trade routes and resources, religious and ideological factors including the spread of Christianity, and technological advancements in navigation and military capabilities. The rise of nationalism and the Industrial Revolution further fueled Western expansionist ambitions. Western civilization defeats itself by its need for endless wars and conflicts.

[@vivalaleta]

Thank for a more intelligent version of events.

[@wiwlarue4097]

Despite a plethora of evidence most of the people do not even think about the possibility that the so called west has been going under in a controlled demolition manner. The unseen architets of our world have long been planning this to get from here to the one world system. This move is part of the entire process. It is not because the west is weaker or worst; it is a deliberate pre-meditated systematic re-organization of social economic and political structures that has been going on in the last centuries especially the decades prior to the present.

[@theburningarchive]

This is a profound point thank you. I would add some extra featues based on my reading of histories by John Darwin and Felipe Fernandez-Armesto kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqvOlWN4lt1sjtEsi=j6JYEzhPt8t08qcL but agree with you in general, certainly the incarnation of 'Western civilization' led by the USA since 1945.

[@theburningarchive]

I understand but tend to the view it is a stuff-up not a conspiracy

[@gorantamburic2000]

@@theburningarchive Its cos the west really admires and strives to the ideal of Roman empire while the democracy is just a facade for oligarchy.

[@johannakamstra-schickendan7380]

The Oekraïne is a goldmine, trillions of commodities, we can’t leave that to the Russia. Who said that openly in the media? Lindsay Graham. After that we go for Russia itself, unfortunately Russia has a very intelligent, brilliant President.

[@user-pd3si5nb3z]

@johannakamstra-schickendan7380 you are all in the world of managers, and goldmines need miners...opera dirogents...ha ha

[@slavakotelnikov2440]

Some honesty from the West, finally 😊

[@theburningarchive]

very true - "loot and pillage"

[@subhasisjoshi8135]

Based on what I see Western leaders since early 2000 is that . Now, They even stopped pretending infront of public that they are not for elite neocon only. Latest Biden and Trump debate is actually a prank by the oligarchy on people, there is no hope who ever wins. There is no left or right in America it is just left and Right lane on the same road. American is not a national identity it is a condition.

[@oliveoil7642]

Putin is playing 3D chess while the present establishment or political class in the U.S. is playing checkers!

[@klimentdanilov]

It’s interesting that in Russia we understand everything approximately as described in this program. Let me just add that the first Russian democracy was the Novgorod Republic (1136 - 1478). And women received the right to vote in elections in 1917. But this is just a side note to discussions about democracy and authoritarianism. Thanks Jeff for the excellent presentation

[@theburningarchive]

Thank you and that is very true. There are democratic traditions in many cultures. If I recall correctly International Women's Day was a Russian creation, springing from the February Revolution. You might want to check out my Russia History series - kzbin.info/aero/PLDQM15vyFoOQ2EdFzmOtf9rSsNC9csyHW - I would be interested in your perceptions of the major Russian historians today. Thanks for your comments

[@gavtalk958]

11k views in 1 day.....FINALLY people are watching you Jeff. Awesome

[@theburningarchive]

Thanks Gav. Couldn't have done it without your early and ongoing encouragement. Much appreciated

[@dontaskmewhy100]

I believe this book will be translated into many other languages including Chinese soon.

[@tombeach1262]

Appreciate your overview of his latest work. I can see why it is a best seller in France. Can't wait for the English version. Todd captures everything I have been seeing and hearing.

[@theburningarchive]

thanks

[@simonsmatthew]

Someone needs to talk about the role of neo-classical economics in destroying western economies. It's absolutely central. Certainly in dumbing down a lot of people behind economic decision making. It assumes that society is an aggregation of individual rationalising optimising agents without proving it let alone justifing this as a starting base to understand capitalism. I am not sure Todd does. Economists were the intellectual force behind the West's deindustrialisation agenda. It is also inherently Anglo-Saxon. Someone needs to put these pieces together: the role of neo-classical economics, and how British Empire ideology was adopted by the Americans after 1945.

[@riccardodececco4404]

absolutely agree - no coincidence that the alternative German/central European counter model of a producing industry is targeted (again!) by these same players....

[@Kuleto]

-> Michael Hudson More specifically, his book, Superimperialism is great on understanding the economic order of the world set up Post WWII.

[@theburningarchive]

Those ideas are part of his broader critique in Lineages of Modernity

[@lecaprice2572]

Laissez faire economics paired with materialistic atomism divorced from nature was a toxic combination in the philosophic pathology of the dominant streams of Western (especially English and French) worldviews.

[@captainpawpawchannel]

Neo-classical economy is just what the upper class chooses as modrl to serve their own interests, it's purely class struggle of the elites against workers, not a mistake of the elites

[@yyykkk8498]

the "western" family wasn't developed, it was just archaic and then liberal, just my undersainding of todd

[@hermitant9]

the nuclear family WAS developed in order to facilitate the development capitalism. the true archaic family structure is a clan or kin grouping with inter-generational and extended family ties.

[@macrosense]

Generally, in the United States it has long been common for families to separate to either score cheap land or better career opportunities.

[@theburningarchive]

That is kind of right. He disputes the usual old style story about the late emergence of the nuclear family in the 19th century, arguing Anglo families were long more of the nuclear family model, and most other countries had more of an extended collective family model. In brief. thanks for picking this up.

[@hansjuker8296]

USA had huge family structures until the pill came out followed by feminism and no fault divorce. Destroyed the American family with the stroke of a pen...

[@adelphe1414]

I’m reading the book, lucky me, I’m french. Todd has such a great mastery of concepts that it makes one feel more clever after reading. Great benefit !!!Very pleasant to read too as Emmanuel Todd can’t help injecting a few drops of his sense of humour in this mass of extremely serious and demanding explainations. Wish you’ll get the english translation, but prepare to suffer : what he says about today’s UK is not tender…

[@theburningarchive]

I agree there are brilliant moments of humour, and that comes out in his interviews too.

[@TheGringoSalado]

8:33 Mortimer Adler sounded the alarms in 1950 that abandoning the liberal arts for specialized education would lead to stratification and a population of people with $ and leisure incapable of happiness. To me that seems to be the desired end: the perfect consumer

[@theburningarchive]

good point

[@stevenrix7277]

I'm french. There is also one book from Emmanuel Todd that predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1976 and he wrote the collapse would happen between 10 and 15 years. And it did happen. The book was translated into english in 1979 "The Final Fall: an Essay on the Disintegration of the Soviet Sphere".

[@naturebc]

He applied the same logic. EU has become like the Soviet union ,only far worse and more dangerous

[@stevenrix7277]

@@naturebc I just finished reading his book as a matter of fact. There are lots of things to say but there is one thing that is more striking to me at a personnal level: as a kid we got hammered in school for the european construction and its ideology, we were endoctrined for sure, and it was harmless at first, however the face of the actual Europe with its goals are completely different now. I just don't like this Europe, I have never been pro-european anyway to be honest. So In essence I kind of converge with the discourse of Emmanuel Todd, with the erosion of democratic principle for example, in a nutshell, but I believe he undermines the principles of the western philosophy. I might be wrong, more introspection have to be done certainly. This is indeed a very interesting book.

[@DanFeldmanAgileProjectManager]

Todd’s argument is obvious if anyone has been paying attention for the past 30 years.

[@madeinengland1212]

Yes ostracized rightist authors’ points now the basis for tic tok videos

[@theburningarchive]

Alas so many have had history attention deficit disorder for the past 30 years. Todd provides a narrative of the past 30 years that I will summarise in my upcoming live stream. thanks for commenting

[@andreselectrico]

Absolutely true.

[@rafaelrico9418]

Yes it is true, but only if people have been paying attention all this time, which is the problem as most of people do not pay attention but just are happy reading lies from MSM and falsely feeling they are informed and in the know.

[@juliensorel5535]

5:15 ​@@theburningarchive Hate to tell you, but John Mearsheimer already did it in 2015, and he set the bar pretty high.

[@pacoshuman7642]

Todd's analysis/presentation is excellent...very well done. And very accurate. As an anthropologist (of color), the acknowledgements that he makes about how the various cultures are either emerging together or in some ways, drifting further away, are quite true. From a non-westerner, and an anthropologist that has had to live through this change or changes, the movement was in motion in the 70s. Its been slow (perhaps) but a steady move towards a more multicultural domain...with a few anglo communities such as israel, standing strongly against this change.

[@jaswindersian3159]

Russia is the largest country in the world unified by its leadership under Putin within the diversity of its people. The resilience of these peoples is legendary with its own culture. They have yet lost a war yet. Mess with them at your peril.

[@simonsmatthew]

They don't do so well in naval battles - eg they lost to Japan in the Russo--Japanese War (early Twentieth century).

[@jaswindersian3159]

@@simonsmatthew There is no doubt that the Japanese forces were a force to reckon with during WW2. However over the last 100 years it is the Russians won the main four land battles especially WW2. Today Russia remains a formidable power in all seven theatres of war.

[@simonsmatthew]

@@jaswindersian3159 The Russians were annihilated by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War. A very total and humiliating defeat in a a very major pre-WWI conflict. Basically Russia is a land power (alrthough it does today have a formidable submarine fleet). But basically land wars against Russia have always been a non-starter. It's surface navy though is probably its achilles heel.

[@waynetables6414]

@@simonsmatthewCzarist Russian Empire and the Soviet Union might be the same people but two completely different systems. It’s not all about the people, it’s about the system. The Czar lost a bunch of wars because that government was tyrannically and incompetent and that’s why it was overthrown

[@sylviam6535]

@@simonsmatthew- Surface navy is becoming increasingly obsolete due to improving missile technology.

[@bat4130]

Been waiting for it to be translated into English. Pity it hasn't been.

[@theburningarchive]

I am guessing it may get translated within a few months. I have seen a Spanish translation available.

[@LeMAD22]

You're not missing anything good. Todd is impressively dumb.

[@hmson4378]

​@@LeMAD22 HA HA I love your intelligent arguing especially the hidden nuances reflected by your choice of words.

[@menelikwi3849]

Todd's argument about why protestant countries dominated the world is mainly about the signicative push in education and literacy that this religion imply. He criticised Webber for its formal interpretation of ethic of protestantism which si minor in his analyse.

[@theburningarchive]

True. Good correction.

[@menelikwi3849]

@@theburningarchive sorry my comment seems harsh/direct correction, but I want to avoid any misunderstanding. I am very pleased that you made this video clear, exhaustive of Todd’s work. Thank you for this.

[@xpsmango4146]

To me the most important point is the fact that USA has declining economy and its only strength is military power, so it is using that. Europe misunderstood Russia hoping that it would collapse economically and would not be able to support its military but this did not happen. Inflated ego of west can be understood in terms of history of great empires that refused to accept the decline.

[@user-dr5lz6su5f]

Very sharp and eloquent summary of obviously a very powerful and visionary book. A lot of parallels with views articulated by Kishore Mahbubani, ex- Foreign Minister of Singapore

[@christopherharrison2987]

I read Todd’s book _After the Empire_ shortly after the translated version was published in the early 2000s and found it to be one of the more prescient texts on international geopolitics I’ve ever read.

[@theburningarchive]

Well worth reading and checking out his video interviews on YT even through auto-translate

[@Sayoo1]

His thesis about American theatral micromilitarism and the Roman Empire conversion of the American plebeian are too interesting, further with the increase of the American debt that has turned American citizens into plebeians has a resonance concerning the news… The lesson of the Defeat of The West, less than the Western nihilism is to me the beginning of the failure of a Weltanschauung that has ruled the World since 1971-1973 with Nixon’s reforms. Now, contrary to the Aron’s paradigm in The Imperial Republic (1973), the sanction’s regime and the rollback of the private property are creating defiance about financial investments in US. We know that despite the debt, the elites have an important trust about the American markets, nevertheless, with our context, the economic hegemony could take a new orientation harmful the West. It is who I have perceived this important book too linked with a past historiography and Todd’s analysis in twenty years of thoughts.

[@KeithPluas]

This is an excellent set of insights with a lot to unwrap from each of them. They clearly point at what is meant by the defeat. In my opinion, it doesn’t mean that the West will collapse, at least not immediately, but instead, it is slowly self-isolating, fortifying that bubble of self-instilled moral superiority that has blinded them to a changing world.

[@theburningarchive]

Yes I agree. Defeat need not mean collapse. Indeed collapse is not in the world's interests. I tried to express this view in an article in 2023 - johnmenadue.com/defeat-to-america/

[@ralphbernhard1757]

The USA/Washington DC has always fought wars to create systemic disunity/division somewhere else on the planet, for own systemic gains, using a variety of means at its disposal (power). The only wars it has ever fought in history on the own continent (North America), was to create systemic unity/gain for itself. Elsewhere, wars were instigated, not avoided, "false flagged" into being, funded/supported, goaded, or declared, leading to disunity in the world, for the advantage of the dividers, in the USA. ------------------------------------- "The primordial interest of the United States - over which for a century we have fought wars (the first, second, and Cold War) - has been the relationship between Germany and Russia. Because united they are the only force that could threaten us. And to make sure that that doesn't happen. Therefore, it's not an accident that General Hodges, who's been appointed to be blamed for all of this, is talking about pre-positioning troops in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, and the Baltics. This is the intermarium from the Black Sea to the Baltic that Pilsudski (edit: post-WW1 Polish dream of power in the wake of Russian and German weakness) dreamt of. This is this is the solution for the United States. ... For the United States: The primordial fear is German technology, German capital, and Russian natural resources, Russian manpower as the only combination that has for centuries scared the hell out of the United States. So how does this play out? Well, the US has already put its cards on the table. It is the line from the Baltics to the Black Sea." - George Friedman, Stratfor, Feb 2015 Yes, that has always been the aim of the naval powers, Great Britain and the USA. That includes this current war in the Ukraine" which was *not avoided* (grand strategy) by the USA/NATO even if it could have been avoided by very simple diplomatic means around the year 2000 (with a signed comprehensive European security agreement which incl. Russia). Several historians like Richard Overy (GB) and Daniele Ganser (Switzerland) have continuously and conclusively come to this conclusion, which is that imperialism were the root causes of all European wars, as based on the study of historical data. It is not a "conspiracy theory." That IS the premier priority of the powers not IN Eurasia, and still is. Here are the critical questions. If that is the realization, then HOW were the naval powers going to implement such continental Eurasian/European division? How were, both currently and historically, London and Washington DC going to (quote) "make sure that that doesn't happen"? *Answer: Proactively implement the "divide and rule"-technique of power,* or the associated divide then gain/control technique of power. It is to create confusion, which can be exploited.

[@jamesyohanna5601]

Two centuries ago Russian thinker, Dostoevsky, wrote that ultimately Russian Orthodox Faith will win over the Western worldview. I believe that the spirit of capitalism - the love of absolute power to dominate the world, the greed to have more, is ultimately self destructive.

[@majohladky3249]

This is probably the core of it all: religion connects people. Even during the Soviet era, when they sought to suppress churches, religion was never officially outlawed. They simply could not uproot it from the hearts of Russians, likely because if people were to give up their faith, they would have nothing left-quite literally. In the liberal West, where individualism is considered the highest achievement, there is a failure to recognize that this can create something I would call a "para-religious" effect. Everyone has their own metaphysical belief system, or at best, there are some communities (like corporations) that share similar views. C.G. Jung said that religion exists to protect individuals from the overwhelming nature of the religious experience. With this in mind, some individualists may begin to feel like gods themselves...and in that line of thinking, everything becomes permissible. The bottom line is that I believe Dostoevsky was right.

[@mk4922]

Emmanuel Todd speaks very good English. There are some videos where he explains his ideas in English...

[@hazchemel]

Yeah he's right. Thanks to your patient pedagogy, this is a good introduction to this man's thoughts.

[@OrwellsHousecat]

Lovely voice and sweetly explained

[@theburningarchive]

Thank you A very fitting KZbin handle for this picture of Emmanuel Todd with his cat.

[@waxeggoil3130]

A very interesting video. Thanks. The issue of violence is something that really strikes a chord for me. I've become much more aware of it in the last few years notably in popular drama etc which is frankly pornographically violent compared to what it used to be. There also seems to be a growing lust for war across most of society, at least here in Australia. I wonder if this could be compared to the death drive that Freud proposed. Maybe the west is not so much defeated as suicidal.

[@theburningarchive]

Very interesting observation. I have started reading Richard Overy, Why War? - amzn.to/3zEKrbq - just released on this topic and will do a video on it soon

[@sciagurrato1831]

Violence is bound up with seeking material advantage. With all the physical goods and comforts, there is an incipient undertone of violence in the US - across most demographics. It is exemplified by the hostile and aggressive driving styles adopted over the last 25-30 years. Driving vehicles that are physically enormous powered by enormous engines is one clear manifestation. Little wonder the average cost of a new vehicle in the US is about $45k.

[@user-iv9lr7uu3c]

I was surprised by the lust of violence in Game of Thrones. We’re not far from the gladiator’s arena in Roman times.

[@Edmonddantes123]

Very interesting, will put this on my reading list! One central aspect that seems to be missing is the dramatic rise on economic inequality, precarity and sheer economic despair within the West

[@Edmonddantes123]

Another aspect would be the rapid disenchantment of the Global South with the West that goes hand in hand with the latter’s mismatch between lofty moral rhetoric and their violent realpolitik and the way they use international organisations to further their own geopolitical and economic interests

[@theburningarchive]

He does refer to those issues in other parts of the book. I will cover them in future videos

[@theburningarchive]

He has a chapter on why the Global South did not follow the the West, which I may do a video on too! Or at least that general issue, not limited to Todd

[@alaaalawneh7800]

شكرا على الملخص المفيد، بانتظار ترجمة الكتاب لنتمكن من الاطلاع عليها

[@theburningarchive]

شكرا جزيلا لك. أرجو أن تسامحني، لقد استخدمت ترجمة جوجل لأشكرك باللغة العربية.

[@user-ig4ub3xy6i]

I have just finished the book. A lot of interesting sociological references regarding the influences of family structure and the consequences of the erosion of organised religion. It is however fundamentally flawed. It ignores the long historical background to the Ukrainian conflict, in which Russia has always denied Ukrainian existence; it exaggerates the decline of the West--sure the West has multiple issues, but the loss of religion has not led to "nihilism"; and it glosses over the brutality of Putin's Russia. Putin came to power by blowing up apartment buildings; Russia wages war but raising cities flat, be it Grozny, Aleppo or Mariupol; it attacks power stations with the specific intention to freeze civilians in winter; it tortures both POWs and civilians. If that isn't nihilism, I don't know what is.

[@leojmullins]

I put it down to Protestantism as the heresy of heresies that cut the community heart out of Catholicism.

[@lajoszsommd1526]

If an apple worm eats the apple around him and falls down to the ground it can only blame itself for the fall. This on multiple levels.

[@sciagurrato1831]

Todd’s analysis is primarily sociological - and therefore incomplete. Without an understanding of the economic underpinnings of a society and their development over time (historically), any theory (malgré que ce soit épatant) is necessarily distorted. Todd on Protestantism is particularly misleading, as Protestants do not control the majority of the financial assets of the US or UK.

[@deborahkrol6152]

Very interesting. Looking forward to part 2.

[@DJEDzTV]

Thanks to you I have learned about this man and his works, I thank you for the work you do!

[@nigelnaylor2556]

Should not the book be re-titled: "The suicide of the West"? and was driven by PEG (Power, Ego and Greed) - that is the real trap that the West fell for. PEG is universal to mankind and is why these cycles repeat themselves.

[@theburningarchive]

He uses that term in relation to Europe

[@mdimitri3942]

C'est très intéressant de connaître l'avis d'un anglais sur E Todd. Merci, vous avez bien résumé sa passée. Thanks you have really well summarized is thoughts

[@theburningarchive]

Merci beaucoup

[@phillipphil1615]

Passée bien vu 😏

[@mdimitri3942]

@@phillipphil1615 faute de frappe...

[@QuriedeBerk]

Superb. Thank you

[@Zeitaluq]

A very good introduction that covers the generality and detail. Emmanuel Todd looks at the large scale of human activities indeed how a civilisation and macro society that adapts can in a sense ‘think’ for the people whom are akin to cells short lived yet do the function for the wider organism as a metaphoric example. Professor Ian R. Morris explains how humans beings are largely very similar and be that the ‘west’ or ‘east’ or Meso~American civilisations the patterns of agriculture then growth then managing complexity then belief systems seem to have a pattern increasingly predictable as rise and fall and replacement and yet another fall. In the late 1700s to early 1800s the supposed triumphant Protestant civilisation was smashing the human development index under their spheres in a way never conceived thanks to the Industrial Revolution. This indeed seemed to those in London and Washington DC to be the end of history. Validation of the apex of civilisation and now just bring the rest of the world out of their supposed ‘backwardness’. The 19th century Scientific Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution based in German speaking regions demonstrated the truth of this seemingly unassailable civilisation. Except that this phase would also be in the same pattern as those self assured societies since antiquity whom faced death rather than the illusory immortality of the end of history. Success blinded the infamous W A S P elites. Triumphant in a moment of 1989 blinded them to the serious issues piling within. A sense of superiority saw this elite teach lessons to Serbs and Arabs and North Africans and thirty five years later we saw how that turned out. Even using laissez fairé capitalism as economic shock therapy in Russia failed. McDonald’s in 1991 was like a celebrity now post Ukrainian invasion the name is changed. Ian R. Morris wrote Why the West Rules ~ For now. Patterns in history. Human beings are bound by geography and laws of physics. The great Arabic work of Muqqadima explored the rise and collapse of civilisation and saw much what we see now. Each epoch had the corresponding Axial thoughts from collapse in ancient antiquity to collapse of Roman and Chinese civilisations

[@sharoncurran6622]

I have just discovered this channel coincidentally to just finishing Shuchen Xiang's 'Chinese Cosmopolitanism.' And, she actually discusses the impact of 'The Great Chain of Being' on the evolution of racism, subsequently affecting the development of capitalism. Perhaps amplified by Protestantism? Something must be in the air? All these sociologists/historians/anthropologists are all looking for how we got to where we are because they notice things are starting to fall apart. Good stuff! I'll be back.

[@theburningarchive]

Thank you. I just checked Shuchen Xiang's work thanks for the tip. We need to rediscover pluralism in many traditions don't we? Great comme t thank you

[@paulglover2317]

Don't confuse defeat with surrender, especially when communicating in French.

[@theburningarchive]

Je ne comprends pas

[@athenakoios]

Thank you.

[@buityril5647]

Many thanks for sharing this, absolutely fascinating, indeed enlightening

[@theburningarchive]

thank you

[@christianvanneuves9958]

Jeff Rich: a great Australian! In better days he would have gotten a weekend afternoon slot on the ABC. Great content, excellent voice and agreeable exterior to boot. My opinion is, that the decay of the West is primarily based on economic decline, which again may have been caused by factors such as collapse of value system, nihilism; possibly the final stage of the enlightenment. As there was mentioned the enormous increase in tertiary education, see also Peter Turchin's "surplus elites", eg in "End Times". Anyway, I'll get the book and will see what I think. Thank you!

[@theburningarchive]

Thank you!

[@andrejmucic5003]

Thanks! I learn something

[@BusinessGamesAI]

I disagree with the lack of rationality, but an alternative I subscribe to is NOT the realist school. Rationality for whom and to what end? The actors making the decisions do NOT carry the cost of bad decisions; the costs are externalities for them, borne by the others (commoners, workers, plebs). The decision makers are making profits from wars but do not carry the burden of wars. Nor of the domestic failures. Why would they care about mass shootings, cost of living, lack of healthcare etc.? They’re swimming in profits from wars and commodities theft. This is VERY RATIONAL.

[@theburningarchive]

interesting point.... disccussion of this theme could be the subject of another video.... maybe on Mearsheimer's realism

[@BusinessGamesAI]

@@theburningarchive I’d love to talk to you about this in detail. I have my own (much smaller) podcast and would like to explore this topic further, too 😊

[@ChrisHalden007]

Great video. Thanks

[@theburningarchive]

Glad you liked it!

[@jamesdean1143]

Thanks so much for sharing this English interpretation.

[@theburningarchive]

Thank you, much needed I think. I am glad it hit the mark.

[@BusinessGamesAI]

I would add economic and class analysis. It’s simply impossible to be discussing these issues without a deep analysis of the economic realities and production relations. Family structures as well as the mass literacy push themselves came out of the need to have a workforce for the modern industries. Why is it that many serious people go to the very edge of profound understanding and then stop before having the courage and o discuss economics and production relations?

[@theburningarchive]

there is a discussion of these issues in Todd's books but I did not focus on them in this video. He is contemptuous of the "queen science" of economics as it is practised in the West, and his case in point is its misunderstanding of the Russian economy.

[@BusinessGamesAI]

@@theburningarchive hehe, I’m a Western-educated economist with a PhD from Germany and I, too, am contemptuous of my own industry as practiced and taught in the West! 🤣 I mean, after the GFC (which according to the mainstream dogma shouldn’t have happened) I was expecting major changes, but nope.

[@warren-j-smith]

Outstanding perspectives from someone who is obviously very widely read and with an excellent meta-perspective of history and big ideas! While nothing is an aboslute truth, I can't help feeling completely aligned with what Todd is saying.

[@theburningarchive]

Thank you

[@pippohispano]

"We've never been older, richer, more educated and devoid of colective belief". I guess it sums it up.

[@joaoMTcoelho]

Excellent

[@theburningarchive]

Thanks

[@vivalaleta]

I was a Bible College taught Pentecostal in my indoctrinated youth. A lengthy separation from my religious family and debates on the internet set my mind free. I would just love for someone to show me how that leads to violence en masse. It's actually despair driving the anger in this world.

[@theburningarchive]

Understood... I might need to explain this especially complex bit of a book in a later video

[@dadsonworldwide3238]

No wokisms cog in the wheel is the same dualistic personal actors who deny the endowed by God soul agency and it is an undeniable part of evidence in historical mass sychosis in society and in socialism where monarchs aristocracy protected its wealth transformation. Jews ,catholic, ortho, Islam,Anglican ,cast system in hindu the babylonian evolutionary cosmogony structural alignment in medechi taxation in concert with pergatory doctorine curriculum is the inadvertent mistakes it's caused throughout history even when the Bible codex was authored it's in the babylonian physical lawisms vs mosaic commandments. It doesn't matter if it's idol worship in churches or nature blaming humanity . Top down form and shape against the grain of nature itself. It leads to subjugation and enslavement always has always will

[@yoursoulisforever]

I once heard a pastor at the pulpit say, "We are all wonderful, and we are all pathetic." And I was just old enough to think, "Brother, ain't that the truth!" Over the years, those words have helped me more than I can measure.

[@dadsonworldwide3238]

@yoursoulisforever yeah, inspired by God tools of thermodynamics but those Good & evil equations makes us miss the eqaulibrium and optimization of a perfect example that tuned all precision instruments and is the soul of nation ppl places and things especially to saint paul where we now can literally see how we will destroy the flesh before we by for thru = saved reborn renormalize hook up our soul agency to sense the universe in all its glory ourselves . Metamorphosis is kinda scary to think about how we merge with the spirit of God hovering over the waters of cosmos nature building breathe of life giving for real. It's something I didn't want to be the footwork we had to do . It's beautiful in textualism methodology objectivism = but the literal reality of how is to close to ash to ash and our souls limbo waiting place of rest

[@RandallvanOosten-ln5wf]

It seems we have a similar childhood background. However, I returned to Christianity. I believe that Todd is making the case that America was formed as an ideological Protestant experiment in government. However, this gave way in the 20th century to a "Zombie" phase of outward expression without internal adherence. This has been followed by "Zero" belief and adherence leading the Washington "Blob" (i.e. the Managerial elite) to be unguided by outward spiritual or religious mores. In short, it is Nihilistic. Hence, the "Washington Village" is prone to the use of violence to achieve its ends without empathy (the willingness to understand others). Also, this Nihilistic bent can be seen in the breakdown of the Western family structure where a big percentage of young men are raised in single-mothers homes. Most mass shooters come from these homes as do violent gang members.

[@Scott-et4kd]

Sound like Spengler, updated.

[@aivy-aigeneratedmusic6370]

Better, simpler, more aesthetic thumbnail and catchy title. People immediately know what the Video is about and get curious. That's why this video gets so many more views than the other ones

[@theburningarchive]

thanks. I finally got the title and thumbnail drill! I do my best with my limited design skills

[@Kuznet609]

A turning point in the West (especially in EU) was the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. With this event, the West began to actively prepare for the encirclement and destruction of Russia. However, from the very beginning, the EU has been geared towards expansion at Russia's expense - see also the EU's Grand Area Strategy, which was influenced by the German constitutional/international law expert Carl Schmitt. Carl Schmitt also influenced Leo Strauss, who is considered the forefather of the US-American evangelical neocons.

[@theburningarchive]

Excellent point. Todd discusses this war in his narrative at the end which I covered in the subsequent live video. The hostility for Russia is very long and deep as you say.

[@Sayoo1]

I think the encirclement of Russia was thought before this war. This war was just the main proof of many theories about Russian’s rollback in Europe… Zbigniew Brzezinski, in two main writings of the Post Cold War : The Premature Partnership (1994, Foreign Affairs) and the Grand Chessboard (1997), has theorized the manner to encircle Russia with two strategies : the EU-US alliance/protectorate, the so-called « geostrategic democratic bridgehead and the ex-USSR countries/regions such as Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaïdjan… The 2008 crisis was the beginning of how Americans can apply the theory of the grand chessboard in our reality to rule, dominate Eurasia and rollback Russia towards an archaic Central Asia. However, I’m agree with you concerning neocon ideas because even if we doesn’t mentioned Carl Schmitt (Brzezinski with his opposition of sea power and land power kept Schmitt’s paradigm but it’s not the main subject). We know that Brzezinski was one of the most important thinkers that Neocon have used to manage American foreign policy.

[@Djordje-pr6vb]

Europe is a warrior society, with no resources, small and geographically difficult, many languages and cultures. It couldn't do anything without the imperialism. The philosophical ideas are just it's justifications.

[@scythermantis]

Even Switzerland???

[@galemartin9155]

We shall see.

[@mhashi2011]

Thanks for the brilliant summary of Emanuel Todd's book! We'd appreciate it a lot if you could make another episode explaining the far-reaching implications of societal changes in the West. What would the world look like post-Western hegemony? Will we see a new world order?

[@renatobianchi65]

Nice video. What seems strange to me is that a great scholar such as Todd speaks about "the US becoming an oligarchy" ...... Anybody who studies US economic history can see how the US have ALWAYS been an Oligarchy......from the beginnings. Both the South and the Union at the time of the civil war. Of course the narrative has always spoken on democracy, and of course the military (and economic) successes of the States granted the poor and middle class higher prosperity levels than the rest of the world in the 20th century..........In the 21st c. as the wave goes down the Real Nature of the system becomes more exposed and evident..........but nothing have EVER really changed in terms of the Power Structure from 18th century to present day.......

[@theburningarchive]

thank you. I understand your point - there have long been gross inequalities and of course slavery and its post-1865 heritage. I think Todd takes the view that mass education did have an effect on democratic ethos in first half of 20th century, but mass higher education has reversed that. Also he would be referring to Piketty's argumetn that similar reversals happend with wealth inequality.

[@lerecklessbadger2411]

Todd is the GOAT !!

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

Assuming somebody does not take the stand to fix the problem, yes all civilizations rise and fall, but for the average Asian, Russia is in the larger West, it is filled with white people and Christians, But ROME was split into 2 parts, the Western and Eastern provinces with the Western breaking apart into smaller states while the Eastern Roman Empire, Romanion by them or Byzantium by the Greeks fell to the Ottomans, after many years of stagnation, plagues and even being betrayed by there own Christian allies, There has never been a greater attempt to unify Europe since Charlemagne and Napoleon, but Maron is neither, don't get me wrong the sword has reigned for over 1000 years it will still reign,

[@theburningarchive]

this is an important point about how the Eastern Roman Empire influenced Russia. I might say the West is no longer a home for a culture as complex and rich as Russia. It is the whole diversity of civilizations theme that is so strong in both Russian and Chinese foreign policy. Thanks for commenting

[@mamamia6925]

how much persons are protestant in the western oligarchy elites?

[@theburningarchive]

many fewer than there used to be. Todd documents that in the book, but anecdotally rather than systematically. Example is Biden Whitehouse.

[@BlackBoxE]

What about African family structure?

[@theburningarchive]

He does talk about that in Lineages of Modernity. He provides a breakdown of family structures around the world. But I did not discuss the details in this video. thanks for the question

[@AnotherExtraFist]

I just stumbled upon your channel Jeff. I know that I am not the first to find how special it is. Thank you, and thank you for bringing such important works like Todd's to a non-French reading audience. If Todd's five thesis might be synthesized, it is a hubristic Western elite, raw American power and Old European Money, drunk on a mistaken notion that they owned the future after 1990, and acted to resuscitate the long-dead British fancy of a total colonial empire -- imho. (I will check back to consider your pieces on that disappointment called "Obama".)

[@theburningarchive]

thank you. It is much appreciated. Check out the substack too since there is lots of content there too you might like.

[@monacattan3014]

Thank you for all the information. It strikes one the resemblance between the Israeli ideology of the chosen people, and the Washington protestant elites. They showed aggression towards Slavs , and Orthodox faiths in Ukraine. And both applauded genocide in West Asia.

[@anilbapna2894]

Thanks

[@theburningarchive]

Thank you so much for your generosity 🌹🙏❤️

[@dontaskmewhy100]

Haha. Before you mentioning it, the Annals School....Fernard Braudel....came to my mind And the late Immanuel Wallerstein. And i am happy in discovering your great channel！

[@theburningarchive]

Indeed, you are well read, and thanks for turning into my channel.

[@dontaskmewhy100]

@@theburningarchive Greetings from China！ Well, i don't know many other 'schools' in France/Europe. Just due to my undergraduate degree was in Political science and sociology I read some books and many articles.

[@lanawright398]

Thank you, absolutely brilliant analysis.

[@theburningarchive]

Thank you

[@toinpituba6590]

Very good review, I can't wait to read Todd's book in Portuguese.

[@theburningarchive]

Excellent, thank you

[@kimcarsons7036]

Emmanuel Todd! Impressive. I came across Todd thru the geo-political analyst Pepe Escobar. His written work is a bit gonzo, but his interviews can be quite brilliant. the other figure similar (also found thru Escobar) is Andrea Zhok

[@luizamorim1626]

Same here! 😂 I think gonzo a funny word but I understand your opinion. Pepe Escobar is like an encyclopaedia🎉❤

[@lutchbizin6420]

​@@luizamorim1626If memory serves me right, Pepe is a Brazilian, isn't he?

[@theburningarchive]

yes, originally

[@theburningarchive]

Yes I like Pepe's style too. Thanks for the tip on Zhok

[@pav781]

Interesting

[@saelind73]

I'm waiting for this book to be translated into Italian, or English. They are talking about it here in Italy, but it hasn't been translated yet. Unfortunately, my French is not enough good to read a book like this one. Todd is very good. He was the first (?), as a young scholar, to predict, in 1976, the implosion of the USSR in "The Final Collapse", or "The Final Fall" (I'm not sure about the exact translation of the title in English of "La chute finale"), based on demographic statistical data that showed the dysfunctional Soviet system and the social disintegration it had brought about. In 2003, in "After the Empire", he predicted the decomposition of the American empire, "as it moves away from traditional democratic values, it lives far beyond its means economically, and continues to anger foreign allies and enemies alike with its military and ideological policies." (I'm paraphrasing). In the same book, Todd foresees the emergence of a Eurasian alliance. Although in this prediction he wasn't 100% correct because he argued that the alliance would bring together Europe, Russia, Japan, and the Arab-Islamic world. I don't blame him for this "mistake" though (by including Europe and Japan in that alliance,) because Todd was thinking rationally and European leaders are not. Or if they are, they certainly are not looking after the interests of their own countries. Anyway, this is all to say that whether you agree with Todd, or not, (I do by the way), he is worth reading and we need to listen to him carefully. Thank you for your video. I came up by your channel while searching for Todd, and subscribed.

[@theburningarchive]

Thanks so much. I hear there is no plan to translate to English. You can ask the publisher Gallimard about Italian translation via their website. Thanks for following.

[@mayabergsdottir9622]

5 min in & its only yada yada so far... Come to your point Rich!

[@tonyman187]

he starts with Ukraine in 2016? not 2014....? Victoria Nuland...? no?

[@theburningarchive]

He trces it further back and discusses their role, rest assured.

[@williamniggle7382]

Fernand Braudel the historian said: “[T]he present can partly be understood by reference to the immediate past.” In order to be able to do so, it’s indispensable to have the capability of identifying the major problems in the world today. In other words, it means distinguishing the essential from the peripheral. The most essential geopolitical reality now is the rise of China and the decline of America. Despite 800 US military bases around world, of which more than 350 surround China in West Pacific, they are more likely to be the weakness of overstretch than the exposition of strength. Competition, confrontation, containment, constriction, curse, crisis, conflict, combat, ‘collective deterrence’: None of them seems to stop the advances of China, which is not just another big player in the world but the biggest player ever in the human history, predicted by Lee Kuan Yew long time ago. By contrast, after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, America at first self-indulged in the myth of ‘The End of History’, then launched 20 years’ war on elusive terrorism, invading Iraq and Afghanistan recklessly, not to mention GFC in 2007. Braudel was able to foresee the inevitable rise of China in 1963, because he should have recognised the strength of Chinese civilisation. “Civilisations are extraordinary creatures, whose longevity passes all understanding. Fabulously ancient, they live on in each of us and they will still live on after we have passed away.” (A History of Civilisations)

[@fndngnvrlnd]

Read Morris Berman's trilogy on the failure of the US.

[@theburningarchive]

OK I have sampled. Huge literature to read on this topic

[@TheGringoSalado]

17:24 Archbishop Lefebvre notes the same about Protestants.

[@cyan_dreams137]

I was unaware that Victoria Nuland and Zelensky were Protestant.

[@TheGringoSalado]

@@cyan_dreams137 fair enough. The issues raised were that Christianity would become self oriented, and beyond the tithe would ignore the plight of neighbor. That for the most part seems to be the case and is definitely not in alignment with Orthodox Catholicism

[@Stawski_3d]

It is not defeat, it is suicide.

[@theburningarchive]

He uses that term in relation to Europe in one of his chapter headings

[@mikeheath8318]

Very helpful. Thanks.

[@theburningarchive]

thanks

[@feliz2892]

Je viens de découvrir votre chaîne et j'adore!

[@theburningarchive]

Merci beaucoup

[@Saderue]

It will be available in German from October 14th on, maybe in English also? But according to your brief summary, no really new thoughts, complainments you also hear in some right wing groups. But I'll read it when it's released in German.

[@enkaiscott]

The last man's home Jesus visits before heading to Jerusalem was a greedy capitalist from New Jericho. After a day with Jesus he renounces capitalism, even as these Western nations renounced their God and Messiah. Very good analysis of a very good book... Thanks.

[@theburningarchive]

thank you

[@user-pd3si5nb3z]

Modern science and education are a sort, in many cases, are sort of religion. Obsolete in short time, while basics are forgotten. All new things are ald things on electricity...too much noise...pereland wrote that economics as science will stope to exist and that it will be good news for people. You can nor fine his books at unis...exp. 1 at mcgill.

[@theburningarchive]

True. I guess Todd would say they tend not to provide shared collective beliefs, but rather beliefs and norms for professional sub-groups. That is the atomisation of society that he is concerned about.

[@user-pd3si5nb3z]

Corr. Michael perelman, see railroading economics, too steal this idea, ...we was at Chico...only one that I respect in the domen of political economics...

[@user-pd3si5nb3z]

I have all his books. Right now, I am in The invisible handcuffs of capitalism. 2011. Pbl.

[@Nom_AnorVSJedi]

Great analysis

[@anthonymichaelwilson8401]

The West has defeated it self lol 😂

[@theburningarchive]

That is indeed a statement Todd makes in the first chapter... but a lot hinges on what that really means. thanks for the good comment

[@REwing]

Democracy is an ideology that breeds dependency on Carl Marx theories!!

[@iyibu01]

Thanks for this very interesting translation insight on human development as found amongst current western peoples. I have been thinking along similar lines but from a spiritual perspective. It could be said that the western peoples culture has taken humanity into the void, cold and separation found in mass materialism. Away from religion and spiritual truths of the past. This is not essentially negative. people need to experience the cold, void and separation found in materialism.this help us to truly understand what love is.the aim then to retrace and retreat back to life of value based on love and spiritual truths. western culture is leading humanity into ,cacoon of void of mass materialism.The next stage of humanity development will be spiritual awakening and not religion. Those who have experienced the extreme void of materialism as found now,they will be able to choose a higher path due to this. individual spirit will be able to transform materialism into the warmth, togetherness and love found in spirit. Not death but a transformation.

[@theburningarchive]

Profound observation, thanks for sharing

[@matthouston4068]

How about referring to the elephant in the room?

[@theburningarchive]

please tell me what that is....

[@williamc9578]

Would we conclude that monotheistic faiths has inherent in its doctrinal belief, Supremacism. The One-God construct must mean, that all other gods/faiths are false/idolatry/cults/heretic/etc. Reflecting on itself, this must engender the notion of religious supremacism, being the One-true-faith, and the one-true path to heaven. And naturally, one imbues with one's faith, all the characteristics of virtue and goodness, which then means other faiths are corrupt, evil, debauched. Add to this, the concept of Evangelism, which is again a common feature of monotheistic faiths, one gets the ultimate toxic cocktail of religious fascism, manifesting as an expansionist, interventionist, hegemonic entity. This is supported by the historical record since the rise of European power in the 16th century, and the germination of colonialism. Culminating in present-day United States of America, perhaps the most insidious expansionist hegemon the World has ever known, with public branding of itself as American Exceptionalism, with incessant references to itself as a Godly nation, with Messianic visions of proselytizing its model (even though this is more often done to advance its own selfish interests, rather than any genuine wish to spread its values).

[@marcelrenes2435]

Democracy had become an empty shell. I totally agree with his points. I still struggle though with the West not capable of becoming a strong power. For instance: if The US exits NATO, what do we do? I already see European countries working together to fill that void. We are rapidly increasing the defence budgets. This is not only because Trump could win but a sence of becoming a world power of our own. Yes, there are significant problems due to different cultures and countries.

[@CristelDevriezeMN]

@@marcelrenes2435 You have already been a world power for centuries….Do you really think that all the wrongs done by the West can be redeemed by an old colonialist power like the EU? Ask first the global south for answers…

[@marcelrenes2435]

@@CristelDevriezeMN Can you explain to me what you mean with the global South? I understand China and India, and perhaps Brasil. But what is the global south in your view?

[@jillfryer6699]

Could we have a look backwards at The Decline of the West while waiting for English trans of this work?

[@theburningarchive]

Do you mean Spengler's book? I did a podcast on his book and Spengler about 2-3 years ao that you can listen/view here kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpKue52qiM2fj7csi=3AyTXooiPQ9WZec2

[@jillfryer6699]

@@theburningarchive yes. Thank s for the ref.

[@christopherdobbie]

He failed, where's money creation in his thinking?

[@tonyman187]

Does he really start off the story of Western involvement in Ukraine in 2016? Does he ignore the "Revolution of Dignity", Victoria Nuland, etc. ? Seriously????? how does that make sense?

[@theburningarchive]

No he doesn't. He has a whole chapter on the tragedy of Ukrainian society since 1991 and its fatal attraction to US independence.

[@reefk8876]

Sounds about right. What religion were the Dulles brothers?

[@theburningarchive]

True. Homeschooled by a fatehr who was a Presbyterian minister.

[@dimdir37free]

It is pleasure to listen English language with French wisdom, usually from this country we got cheap propaganda speech. With all respects Russian

[@theburningarchive]

Спасибо

[@robertdlucas7418]

The preamble is too long before getting to the gist of the matter.

[@theburningarchive]

OK noted