This is how A Society Dies

I could pull this apart virtually sentence by sentence as it's so flawed. For example, right at the start:

> 'Anglo-American society is now the world’s preeminent example of willful self-destruction. It’s jaw-dropping folly and stupidity is breathtaking to the rest of the world.'

Yet strangely, both US and UK are still more attractive destinations for inward investment than the EU, and strangely, people from all over the world still in mass numbers want to visit and migrate to each - including large numbers from the author's ancestral home, Pakistan.

> the only two rich societies in the world with falling life expectancies, incomes, savings, happiness, trust — every single social indicator you can imagine — are America and Britain.

Ignoring chronic economic problems in the EU, mass unemployment in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc.

I won't bother continuing. Embarrassingly poor piece.

What the article says can be said with a simple phrase: "Neoliberal policies lower the standard of living".

How people react to this article says more about them than about the article.

If finding your country has elected an out-and-out con man to its highest office, and has actually rising infant mortality and falling life expectancy, doesn't have you deeply worried about its future, you really are not paying attention.

Can the US be saved? Opinions vary. But the chorus of opinions that there is nothing to save does not inspire confidence in the prospect of a turnaround.

There's very (or perhaps none) substance to this article. It's essentially a repetitive rant from someone who would prefer to live in western Europe.

America won't fail as long as it has a strong economy. No one knows how long that will last, but it's currently true, and there are no convincing signs it will see a depression anytime soon. Britain is similar, except their economy (much like the rest of Europe) hasn't seen much growth since the last recession.

This is strongly worded but there's very little rigour or argumentation. Take paragraph near the end:

> You can see how a society dies — with horrific, brutal clarity — in the self-destruction of America and Britain. The hate-filled vitriol of Trumpism, the barely-hidden hate of Brexit. Why wouldn’t people who have grown suddenly poor hate everyone else? Why wouldn’t they blame anyone and everyone they can — from Mexicans to Muslims to Europeans — for their own decline? The truth, as always, is harder. America and Britain’s collapse is nobody’s fault — nobody’s — but their own.

The first sentence, the paragraph sentence that anchors the paragraph, is bold and promises much, but what is then offered? Non-specific references to the "hate" of Trumpism and Brexit, and then 3 rhetorical questions.

I don't really disagree that the situation is dire, but I am unimpressed with this think-piece. There are no references in this, despite making some quite strong claims.

Five points:

i. I heard Thom Hartmann mention "societies usually last only 250 years or 10 generations, on average" [0]. This would put the epicenter of US'es collapse at roughly 2026 if it were to go that way. Here's another article on previous one [1].

ii. America: The Farewell Tour by Chris Hedges (2018, book)

iii. Why Sexual Morality May be Far More Important than You Ever Thought (2019)

https://www.kirkdurston.com/blog/unwin

increased sexual freedom always led to the collapse of a culture three generations later [~75 years]. This would mean 2035 ± 5 would be the estimated date that the US would crumble.

iv. Many, many mass shootings - a desperate act of omnicide and suicide don't happen in an ascending civilization

v. Vulture capitalism's billionaires, massive wealth transfers, privatizing public commons and selling them off, coupled with a regulatory and political capture of the seat of power and useless mass media leads nowhere good.

I think many people MUST step forward, shake off the propaganda and their false beliefs, and demand a reorganization of the status quo before chaos takes over. We need people to first quit pretending that there is no problem and break through their Upton Sinclair-cognitive dissonance against actually doing something.

0. The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival (PDF, 1977) by Sir John

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf

1. Empires — The Rise & Fall by Renegade Inc. (2016) https://link.medium.com/iYeIqeMVl2

They try to tax themselves to prosperity.