How Western Civilisation Could Collapse

Re:How Western Civilisation Could Collapse by simonblack on Thursday April 08, 2021 @06:18PM (#26744523)

I think that it's not so much "collapse" as being put back in its normal position in the world. That will seem like a collapse.

Up till the 1400s, the West was a very minor player in the world. The 'big boys' of the time were India and China. Recall Marco Polo's amazement at the riches and technology of 'Cathay'.

As India and China regain their traditional places in the world, the West will 'collapse' back to its minor, pre-1400 role in the world.

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Re:How Western Civilisation Could Collapse by FooBarBizBazz on Thursday April 08, 2021 @11:42PM (#26746440)

Don't forget the New World. That's such a big deal it's almost hard to wrap your head around. That changed things irreversibly. Unless it just becomes a backwater.

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Re:How Western Civilisation Could Collapse by simonblack on Friday April 09, 2021 @08:55PM (#26757948)

There was always civilisation in the the "New" world. Europeans merely displaced what was there previously. Most of those Aztec, Mayan, etc, etc civilisations were more advanced than the Europeans that displaced them.

Same as happened in the Europeans' Asian colonies. (Having better weapons is not the same as having a better civilisation.)

I see the US in a hundred years as being much like Britain today. Both having a sort of faded prestige, but no real power, because they can no longer extract wealth from other nations. Once Britain lost India in the 1940s, it lost the 'Jewel in the Crown', the source of trillions of dollars worth of British wealth that had sustained Britain for a couple of hundred years.

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Re:How Western Civilisation Could Collapse by FooBarBizBazz on Saturday April 10, 2021 @11:31AM (#26762178)

Of course the New World had civilization. What I'm saying is that, with geographic control of North America and Australia, "The West" is now in a very different position than it was in 1400. It has relatively-strong control of at least three continents. It used to have one. Meanwhile India controls only the subcontinent, and China (only) most of East Asia.

I made no claims about which civilizations were "better" or "more advanced". Those words don't mean very much.

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Re:How Western Civilisation Could Collapse by simonblack on Sunday April 11, 2021 @08:37PM (#26774971)

We in the West see things from a Western viewpoint. We're also used to seeing things from a position of strength. Those times are steadily and rapidly disappearing.

The WHOLE of the West (US, 5-Eyes, Europe) COMBINED is only about 70% the size of China ALONE in terms of both population and manufacturing capacity.

We're not going to win the next 'big one'.

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