I think the primary insight from @JonahNRO’s “Suicide of the West” is that civilization is “unnatural.” Tribalism is natural. Barbarism is natural. But liberal democracy (which provides freedom and prosperity)? Not so much. This makes it inherently hard to preserve.
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And so, at the micro level, the individual who wants to transcend his animal nature must fight against natural desires. Likewise, the civilization that wants to preserve freedom of the individual is always swimming upstream.
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The fact that tribalism is on the rise is perfectly natural. Of course, disease is natural. Exploitation is natural. Poverty is natural. We must fight to preserve the Miracle that is America. This is my takeaway from the book—and it is an important insight.
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We are also born not to take shit
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“If it feels good, do it” isn’t an accurate summation of anyone’s ethos. It’s a caricature
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Sounds like a book worth reading in conjunction with the recent work by
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That's because most Christians don't grasp how evolution works. Civilization is part of human evolution. We aren't destined for apocalypse.
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"That's all we expect of man, this side the grave: his good is - knowing he is bad." --Robert Brow
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100% on point. I can't speak to the religious aspect as a result of my science background, but tribalism is most definitely natural as is barbarism. Civilization...not at all so much. Framing it as such, we are doing pretty well for all our faults in the West.
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