Western-Civ what does it mean now?
I had a lot I time to ponder this one during the week as I watched the newsreel of Australia’s complete and utter pantsing before the world over our lack of fuel. This really might be the end for us.
The Rubio vs AOC debate was an interesting one, though i’ve only caught sections of it.
There is history everywhere and everyone has their own history (or story if you will).
A culture is really a kind of social alliance between different people. A collaboration if you will. It’s often geographical but it doesn’t need to be. The term culture has been applied to nations, religions, cults, art/music/literary fashions, professional occumpations, hobbies, online groups, classes and so on…
They can be formed, fall apart and reformed. Past ones can also be revived and reimagined for the present and the future.
AOC mentions the need for shared values. Which is technically true. I’d call it a common agreement of good faith and trust.
Taken in the abstract, she’s not actually wrong about what she said. It’s when we get to the specifics of who we trust and what we value that things go to shit here. Because we know that we don’t have common values or trust.
We also know that we are now in a globally connected world in a way that has been unprecedented in human history. People have gone and travelled and resettled in every direction, and have communicated and shared info from every place to every place.
Mass migration and globalist politics have changed whole countries and a new reality exists, whether existing inhabitants like it or not. Remigration is proposed but its a tough call, and more than likely a process of adaptation and syncretisation has to take place. Even if those things hadn’t happened, technological change has forced cultural change of habits now that can’t be reversed.
If I could change one thing today about the current world it would be to get people to have real-life conversations with one another again. Not to argue, but to find out what they agree upon. Then maybe we will see our cultures and societies adapt and recover.
The other thing is of course that both Rubio and AOC, in using the term western-civilization, are exhibiting a North Atlantic-based prejudice, which is understandable because that is where they both originate from, currently live/work and where the conference was taking place. But it consigns those of us not in that location (Australia, as well as Eastern Europe, the pacific coast of the Americas, the South Atlantic etc) to wonder where we sit. Is it about Christianity? Or European based languages and civic instituions? because you find those all over the map now).
Really, it’s time to retire the term “western civilization”. It really just doesn’t make much sense anymore. Priority should be given to the place that you live in and intend to make your future in. That might hold a western inheritance but it certainly doesn’t necessitate, for instance, pointless free-trade agreements with a corrupt and bloated EU superstate.