[scorpion]

(11-06-2014 06:09 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  

Samseau, if the US is in cultural decline... Can you point me to some examples of cultural peak/climax?

Western culture actually peaked in the late 18th century. The combination of intact European traditions, Christian society and the new introduction of scientific/Enlightenment thinking was the perfect recipe for cultural invigoration. This was also before the Industrial Revolution first introduced Western man to the dehumanizing effects of technology applied on a societal scale. This was the era when Western civilization was at its spiritual, cultural and artistic/aesthetic peak. The 19th century was a slow downhill slide, and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 began Western civilization's steep period of decline, which continues to this day.

A lot of people will think what I'm saying is totally ridiculous, but that's just because they're falling into the trap of measuring society simply by technological progress. Of course, this is obviously a terrible metric. Modern day North Korea would, by this measure, be a superior society to 1950s America or 18th century Europe, but no one would prefer to live there. The best way to measure the health of a society is to look at its art, music, literature, architecture and philosophy. A healthy, vibrant society will produce works that are uplifting, aspirational, idealistic, and which honor the past while anticipating a brighter future. A society that is in decline produces works that are degenerate, reductive, dehumanizing, simplistic, sexual, soulless and nihilistic.

A few videos to help illustrate my point: