[Main Blog Post] Understanding Spengler's Decline of the West Bit 1: Morphology

[jprussell]

I've started a (hopeful) series on some of the big ideas in Oswald Spengler's Decline of the West, which is first and foremost a way for me to settle what I've learned from the book, but will hopefully also be helpful to some other folks.

You can find the post here.

Comments

[thinking_turtle]

Thanks for the detailed answer! The conflicts with Russia and China do not look like all-out fights. US-China trade is increasing, and China's car exports have significantly increased. The Ukraine conflict doesn't look like an all out conflict either. For all the deaths, it has a strangely managed feel. We sent old weapons bought from the public purse. Usually risk averse Dutch companies are investing in Western Ukraine. The EU is closing chicken farms everywhere because of "bird flu", and Europe's eggs are now sourced from Ukraine, which doesn't do bird flu checks, and has a lot less regulation regarding pesticides and worker safety. Does this look like an emerging split, or is it just a stage managed distraction by the public-private-partnership world culture?

Looking forward to the next post!

[jprussell]

Well, I have not been particularly closely following US/Europe's relationships with Russia or China, but both making trading arrangements not settled in US dollars makes me think the days of the dollar as the world's reserve currency are numbered, which would have very dramatically negative effects on at least the US economy, don't know about the EU. Even if I am wrong on specifics, the main point I was making is that the West's/"World Culture's" control of energy and resources is far from absolute, and there are several places making noises about how maybe there's a different way. But, I suppose we'll see how things go.

And thanks much, I will try not to disappoint!