Is the West in decline?

As a student of political theory, I spend every day scrutinizing this jumble of concepts and contradictions we call the Western canon. From Plato to Nietzsche, from Hume to Derrida, I was forced to read all the so-called greats for my classes.

The uncomfortable feeling I get in class when someone clearly hasn’t finished reading – but chooses to speak anyway – is what it’s like to log on to social media these days. Every time I open one of these cursed apps, I’m reminded of how many people believe that at every turn in the news cycle, our fragile conception of a beautiful and sophisticated Western civilization is under attack.

Growing up Greek and attending Greek school between the ages of five and twelve, I was fed a constant diet of Western indoctrination. “The inventors of democracy”, “the creators of Western culture”, “the defenders of the greatest ideologies known to man” and other phrases like these have been shoved down my throat from my earliest days. young age. I was raised to believe that defending the West was part of my civic duty as a Greek – and to think otherwise would be to deny my heritage.

You can imagine the look I made when I saw Greek-Canadian radio host Elias Makos of CJAD 800 making a fool of himself on Twitter (and yes, I refuse to call him Apartheid Clyde in his emerald glasses). it’s up to us to call it).

On October 7, Hamas, the ruling authority of the Gaza Strip, crossed the border fence for the first time in more than a decade. Rockets were launched into Israel, killing hundreds of soldiers and civilians living near the world’s largest open-air prison. Israel’s retaliation was nothing short of a complete bloodbath.

Canadians remain nuanced and divided on the occupation, but that did not prevent Makos from castigating any Canadian who denounced, even remotely, the incessant bombings of the Israeli state on the Gaza Strip.

In response to Ontario MPP Sarah Jama call for an immediate ceasefire in the war on Gaza – a conflict in which the overwhelming majority of the Canadian government supports and aids Israel – Makos collapsed.

“These colonial absurdities are the hallmark of the anti-Western, anti-capitalist, anti-Semitic ideology that seeks to undo the greatest societies ever built – the free liberal democracies of the West. » tweeted Makos on October 10. “Canada’s far left parties (the NDP, the Greens and unfortunately half of the Liberal Party, both federally and provincially) have swallowed these ideologies whole. Their massive regurgitation destroys everything we have built. The richest and fairest societies of all time. Built by you. Being defeated by it.

Makos blamed the Canadian left’s condemnation of Israel’s actions on “wokeness.” He critical Canada was not included in a joint statement from the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, France and Germany supporting Israel’s right to wipe Gaza off the map, citing that the anti-Western and anti-capitalist ideology of the revival was to blame. .

Like him continued In his speech, Makos stressed that the defense of Israel is a necessity for the Western world because “it is the only shining light in the darkness that is the Middle East.” We must defend Western values ​​and civilization, period. Attacking Israel is attacking the values ​​that give us freedom. »

The idea that Western civilization is under attack from within is not a new concept at all.

“We, men of Western culture, are, with our historical sense, an exception and not a rule. World history is our picture of the world and not that of all humanity,” wrote conservative German philosopher Oswald Spengler in his 1918 book. The decline of the West. “(T)here will never again be a culture and human type in which “world history” is such a powerful form of waking consciousness. »

Spengler’s writings influenced fascist ideologies in 1920s Germany and were favored by members of the Nazi Party. His main argument is that the West is in a state of decadence, rotten by politicians, activists and academics who seek to destroy it from within.

More than a century later, his ideas are still felt in our modern political discourse.

Many of us may remember the moral panic conservatives stirred up in 2020 over critical race theory. The outrage was manufactured by American right-wing extremist and lobbyist Christopher Rufo. He argued that the only solution to eliminating concepts of “racial justice” from public schools is to defund and entirely privatize the education system.

Rufo’s defense of the Western concept and his targeted attacks on leftists had an impact in Canada. Conservative figures like Jordan Peterson and Pierre Poilievre have echoed his arguments verbatim.

“Conservatives must create a strong association between Hamas, BLM, DSA, and academic “decolonization” in the public mind. Connect the dots, then attack, delegitimize and discredit. Make the center-left disavow them. Make them political untouchables”, Rufo tweeted on October 13. Essentially, he said the quiet part out loud.

When I left Greek school at the age of 12, I found myself at a crossroads. I was able to recognize some of the Greek nationalist fervor that had been instilled in me, but going to a French high school changed my worldview. As I sat through classes on the history of Western civilization, I realized that I was still being sold the same shtick, even in a non-Greek context. The “our” in “our history” now belonged to an even larger group; Western hegemony was being sold to me.

Western supremacy is not a bad boy, an anti-woke exception or an exception in our social sphere, it is the norm. Never in my five years of post-secondary education have I been taught by a professor who was categorically opposed to the Western canon. Accusing the “woke left” of destroying Western culture and its institutions is sleight of hand.

In his tweetstorm, Makos explained that he does not identify as conservative and has never even voted for conservatives. It was clear to me that he was reactionary, but his outburst touched on something deeper.

I don’t think Makos is a right-wing extremist at all. He reminds me of so many of the boys I went to Greek school with – centrist, middle-of-the-road liberals who feel like they’re owed something because of the power of their heritage. The glory of the West is a myth. Any society fueled by genocide and slavery deserves no glorification in my books.

The best thing we can do when someone is having an existential crisis about their political identity is to leave them in their corner. We should not engage with people who see Stalin in every voice, even if somewhat critical of Western hegemony.

The concept of Western supremacy does not reside in the Gaza Strip, it is ingrained in our minds. At stake is whether we choose to extirpate the tumor of white supremacy from our culture.

This article was originally published in Volume 44, Issue 4, published October 17, 2023.