Fearing a decline of modern Western civilisation? What are the biggest threats?

1. 76

   Beata Stasakposted 13 years ago

   Fearing a decline of modern Western civilisation? What are the biggest threats?
   
   The versions of Western civilisations declined and the fell with dramatic speed many times before in history. We know Western civilisation is farm from flawless with its share of historical misdeeds, the brutality of imperialism and the banality of consumer society and yet it offers the best available set of economic, social and political institutions yet.
   What are the foundational texts of Western civilisation that can bolster our belief in the almost boundless power of the free human being? At its core, a civilisation is the texts taught in its schools? How good are we at teaching it?

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2. 60

   joshhunt83posted 13 years ago

   I've written some hubs on this subject recently. I believe we're about to go through a transition period in the western world. Capitalism is starting to fail and we need to massively change our culture if we're to sustain the growing global population. The next 12-24 months are going to be very interesting because something has to change. The uprisings in the east are a prime example of this.

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3. 69

   Larry Fieldsposted 13 years ago

   Science and mathematics education has been declining in the US for some time. I had an epiphany about this many years ago, when I was in graduate school at Oregon State University. In the electrochemistry class that I took, the professor and I were the only US citizens. There was one fellow from Brazil. Everyone else was from the Peoples Republic of China!
   
   The Chinese take science and mathematics education very seriously. We in the US do not. One apparent exception is Computer Science, which is more of an engineering discipline than a scientific one. And America is Number 1 in this area.
   
   To a large extent, our scientific and technological success is buoyed up by the Brain Drain from developing countries. And I don't know how sustainable that is.
   
   A century from now, the US could be a Banana Republic, whose economy is based upon IT, entertainment, Walmart,  agriculture, and coal exports. (Notwithstanding Australia's considerable coal exports, we're the Saudi Arabia of coal reserves.)
   
   Arguably, the advancement of scientific knowledge has been the single greatest civilizing influence in the Western world. (Yes, technology has a dark side, as well.) It's ironic that the Chinese could very well resume their ancient role as the scientific innovators of the world.

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