The Suicide of America
“Civilizations die from suicide and not murder.”
George Noga
Sep 22, 2024
This is the first of two parts. This part explains how the collapse of civilizations applies to America in 2024. Part two, posted next week, explains how the USA is committing suicide by climate madness, suffocating debt, toxic politics and geopolitical weakness.
The above quote is from historian Arnold Toynbee who explored the rise and fall of civilizations. His tome, “A Study of History”, determined civilizations usually collapse from internal failure rather than external conquest. The most notable internal collapse is the Roman Empire; others include the Mayan Civilization, Indus Valley, Anasazi of the American southwest and the Khmer at Angkor Wat.
Toynbee posited that civilizations decline when they fail to effectively respond to challenges – usually due to internal failures stemming from a loss of moral and cultural vitality. Toynbee identified four key causes of civilization collapse.
1. Moral Decay
When the cultural and moral values that once unified and motivated a civilization deteriorate, the society loses its sense of purpose and direction. America ascended in no small part due to widely shared moral and religious beliefs and values. Today everything is relative; there is no agreement about right and wrong. We can’t even define what a women is and we place tampons in boys’ restrooms.
2. Leadership Failure
Dynamic leaders initially drive a civilization’s growth. Over time, leaders become venal and corrupt. There is no better example than Roman emperors Caligula, Nero and Tiberius. America today is marked by venal, corrupt and inept leaders.
America’s current president is physically and cognitively a mess; he is a serial plagiarist and has engaged in influence peddling, money laundering and bribery. Our current vice president, and nominee for president, is a socialist who is an equity hire who got ahead the old fashioned way. Her choice for VP is also a socialist and has lied about his past. Neither has worked a single day in the private sector.
3. Social Fragmentation
As the elite become more detached from the general population, social cohesion breaks down leading to fragmentation. America in 2024 already is there. Bicoastal elites matriculate in different schools and school their children differently. They work in different jobs, eschew religion and have different politics and culture. The elites don’t watch the same movies or TV shows, read the same books, dine at the same restaurants, drive the same cars or vacation in the same places.
Elites don’t even look the same due to different notions about diet, exercise, piercings, tattoos, dress and cosmetic surgery. Their language, speech and grammar differ. They avoid the military and police; they disdain hunting, fishing and firearms. They reside in different cities, but share the same continent with culturally opposed groups. They intermarry and have children who are even more elite. We now have third generation elites who know little of the people in flyover land. Most elites don’t know one evangelical Christian or someone without a college degree.
4. Economic and Political Stagnation
Without effective leadership and moral clarity, economic and political systems fail to address new challenges and crises. Nothing illustrates this better than the current US spending and debt crisis. At bottom, this is a moral crisis because we deliberately chose to take from our children and grandchildren rather than to control our own spending. To make matters worse, the money we stole was not put to good use. Instead of borrowing to save our nation from calamity, we stole to fund a perpetual bacchanal. We have bankrupted the most prosperous nation in history.
Suicide is a Choice
Many civilizations have survived for a very long time such as Japan, Tonga and New Guinea. Therefore, collapse – or suicide – is not inevitable. Rather, suicide is the result of the choices we make. The four key causes of civilization collapse identified by Toynbee all are present in America today and are growing more pernicious. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that America is choosing suicide.
© 2024 George Noga
More Liberty – Less Government, Post Office Box 916381
Longwood, FL 32791-6381, Email: mllg@cfl.rr.com