81% of Biden supporters say getting married and having children is not a high priority. That’s horrendous, but not terribly surprising. What left me aghast was that 41% of Trump supporters agreed with them. Only 59% understand that the family is the most crucial foundation of any civilized society. What do they think—that government is?
A nation in decline has never fully recovered its former glory. Many disappear completely (Babylon, Assyria), and some remain but only as weak shells of their former splendor (Greece, Rome, Britain). America will need a complete moral rejuvenation, a return to God and virtue, to rise again to true greatness, and that revival is nowhere in view at present. The entire world seems to be headed toward another “dark age” for humanity.
The “Dark Ages” followed the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. “Barbarians” immigrated into, and took over Europe. It is impossible to put exact dates on when these “dark ages” began and ended, but the deterioration lasted several centuries. Because worldwide human interaction was very slow and limited at that time, those “dark ages” applied mainly to Europe and didn’t overly affect the rest of humanity. If such a period struck again, it would almost surely influence the entire planet, given the current nature of global intercourse.
What caused the “Dark Ages” in Europe? What happened to Rome?
That answer is multi-faceted, and thousands of books and articles have been written about it. But there are certain principles and historical happenings that produced Rome’s “decline and fall” and the subsequent delinquency of Europe.
A few important ones:
1. Incredibly poor leadership. After the “Five Good Emperors” of the 2nd century A.D., Rome had few quality leaders on the “national” level. Indeed, the “barracks emperors”—a series of military rulers—took power, and most didn’t die in their beds. Good, virtuous leadership is essential for the survival of any country/empire, and Rome no longer had it. Rome thus only existed as long as it did because it still had some republican institutions, with power divided among the “national” and “local” levels. It mattered not that most of the emperors were military men; the excellence of the individual, not his position in society, is what is critical in leadership.
With very few exceptions, America has had incredibly poor quality in Washington, D.C., for the past few decades. That’s what Rome suffered. Power-hungry, self-aggrandizing politicians are always destructive.
2. The “bread and circuses.” Rome grew wealthy, and the people grew fat, lazy, and decadent. Too much of the empire’s population was no longer willing to be productive; they were given to hedonistic pleasure. This produced 2 curses:
A. It led to excessive government spending to pay for all the “bread, circuses, gladiatorial games, and lions eating Christians” debauchery. This spurred inflation and drained the wealth of Roman society.
B. Thus, the middle class was squeezed and discouraged, and such drove Rome to near financial oblivion.
3. The feebleness of Roman religion. Paganism has rarely been a strong inducement to moral excellence. Many pagan “gods” were more licentious than humans. And such dominated Roman religion. Christianity was rising, but by the 4th century, was still not strong enough, perhaps not even as strong as its current enfeebled condition in America today; quantifying such is impossible. But regardless, weakened religion produces a less virtuous people. And that always destroys the strength of character necessary to overcome obstacles when they arise.
4. And such “obstacles” arose. The barbarians came. They had no morals, they wanted lands, homes, and conquest. Decadent Roman leadership couldn’t—wouldn’t—stop them. Without virtue, there is no freedom or civilization, only darkness and savagery. Western Civilization descended into hundreds of years of “dark ages” until the barbarians were finally civilized by Christianity, societal stability was produced, and trade and commerce returned and flourished. But it took several centuries.Do you see any parallels between Rome and America/the current world today?
Barbarianism increasingly dominates the world now. What I mean by “barbarism” is that the moral virtues necessary to produce societal stabilization built upon family, religion, and respect for law and property rights are disappearing. Hedonism respects nothing but its own pleasure. There is, of course, very little virtue left in America, and we are witnessing the results on our streets and college campuses, in our empty churches, in the rot vomited out by Hollywood in movies and television, and in the halls of Congress which has become America’s most degenerate institution.
Other global locations are no better. China is run by selfish mongrels who care absolutely nothing for their people; I lived there for ten years and was repeatedly victimized by it. The Middle East, Israel excluded, overseen by a religion of violence, not love, that hasn’t yet lifted most of its countless adherents out of primitiveness and into an even semi-civilized condition. They’re still in the 7th century. Europe eventually moved out of its “Dark Ages”; the Middle East never has.
Which current “civilization” can prevent the world from descending into another serious period of darkness and brutality?
The Left is destroying the foundations of Western Civilization and replacing it with selfish nihilism. A civilized society cannot be built upon nothingness. Western Civilization, established upon Greco-Roman political ideals and Judeo-Christian moral values, is almost gone.
China doesn’t believe in freedom. They believe in force. They might conquer the world, but if they do, it won’t be by virtue and persuasion, it won’t be by offering the world freedom and moral progress, it will be by death and oppression. That’s darkness, that’s not light, that’s not civilization. The Muslim world offers nothing better. Europe, like America, is tossing its traditions and heritage into the dustbin of history. Who’s left? Africa? Russia? Who will be the shining light on the hill to keep the barbarians at bay or civilize them?
From whence will light come?
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Mark Lewis is a native Texan currently living in Thailand. He has Master's degree in history and has taught history and English in America, South Korea, and China. His first book, Whitewater, a western novel, was recently published, and is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Eliva.com.
