Anyone who cares about others must care about what we call “civilization.” Nothing has done more to reduce human suffering, whether from violence, poverty, or oppression, than civilization, characterized by the rule of law, meritocracy, and freedom of speech.
And yet all three of those core pillars of civilization, and others, are under attack by the people who benefit the most from it. Governments are creating two-tier systems of justice. Institutions are ranking us based on a group identity with victims of historical oppression. And nations around the world are cracking down on free speech.
All is not lost. While civilizations rise and fall, the West’s unique combination of freedoms makes it uniquely resilient. But there can be little doubt among anyone who takes civilization seriously that it is in serious trouble, and it is often ruling elites, not ordinary working people, who are undermining it.
Why is that, and what can be done about it? I was delighted to sit down with John Papola for a two-hour conversation about the threats to civilization, what’s behind them, and what can be done about them. It includes my first extended remarks about the book I’m writing with Alex Gutentag for HarperCollins. It will be the third and last in my trilogy about why civilization is undermining itself.
There’s never been a more critical time to subscribe to Public, a source of investigative reporting you can’t find anywhere else. Public is pushing back against the Censorship Industrial Complex and the West’s rapidly accelerating descent into totalitarianism.
