“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder”
The late historian Toynbee argued, that when civilizations meet a challenge they cannot overcome or resolve, they rather commit suicide than to let themselves murdered by outside forces. I sincerely doubt however that anyone from the political class in the West read Toynbee, let alone be influenced by his thoughts… Yet, here we are at this historical juncture clearly marking the end of centuries long Western dominance, colonization and exploitation — and together with a looming fall in global oil production: the slow decline of industrial civilization. What do we do next? Are we strong enough to step back and stop this madness?
Systems, which took centuries to build up and evolve to their current form are not willing to give up on their dominance easily. What we are witnessing today is but a beginning to a long political, economical and technological struggle lasting (probably many) decades into the future. The economic superorganism encircling the planet is doing everything to keep itself alive for a little longer while being starved of energy. It would first crack in two large chunks, then after the crumbling an fall of its more depleted half, the other would follow suit.
With the above process in mind, let’s first make a quick sweep through the economic news in Europe, where the idea of Western dominance born and where it seems to meet its fate. So, how things look like on the onset of Europe’s long descent? On the face of it, the continent it seems has now filled up its gas storage units to the brim and LNG tankers are now queuing up in front of European ports waiting to be unloaded…
…click on the above link to read the rest…
