[Sioux-san]

WW1 was so horrific that none of us can even begin to imagine. I had no idea the depths of depravity our Govts. had our young men go to - WW2, more unfinished business - WW3, will that be the End Game - For what, I ask???? We simply must stop cooperating.

In Germany, by law, if you are Christian who attends church, you are taxed 10% more as your involuntary tithe to that church. That must have had an impact on attendance, I am guessing.

[PapaNew]

I would trace the beginning of the end of western society to the late 1800’s with the rise of the godless Fabian Society and the Progressive movement which continued to built up steam in the 1900’s as the whole world turned from God to their own devices.

[skinkinthegrass]

hmm..the Muslims and Marxism took hold.

[staytrue]

“In Germany, by law, if you are Christian who attends church, you are taxed 10% more as your involuntary tithe to that church.”

In the US, you usually pay less in tax.

[SIRTRIS]

Oh geeeee!! Watch the JWs come out of the wood work!!

[Doctor 2Brains]

For later

[Graewoulf]

Thanks for this thread.

[Sam Gamgee]

I don’t know. Seems to me “Great” Britain is basically a Sharia state these days.

[GraceG]

The “Progressive Era” and it’s innane policies along with the acceptence of FIAT based currencies was the Poison pill western society gladly swallowed like the kool-aide at a Jim Jones gathering...

[ex-snook]

A MUST read for all Freepers who place America’s future first.

[nathanbedford]

Here is a worthy piece that everyone should read. We are to this very day suffering the consequences of World War I.

I would like to state a quibble: the first world war undoubtedly brought wholesale disillusionment, especially in Europe, which the author describes as a disillusionment of race that is, a disillusionment with the purported superiority of the white race because people of color observed white people killing each other under horrific conditions. I agree there was a mass disillusionment but I don't think it was on racial lines. I think the disillusionment was on class lines.

Racial disillusionment about the purported superiority of the white race came in World War II when Nehru says he saw the great British Empire being humiliated by their defeat of Singapore at the hands of the yellow race. World War I saw the Turks defeat the British at Gallipoli but there was compensating victories against the Ottoman Empire led by Lawrence and victories by regular British units in the holy land. Moreover, England prevailed ultimately in Iraq.

The author does not address the anomaly of the Germans having recovered their elan to the point where they were perhaps the most effective fighting units, man for man, in World War II. They suffered as badly as had the French and worse than the British yet their unit cohesion was remarkable even against overwhelming Soviet odds.

If the Germans lost their belief in God, it was evidently replaced by the pseudo-religion of the crazy Nazi belief system. Interestingly, at the siege of Moscow when everything was on the line for Stalin he lifted restrictions against the Orthodox Religion and brought in the clergy to fortify the troops.

Apart from these quibbles, it is a pity that study of World War I, indeed this study of history as a whole has been replaced with a left wing dialectic designed to aportion guilt rather than tell the story of the ascent of man.

[Lake Living]

I sometimes wonder if it wasn’t the U. S. Civil War (at least for America). It seems to me that Lincoln preserved the Union and ended slavery (which needed ending, don’t misunderstand me) but at the expense of our form of government. Federalism and the office of the presidency was greatly empowered empowered afterwards. In a lot of ways Lincoln was a very mixed bag.

[JimSEA]

Most analysis of the decline of the West leave out the important fact that the seeds of its destruction were nurtured within Western Civilization itself. Marx didn’t emerge from the jungles of Borneo, he was part in parcel of 19th century Europe and the Industrial Revolution. Mao sprang more from the West than from Chinese culture which he worked diligently to destroy. Pol Pot adsorbed communism in Paris, not in Siam Reap.

[alexander_busek]

In Germany, by law, if you are Christian who attends church, you are taxed 10% more as your involuntary tithe to that church. That must have had an impact on attendance, I am guessing.

Incorrect:

Der Kirchensteuersatz beträgt derzeit (2011) in Bayern und Baden-Württemberg 8%, in den übrigen Bundesländern 9% der Einkommensteuer.

- Wikipedia

(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirchensteuer_(Deutschland))

Jewish communities in Germany likewise levy Kirchensteuer, though at a lower rate.

Regards,

[iowamark]

It is incorrect to think that WWI brought secularism to Europe. It was in full swing before that.

[SkyDancer]

1912 - the sinking of the Titanic. Up until then people were so secure in the idea of safety in transportation. The amount of lives lost was a shock around the western nations. WWI was just an adjunct to it. It put finish to the previous world.

[dblshot]

When the survivors came home, they were shattered
My grandfather was mustard gassed in the trenches and came to under a bunch of bodies being carted away. He would have nightmares and get down by the side of the bed and act like he was shooting at the Jerry's. Grandma said he'd holler things at his imaginary foes that she wasn't about to repeat.

[CodeToad]

“the West had totally won the war.... They were uncontested and unbeatable. “

Dumbest statement ever about WWI. “Uncontested”? Really? We were fighting no one? “Unbeatable”? Really? The war ended in an armistice, not victory.

[blueunicorn6]

There were slaughters on the battlefield before WWI. Cannae comes to mind. Slaughter is slaughter. The difference was in the Soldiers and their families. The cannon-fodder have changed. And that was not a result of WWI.

[Defiant]

I think I would have mutinied, and probably been shot as a result. It would not be from fear of dying, but a refusal to die stupidly and certainly. Sending your people over the top into machine gun fire is morally wrong, and I don’t care who orders it. Taking risks and fighting is one thing; using your people as fodder in hopes the other side runs out of bullets is another. I would have braved the fire at D-Day and fought at Iwo Jima, but I would have done all I could to avoid being used as a human wave. Why it took so long to figure out the need for new tactics, I don’t know. Stubbornness? A military led by elites who could not learn new ways? What a tragedy. Europe has indeed never recovered.

[Sherman Logan]

I agree with the author’s contention that WWI was the start of the decline and fall of Western Civilization.

I cannot buy into the notion that this is due to the horrific death rates of these societies as a percentage of the population. Or at least not by itself.

Previous wars in western societies had MUCH higher percentage deaths tolls, with little or no apparent loss of societal self-confidence.

For example, the 30 Years War killed somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of all Germans, with over 90% in some areas.

The French Wars of Religion killed about 20%.

The Civil Wars in the British Isles killed, it has been estimated, 10% in England, 20% in Scotland and 30% of the Irish.