American Freedom Alliance
The 8th and final video in the Freedom Academy’s “Odyssey of Western Civilization” series hosted by Victor Davis Hanson
In this video:
Ever since the days of classical Greece, Western civilization rested
upon a bedrock of idealism and civic virtue. Then, amid the confusion
and disconnection created by the Industrial Revolution, the West began
to turn away from its traditional emphasis on religion, patriotism and
family values. Nowadays we all wallow the nihilistic chaos of the
postmodern world, where irony and cynicism are the dominant modes. But
we long for a rebirth of the values and traditions that sustained
Western civilization for 2,500 years – and one day may do so again.
Source
A Century of the Modern and Postmodern West – 1918 to 2011
Hanson is amazingly cherry picking. Here are some basic facts that Hanson does not bother or fails to factor into his tyrad:
1. world population during Athens glory ca. 500 BC was @150M. It remained low until the end of the 19th century. It is now @9B.
2. Life expectancy was 35 years in 500BC and remained low until the mid of the 19th century.
3. Peole died massivly of diseases that modern medicine eliminated. (the 14th century black plague killed millions – @1/3 of worlds population)
4. Horrible wars occured through out history – nothing modern about it (Millions of the german people were killed or died during the 17th century 30 year war)
5. Christianity is responsible for numerous bloody wars since its inception.
Remarkably he forgot or chose to ignore other modern scientific ‘destructive’ developments besides the terrible idea inputs of Darwin, Marx, Nietsche and Freud: He failed to mention Einstein who introduced the poisenous concept of relativism – every thing is relative; and Heisenberg's uncertainty priniciple – you cannot be completely sure about anything.
Finally Greek literature is filled with tragic plays – not simply anatgonisim vs protagonism. In fact it were the Greeks who introduced the concept of tradegy – bad outcome fortold regardless of what you do.
Darwin ,s OK, a scientist as it was, but the rest of these bearded and mustached old European influencers and "luminaries"you day. Like a crack dealer lights you up ? Dim bulbs. . No way. Glad to see them go. Total nonsense. People still run around and spout nonsense form these idiots. OH. my inner shadow, I so depressed, etc etc etc. They still run around with this nutty stuff. Every hear of biology and neurology and physics? K Popper and others rejected these 2nd rate thinkers 100%. Wittgenstein ignored them completely. Frederick who? and others objected at the time – pseudoscience and pseudo-philosophy and pseudo-economics and economics is pseudo-enough already. , way too much. its a ponzi scheme now from the FED, like anybody is fooled. . This is 2020 , are we still going opt to have the discussion about when astrology is astronomy(never) .Great lecture for a few minutes. So with old Freddy God is dead. Brain parasite, Freud, Throat Cancer, Marx, a writer and not a doer. a leech.. Even made all the wrong predictions, you can't more stupid thinking there is such a thing a the Science of Marx. Really. Give it a rest, nuff said. Stone Malasada
I think VDH is the greatest living historian, but this analysis of modern culture is gross oversimplification. When it comes to culture I'll defer to Marshall McLuhan. VDH is simply out of his depth when it comes to contemporary culture and arts. Is Schubert's song cycle Der Wintereise or a Mahler's 9th Symphony superior to the Beatles or the Eagles? Very questionable.
Really smart guy, I appreciate his stuff. That being said, he's really shallow on Nietzsche. It's strange that he doesn't consider that maybe Nietzsche was just a voice for what "science" had already done… that it killed God. Maybe both world wars were ultimately caused by science squeezing out religion. Maybe that explains the war fever of those looking for meaning…
But prof VDH! How can Jon Stewart be post modren when he is older than Ionian rationalism?
Far older in fact. Mr O said gentic testing proved Denisovan Millet and Jon are brothers. Going back to the lithic.
But it is fine. No body is perfect.
Hear hear from the UK!
Victor has a clear, concise comprehension of history that should be universally viewed and acknowledged.
Thank you 🙏. I could be a follower of God incarnate: Jesus Christ no matter what the building looked like. Raise a prayer to our Lord Jesus. You know who you are
Fantastic
Short but packed with knowledge.
I was loving everything this video was saying until he said America has never taken any profit from the wars in the Middle East. What a lying piece of shit! Think how many billions of dollars in profit we’re taking selling all the weapons that made that were possible! This man is a lying piece of shit I’m gonna stop the video right here before I get further offended. What a piece of shit liar
Great summary. It's good to look at the big picture. The implications for the future can be terrifying. We know all things end, just not yet seems to be our current hope.
Teach reason or preach superstition. Pick one.
Darwin didn't say we are 'no better than apes'! This guy also denies evolution? Why tout the progenitors of reason if you're just going to abandon reason for faith and superstition? Darwin and modern science in general were an inevitable outgrowth of classical thought, not modernism. Clinging to superstitious beliefs in the face of reason and demonstrable truth is a shameful practice that is beneath someone who holds the classical forebears of Western civilization in high esteem.
Most thinkers like this guy get a lot right but then lose their minds on the topic of atheism. Their ideological and metaphysical loyalties get the better of them. The philosophical question of the existence of gods was resolved in ancient times and by some of the very philosophers this presenter and others point to as the arbiters of truth and reason. Atheism did not originate in modernism and modernism is not responsible for it. Most of the most prominent of the Founders themselves were not theists (deism is not theistic), much less Christian. Were they modernists? Were they fools? If you look at actual atheistic arguments, from ancient to modern, they all rely heavily on the classical philosophers mentioned above and no notable argument for theism has been suggested, much less successfully supported, since classical times. It saddens me when an otherwise great thinker forgets how to think when his own sacred cows are on the block.
What destroyed traditional western culture? Consumerism. Suck on that conservatives.
10 COMMANDMENTS #4 HONER MY SABBATH DAY AND KEEP IT HOLY!!! DO YOU
KNOW WHAT DAY IS GOD'S SABBATH? IT IS THE LAST DAY OF THE WEEK WHICH IS
SATURDAY. WHO THEN ARE WE WORSHIPING? SATAN'S SUNDAY???
I would say the emancipation of women was the cause for such a drastic change in western society. The rise of 3rd-wave feminism, the breakup and ridicule of the concept of the traditional nuclear family, the social engineering and disastrous policies of 'equality of outcome', etc. I would also argue that this has directly, or indirectly, led to mass unfettered migration from non-European cultures at a rate that has begun the destruction/erosion of our cultures at a much faster pace. If we dilute our societies with peoples with ZERO cultural connection to our civilisation then what other outcome can we expect? This notion that an African or a Chinese just needs a passport and all of a sudden they're Italian or Spanish or Norwegian. It really is a tragedy to see such a civilisational legacy(the greatest achievement in human history) be willingly, and willfully, destroyed by this 'anti-western patriarchy' agenda, and at the root of that you'll find feminism. Patriotism is not a particularly strong desire in women, generally. They are genetically programmed VERY differently to men in this regard.
The Pyramid in front of the Louvre, somehow doesn't offend my conservative taste 🙂
We say that all the time
Food Stamps go to lazy people or drug addicts who sell the food stamps for drugs
Modern Art is just ugly
Victor Davis Hanson for President!
so are we going to pivot right back ?
POWERFUL!!!! TY, VDH!
Why does the date say to 2011?
THE GLOBALIST MOVEMENT IS SWALLOWING HUMAN KIND AND TURNUNG US INTO A SHRWIMP FARM RUN BY THE CCP.
ALL ART IS PROPAGANDA- GEORGE ORWELL
If you're walking down a San Fran Cisco street and step in a big steaming pile of human dung. That's modernism.
Wow, everything I like to read about in a summary of 25 minutes. An impossible task but not for Victor David Hanson. What a brilliant mind
When were these videos made?
2:12 In my mind this is exactly the reason why our civilization is simply falling apart, it cannot go on like this .
Everywhere around me that I look I see nothing but modern day ,complete pathetic ,dysfunctionality ,weakness, confusion and demoralization .
23:07 it’s pretty obvious that the modern world is doomed, we have become separated from God, truth, history and meaning, we are doomed .
Nihilism justified .
I think Nazi defectors tried to warn us about where we are going and the antifal crowd are helping to ensure a reaction that is not going to be pleasant.
I would have loved to have him as a college professor. I could listen to this man for hours!
This is an illuminating video!
I think we should include the threat of nuclear annihilation as a factor in shaping modern attitudes. Along with he loss of religious faith, this has produced the "if it feels good, do it" mentality.
I wish I knew one-tenth of what VDH knows. He is able to recall innumerable facts, digest them, and express them in eloquent prose without notes. I recommend his excellent series on WW2 on Hillsdale College's website. I have watched it twice and will watch it again.
That was amazingly good and so relevant! Please tell me when this was originally produced. I’d really appreciate that.
Great series!
I just imagine how much you need to know to be able tu summarize all of this into.a 25 minute video.
America wants very few things, the bill of rights and the original Constitution is all. No more, no less.