The Fate of Civilizations, Part 3

It is up to us to find a way to an open future that fixes the problems of the present.

Steven Yates

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Photo by Alice Pasqual on Unsplash

Part 3 of 3 (Part 1, Part 2)

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” -R. Buckminster Fuller

“I have become convinced that we need to decentralize our political and economic structures and broaden our approach to knowledge if we are to find our way to a more balanced and sane society.” -Helena Norberg-Hodge

A Recapping.

Sir John Bagot Glubb claimed to see six stages in the lifecycle of a civilization:

(1) Breakout and Age of Pioneers.
(2) Age of Conquest.
(3) Age of Commerce.
(4) Age of Affluence.
(5) Age of Intellect.
(6) Age of Decadence.

An Age of Decadence, the age the West is presently in, is characterized by:

(a) Pessimism and alarmism among intellectuals and writers: “doom and gloom.”

(b) A weakening of religion / religious institutions.

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Steven Yates

I am the author of What Should Philosophy Do? A Theory. I write about philosophy (especially the Stoics), health and systems, and the future if we have one.