Western Civilization — going, going …

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An excellent talk, well worth spending to listening to in its entirety. But if that’s too much of a commitment, here’s 12-minute segment; if that’s too much, watch the first 6 minutes; and if that’s too much, spend two minutes: start at 2:26 and watch through 4:26.

Here’s what historian David Butterfield says, beginning at 2:46, and it’s no wonder he’s so pessimistic about the continuation of western civilization — we have neither part of what he deems essential to its survival:

Tradition is the act of handing off – it involves two kinds of people; you need both. The first is someone actually in position to give to another the thing deemed worthy of preserving, but crucially, that baton is going to be dropped if there isn’t also a second person willing to receive it, and sees the value in picking it up.”