Whatever

As I have been considering the wreckage of the Supreme Court's decisions over the last few days, reading articles about essentially unchecked immigration not only here but into the EU from North Africa, and the usual assortment of of commentaries about the direction of the the U.S. and the West, I have to come to the conclusion that the guiding light for liberal policies is very simple: "Whatever." Further, as a society have hit critical mass and become "liberal" regardless of the political name tags we wear.

Essentially the West, now including the U.S., is simply too tired to muster any sustained political will. The reason would be immediately apparent to the Founders (and foreigners like de Tocqueville) if they were here today. The dynamic nature of the West, especially the United States, was established on and refreshed by the Judeo-Christian worldview and the faith behind it. This was the source of Western optimism, modern science, inalienable rights and the sacredness and sanctity of the individual, and so much else. We have now cut ourselves off from this foundational source and are now untethered and beginning to float about freely in whatever political or cultural breeze that is blowing strongest at the moment. 

A further consequence is that the political class is almost entirely populated by "men with hollow chests" - women too - no sexist views here. Doesn't matter which political party. They are totally cynical. They will say and do whatever they need to stay in power, while working toward the eliminating the need to bother with such nuisances as elections altogether so they can have their self-professed brilliance reign unhindered. Thus when they come up against die-hard proponents of issues like gay marriage, polygamy (coming soon to a neighborhood near you!), "free" goodies for everybody, and other issues which are a primal rebellion against limits of any kind, the political class has neither the inclination or resources to know or do what is "good." Instead it panders, dithers, puts lipstick on pigs, and finally shrugs its collective shoulders and says, "Whatever." It is, after all, good for them. 

The real problem occurs when this tired, listless, unprincipled political system comes up against another culture with a different dynamic. The most jarring at the moment is Radical Islam. This culture is connected to a religious root, albeit a nasty one, but connected it is. The West's political class does not understand this, having lost its understanding of its own religious roots long ago, and persists in thinking you can make some kind of a deal with its radical leaders. You can't. When they continue on their jihad (think ISIS, think Iran) about all the West can muster is a desultory response that gives the appearance of action but is worthless from a military standpoint - like shooting an alligator with a BB gun while it eats the family dog. There are other alligators out there too.

And so we do Rome, deja vu. People are always surprised how quickly the barbarians are at the gates. They shouldn't be. Barbarians are ever present and like sharks can sense even minute amounts of blood in the water. They are on the way or even already here and the best we can do is bluster, posture, but ultimately, as the barbarians can already sense, the West will say, "Whatever." Oh, a decreasing minority in the U.S. will fight a rearguard action for some time with occasional successes, but short of a true miracle, the ennui at the center of our societal soul will set in and then the fun begins.