History Rhymes: Post World War 1 and the 2020s

There was a great history book I read in 2024 called “Lawrence in Arabia” by Anderson. He does an incredible job describing the carnage of World war 1 and what it inflicted on society.

“The effect of all this on the collective European psyche would be utterly profound. Initial euphoria would give way to shock, shock to horror, and then, as the killing dragged on with no end in sight, horror to a kind of benumbed despair. 

In the process, though, the European public would come to question some of the most basic assumptions about their societies…..In turn, Europe’s imperial structure had fostered a culture of decrepit military elites–aristocrats and aging war heroes and palace sycophants–whose sheer incompetence on the battlefield, as well as callousness toward those dying for them, was matched only by that of their rivals.” 

I don’t know about you but that seems to describe America and our greater Western societies. 

We went from complete unipolar dominance in the 90s to being stuck in two quagmires of Afghanistan and Iraq. I know many US military vets who wonder what the heck they sacrificed for here. Exacerbated by stupid DEI policies and mandatory vaccination mandates, we lost some great warfighters through this. 

It’s not that much better on the civilian side. We saw the GFC Global Financial Crisis happen and most of us took hits here, but no bankers went to jail and were actually bailed out with our tax dollars. This was when the credibility of our institutions started to go downhill. We saw the covid pandemic in 2020 and the incredibly incompetent mismanagement universally by most governments and even major institutions like the UN and WHO. 

Add in the debacle in the Afghanistan withdrawal, halting and half-assed support by the West for Ukraine against Russia. Law and order in decay in many of our cities, anarcho-tyranny where criminals were let go but those who tried to prevent these were arrested (Daniel Penny being the most glaring case) and the most bizarre open immigration policy where an immense amount of randos were let in. Even criminals or worse on the watch list. 

Faith and trust in all of our major institutions are at an all time low. I can honestly say I do NOT trust any of our politicians nor any of the business, academic and big institutions these days after the incredible series of debacles over the last decade and half.  

We’ve seen a growing inequality in America, everything is getting more expensive through inflation, like housing, food, education and healthcare. Most American’s lives are getting tougher. All while many of our elites have turned out to be incompetent, just take a look at most of our University administrators. Or incredibly corrupt as you look at the grifters in the American congress. Or maybe too clever or weak, if you look at how many corporate leaders turned to ESG, DEI and wokeist idiocy. Thankfully much of this is being unwound as I write this but the damage has been done. 

I haven’t lost complete hope in America and the West at large yet. There is incredibly rejuvenative power in this country. Most of the smartest and driven people in the world still want to come here or are living here already. And some of us still try to live by the ideals that made America great. But this turnaround will be an uphill battle. 

So this is your regular reminder: Focus on fixing yourself, staying mentally and physically strong and maybe this will ripple outwards from you, from your family, to your neighbors, then to your city, then to your State. One person can make a difference. Ripples can become big waves.