there is a belief, or something similar to an illusion, that the west, with its entire civilization, is on the verge of collapse, and this has been circulating for several decades, and the majority of those who promote this statement are oppressed peoples, or religiously deceived, who usually have their own interpretation with regard to morality, and its translation.
on the ground, as long as the west is collapsing, there is therefore a need or necessity for the rise of another party to replace this collapsed and morally bankrupt west.
this alternative is not currently available, and has not been available since two hundred years ago, or since world war i, at least. there is no party that has ever been or will soon have the ability to replace the west, whether medically, militarily, scientifically, or in any other field.
all those who openly declare their hostility to the west are unable, or even willing, to harm it, as the progress that occurred there was mainly due to its dealings with the west, which if it stopped buying its products, would be hit by a recession.
colleague hamid zanaz says in an article entitled “the decline of western civilization... reality or just wishes?”, that many european, american and islamic intellectuals see the collapse and fall of the west as a historical inevitability that has become imminent, and the german thinker oswald spengler (1880-1936) was the first to call for thus in his book “the decline of the west,” which was published a hundred years ago, and was published in arabic with distorted titles, as usual, and its author was one of those fascinated by mussolini’s fascism.
although he refused to join the german nazis, he contributed to the rise of hitlerism through his harsh and persistent criticism of parliamentary democracy. and how, over the years, the book became one of the references for all those who believe in the death and end of the west.
the french poet and thinker paul valéry had previously written his book “the crisis of reason,” in which he spoke about the death of european civilization and predicted its imminent demise. this was in the year 1919, and the west is still at the height of its power, technologically, culturally, scientifically, and militarily, and even in outer space, and in every conceivable field.
zanaz adds that all countries, in their quest for development, imitate this “west, which some are waiting for its downfall,” and do not hesitate to steal or imitate its innovations in the three fields of technology, legal, administrative, etc. so how can the one we seek to imitate be an entity on the verge of collapse?
today, the west is a geographical, economic and military entity that brings together western and central europe, australia, a large part of the americas, new zealand, israel and japan.
much has been said before about the danger of the latter and the asian tigers to the western economy, but nothing happened, and today they talk about the danger of china and others, not realizing that the economies of these countries have joined and become immersed in the economy of the west.
the economies of these countries also tend toward the totalitarian political system to implement major infrastructure and industrial projects rather than innovations. it is natural for a country with 22% of the world’s population to regain its place within the global economy. this cannot cause any harm to the western economy, on the contrary, as it opens up large, diverse markets to it.
as for india, it is a country shackled ethnically, religiously, socially and bureaucratically, and it still suffers from many problems at all levels. india will be an important customer and an economic power, but it cannot match china.
one of the most important features that make the west continue its strength and progress, and an attractive factor, is that it has enjoyed, for centuries, a standard of living and freedom that is the best in the world, and the souls and hearts of the majority still yearn to immigrate to the west, which is still at the height of its power due to the deepening of individual, religious and political freedoms that it produces.
that unquenchable intellectual ferment in which the west finds constant self-criticism constitutes a solid ground for its strength. what indicates the strength of the west is this tendency to learn its languages compared to other languages.
therefore, the west is not only geography, but a civilization, which is currently prevalent, and will remain so for many decades to come. the knowledge available in america is similar to that available in sweden, denmark, france, and germany, so how will the west end so easily? what do ‘they’ imagine?