Ingratitude and Ignorance Are Driving The Destruction of The Greatest Civilization In Human History

I started writing my Imperfect America blog in 2009. It’s my passion, despite the sad fact it’s never made me a penny. Not even on Twitter, new or old, where my account is constantly throttled!

My first post was titled “Racism, America’s Original Sin”. It was a response to the new normal of anyone disagreeing with Barack Obama being called a racist. In it, I talk about the 3/5^th Compromise and the fact that it gave Southerners less power in the House than they wanted, but more importantly, it was the key to America being one nation rather than two, one free and one slave. I pointed out that blacks would likely have been much worse off in a nation of only slave states. The 3/5^th Compromise is a literal example of the subtitle of my blog: “Perfect is the enemy of the good.”

Over the last million or so words I’ve written about everything from race to the judiciary to entrepreneurship to European travel and more, most from a conservative, even libertarian perspective. I regularly make the argument that Western civilization is the greatest that has thus far been produced by men. And it’s not even close. While the Egyptians built the pyramids 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Greeks developed math and the Chinese invented gunpowder and paper, the reality is, almost every single thing used by most people around the world today is a consequence of western civilization.

For most of human history, life was brutal, short, and dangerous. For most today, it’s not. And there’s a reason. These five elements: Free speech, the rule of law, limited government, private property, and Capitalism combined to give humans the unprecedented ability and motivation to be creative and productive. And the results were extraordinary. Longer lifespans. More food. Larger and safer living quarters and conditions. Vastly more options for making a living and safer conditions when doing so. Cheaper, faster, and more comfortable transportation. Unprecedented communication tools and energy. Exponentially more information is available and accessible. Leisure time is something almost unheard of throughout history. And the list goes on.

But none of that happens in a fascist state. Nor a Communist state. None of that happens in a tyranny, or a cradle-to-grave nanny state. None of that happens when science math and human nature are ignored, and finally, none of that happens when there are no consequences for bad actors.

But those are all elements of what America is becoming. Families on welfare for generations. Giant banks and corporations privatize profits and socialize losses. Government regulation of virtually every aspect of life. Violent criminals let loose on society with slaps on the wrist. Freedom of speech is defined by those whose feelings get hurt. Merit taking a back seat to a spectrum of victimization categories. And this list too goes on.

But here’s the thing. No society ever prospered based on victimization and a nanny state culture where citizens turned on one another and the few worked to support the many. Never, not one. And no, modern European nanny states haven’t prospered because of their paternalism, they prospered despite it because the United States guaranteed their security for the last 75 years.

I write to try and make a difference. I try to showcase the fact that most Americans, indeed most Westerners, have lost sight of the reality that we’re living in the greatest and most prosperous time in human history, and more importantly, they willingly choose to ignore what created it and indeed attack those responsible. It’s not politically correct to say, but this civilization was largely created by white people, most originating in Western Europe. Nor is it PC to say that Christianity was the force that impelled it. And finally, it’s individual liberty, private property, limited government, and Capitalism that were the oil that lubricated the engine of advancement.

To the degree that modern America and Western civilization are making policies that are antithetical to all of those things, they’re killing the goose that laid the golden civilizational egg. And it would be one thing if they could point to an example of some place, some time, some civilization that was equal to or greater than ours, particularly at scale. But they don’t because they can’t. It didn’t work in New Harmony, Indiana, it never worked in the Soviet Union and it didn’t work in the 1960’s communes.

It was Western civilization and the United States that took men to flight, put men on the moon, discovered DNA, invented the computer, harnessed nuclear power, and revolutionized farming.

Nonetheless every day we’re faced with a growing faction of citizens who whine because someone else has something they don’t, because they’re victims of someone else’s success, that bad actors shouldn’t have to face the consequences of their actions, or that someone is saying something that hurts their feelings.

Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world in the early 20th century, but declined economically in the decades that followed, often associated with the rise of Peronism in the mid-20th century.

Let’s break that down:

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✅ Argentina’s Wealth in 1920:

Per capita income: In 1920, Argentina was among the top 10 countries globally in terms of per capita GDP, comparable to or even exceeding parts of Europe. It was not quite equal to the U.S., but closer to countries like France or Germany.

Exports: Argentina was a major agricultural exporter, especially of beef and wheat.

Foreign investment: British and other European capital flowed into Argentina to build railroads, ports, and infrastructure.

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🔻 The Decline After 1930:

Great Depression: The 1930s hit Argentina hard. Demand for exports fell, and Argentina turned toward more protectionist policies.

Coup and Instability: In 1930, a military coup began a long period of political instability.

Perón's Rise: Juan Perón came to power in 1946, promoting a populist, nationalist economic model:

Nationalization of key industries

Strong labor unions

Import substitution industrialization (ISI)

While this boosted working-class support and short-term growth, over time it led to:

Inefficiency in nationalized industries

High inflation

Budget deficits

Debt crises

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❓ Was Peronism the Main Cause of Decline?

It’s not the whole story:

Argentina’s decline began before Perón, after the 1930 crash.

But Peronist policies arguably accelerated economic stagnation by making the country more inward-looking and reliant on unsustainable government spending.

Later, Argentina suffered repeated cycles of inflation, debt default, and military rule.

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📉 Long-Term Result:

By the 1970s–1980s, Argentina had fallen far behind the U.S. and most of Western Europe in wealth.

The gap widened significantly after repeated economic crises in the late 20th century (e.g., 1989 hyperinflation, 2001 default).

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🧠 Summary:

> Argentina was indeed a rich country by global standards in 1920, but not quite on par with the U.S.

A combination of global shocks, early protectionism, political instability, and later Peronist populism contributed to its long-term relative decline.

From AI.

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