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The Second Horseman of the Apocalypse - Human nature, demographics, and the decline of the West.
American Thinker ^ | 1 Jan, 2026 | Lars Møller

Posted on 01/01/2026 6:08:52 AM PST by MtnClimber

From Wikimedia Commons: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Viktor Vasnetsov, 1887).

Predictably, human nature remains constant across the centuries, driven by the same primal impulses—ambition, fear, greed, and tribal loyalty—that fuel conflict and upheaval. These enduring drives and emotions ensure that humanity cannot permanently exorcise evil; it persists, resurfacing in ever-shifting forms.

In the twentieth century, Western civilization teetered on the brink of annihilation, barely surviving the twin horrors of Nazism and Bolshevism. These ideologies, shrouded in propaganda myths about “race” and “class”, respectively, unleashed unprecedented destruction, claiming tens of millions of lives and threatening the very foundations of liberal democracy. Yet, survival came at a staggering cost, leaving scars that should have instilled constant vigilance.

In his seminal work The Decline of the West (1918–1922), definitively rejecting the naive concept of “linear progress”, Oswald Spengler proposed a “cyclical theory of history”. Supposedly, civilizations are never eternal but should be likened to organisms, subject to inexorable cycles of growth, maturity, and decline. The West, in Spengler’s view, entered its “winter” phase—a period of rigidification, cultural exhaustion, and impending collapse—towards the end of the nineteenth century. Swayed by cultural determinism, he interpreted both WWI and the rise of totalitarian movements (in preparation for ultimate “Caesarism”) as confirmations of his theory.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 seemed to herald a triumphant endpoint. Naive optimists, echoing Francis Fukuyama’s pronouncement, believed that history had concluded: liberal democratic values, underpinned by free markets and individual rights, had prevailed irrevocably. Bolshevism’s collapse appeared to validate this optimism, suggesting a global convergence towards Western norms. However, this illusion of finality proved profoundly misguided. Far from stagnating in perpetual peace, history resumed its relentless march, birthing a third existential threat to Western civilization. Surpassing its atheistic predecessors in expected long-term success

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Education; Society
KEYWORDS: islam

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1 posted on 01/01/2026 6:08:52 AM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber
Muslim birth rates significantly outpace those in the secularizing West, creating an inexorable shift that no policy of assimilation or integration has yet reversed.
2 posted on 01/01/2026 6:09:12 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Iran’s population has grown from around 10 million in the 70s to 90 million, but we can see how that is working out.

Will be interesting to see how areas like Syria and Gaza fair if there is little economic suppprt

Here in the US and Europe we need to get a handle on it, and stop funding this growth.


3 posted on 01/01/2026 6:16:53 AM PST by blitz128
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To: MtnClimber

Solution? No immigration for the ingrates. Send them back. Their conquered countries in the Middle East cannot sustain the population boom. Remove their forward operating bases (mosques) from civilization soil. Many other things can be implemented to thwart the barbarians.


4 posted on 01/01/2026 6:22:18 AM PST by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)
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To: blitz128

YES


5 posted on 01/01/2026 6:23:04 AM PST by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)
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To: MtnClimber

6 posted on 01/01/2026 6:33:18 AM PST by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you. )
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To: blitz128

The sooner the better.


7 posted on 01/01/2026 7:28:18 AM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

What if there were a God, who wanted to save you, but eventually had to abandon you to your own evil? (Romans chapter 1)

(Cast not your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under, and turn to rend you [with their razor sharp tusks]. Matthew 7:6)

Oh, what if God didn’t believe in you?


8 posted on 01/01/2026 7:29:50 AM PST by CharlesOConnell (Kucy)
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To: blitz128

Syria and Gaza are the least fair.

But Iran did’t make it ugly.


9 posted on 01/01/2026 7:31:07 AM PST by CharlesOConnell (Kucy)
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To: PGalt

“Solution? No immigration for the ingrates. Send them back.”

Meanwhile, what happened to our ordinary kids here? Where are they?

“They” have lots. We have none.

Vacuum is an irresistable force.

Something will fill it.


10 posted on 01/01/2026 7:34:41 AM PST by CharlesOConnell (Kucy)
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To: PGalt

Yes, stop the immigration before it even starts. Make sure that potential immigrants know that “the gates are closed”. If we don’t do this or something very similar our western society may not continue to exist. It must be widely made known that if there is no assimilation, then out you go. This shouldn’t be that hard to do.


11 posted on 01/01/2026 7:39:33 AM PST by oldtech
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To: MtnClimber

12 posted on 01/01/2026 1:58:45 PM PST by Albion Wilde (Yesterday only comes one time. —Richard Starkey)
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To: Albion Wilde

Apparently yes.


13 posted on 01/01/2026 2:52:40 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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