More Thoughts On The Weimar Effect

In earlier posts, you've read my thoughts about something I've come to call the Weimar Effect. It is a process and product taken from the history of the Weimar Republic, a 24 year period in Germany beginning in 1919 and ending with the rise of Adolf Hitler. Although the arts flourished in those years, German society was wracked by almost constant political division, violence, hyperinflation and a loss of meaning among a once-proud people. The effect ends in pathology.

Yesterday, Shrinkwrapped completed a five part series addressing the effects of modernity on demographics. Much of what he writes about resembles the German experience during the Weimar years. It also applies to the present-day West and our conflict with radical Islam. Here is his summary statement:

I have suggested that the collapse of Communism led to a collapse of meaning in Russia and is contributory to Russia's demographic collapse. I have suggested that the collapse of meaning in the increasingly narcissistic (and solipsistic) West (the death of G-d and His replacement by secular religious beliefs, such as Anthropogenic Global Warming) is contributory to [the] West's demographic collapse. Islam has presented itself as the final ideology, the supplier of all meaning, yet two of the most ideological Islamic societies are in various stages of demographic decline.

The meaning offered by Islamism involves the idealization of death. A society that idealizes death cannot long survive once it[s] people gain the ability to make choices.

It remains an interesting and indisputable fact that the modern societies that continue to grow, that have children and are future oriented, are those societies that embrace life. It is American Christians and Orthodox Jews who still believe in large families. The implications of this are far reaching and should be thought provoking.

Tackling Shrinkwrapped's well-reasoned article will require attention and commitment. Read it and grow. Here is a link to the the first post. Others in the series can be accessed from that page, left column, under "Recent Posts." Read the comments for some significant first-person observations.