Is Western civilization sleepwalking towards a modern version of the Dark Ages? This provocative question is posed by historian and columnist Victor Davis Hanson, who draws stark parallels between the causes of past civilizational collapses and troubling trends visible today.
The Cyclical Rise and Fall of Civilizations
Hanson traces the origins of Western civilization to 8th century B.C. Greece, which emerged from a 400-year period of chaos and illiteracy. From this dark period arose the foundational pillars of constitutional government, rationalism, liberty, and free markets. The Roman Republic later inherited and enhanced this Greek model, spreading its culture and laws across a vast empire for nearly a millennium.
This era of relative safety, prosperity, and scientific progress lasted until the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. What followed was a second European Dark Age, lasting roughly from 500 to 1000 AD. Populations shrank, cities eroded, and sophisticated infrastructure like roads and aqueducts crumbled. The protection of Roman law was replaced by tribal chieftains, fiefdoms, and the safety of walls and stone.
Hauntingly Familiar Causes of Collapse
Hanson argues that the causes of these historical collapses are eerily recognizable in contemporary society. He lists several key factors that historians identify:
- Complacency and Affluence: The hard work and sacrifice that built civilization create wealth and leisure for later generations, who often take this prosperity for granted and mock the very values that created it.
- Fiscal and Social Decay: Expenditures and consumption outpace income and production. Traditional values, strong national defence, meritocracy, and empirical education fade.
- Social Fragmentation: The middle class shrinks, creating a society divided between a powerful few and an impoverished many. Tribalism based on race, religion, or appearance re-emerges.
- Institutional Breakdown: National governments fragment into regional and ethnic enclaves. Borders become meaningless, mass migrations go unchecked, and ancient prejudices like antisemitism resurface.
- Infrastructure and Moral Decline: Currency inflates, transportation and communications networks decay, and a general crassness in behaviour, speech, and ethics replaces prior norms.
A Path Forward Requires Courage and Action
Despite this grim diagnosis, Hanson notes a key source of hope: the West has a unique tradition of self-critique and introspection. The slow rebirth after the second Dark Age was energized by the Renaissance, Reformation, and the Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries.
However, the columnist warns that the medicine for decline—unity, honesty, courage, and decisive action—is in short supply in today's political climate, popular culture, and the fractious world of social media. The central question remains: will contemporary society learn from the past, or is it destined to repeat its most catastrophic errors?
