Friday 19 April 2019

Terminal Demotivation is the problem of The West

From a comment I left at The Politically Incorrect Australian 

Nationalism was powerfully motivating, but only for about one generation after the mass apostasy from Christianity began (this happened at different times in different countries).

As of now, nationalism is ineffectual; and it is a waste of time - and diversion from the real problem - to pursue it.

Nationalism is just one of a long series of failed attempts to motivate people after they have abandoned religion - this universal secular demotivation can be seen in the voluntary subfertility (subfertility in spite of material abundance) among all secular Western societies. The only groups in modern society with above replacement fertility are from among the religious, and only among the seriously religious (these seem to be only among Christians, Muslims and Jews - Eastern religions don't seem to work - certainly not outside of the East).

To be clearer, I think a large majority of people in The West are in favour of not being replaced by assorted immigrants; but they are (like all established secular populations) too morally incoherent and hence insufficiently motivated to anything about it - when doing something involves the slightest risk or disadvantage.

This affects everything, which is why totalitarianism is established and increasing its grip - almost nobody will say no, because almost nobody can believe-in any coherent alternative.

No belief, no motivation: Demotivation unto death, and beyond: Terminal demotivation...

5 comments:

Desert Rat said...

It is interesting to watch this unfold. The totalitarian states of the past were established in support of something - the classless utopia of the proletarian dictatorship or the establishment of the racially pure state controlled by superior men of mighty purpose and iron will. What do the rising totalitarian states support? What is their aim and purpose? Aside from liquidating opposition to an amorphous and constantly shifting agenda of likes and dislikes there seems to be no principle or set of principles guiding these rising states. It appears the bottom line is simply "join our side or die" with the single indispensable action being the joining. It is the establishment of unfettered desire as the guiding principle coupled with the suppression of any self control. It is the weird state of chaos being imposed with an iron hand.

Michael Dyer said...

This is, despite his failings and weird connections to globalists, one of the great points of Jordan Peterson, the knowledge that virtue in the abstract and virtue under pressure aren’t the same thing. Your “shadow” will knuckle under the greater the pressure that’s exerted unless you can give it a really, really good reason why it shouldn’t; that you aren’t your own slave.

Personal theory, the last time men consciously died for materialism in great numbers, during the period from the Russian Revolution through the Second World War was also the time when they still had Christian religious software running in the background of their minds; apostates not true pagans.

This is why the story of collaborators is fascinating. Many collaborators started off the war fighting the Germans, some at great personal cost. At some point though as the jaws closed in, they negotiated with themselves and found a way to justify working with the Germans. They weren’t craven or cowardly by nature, it’s that their courage had weaknesses the enemy could exploit. Belief in God, judgement, and eternity got tested for sincerity.

We know secularism is weaker if we’re honest. All the village atheist types (and some Christians) who say they know immoral Christians and moral atheists are missing the point. It’s only rational for Christians to sacrifice greatly, which they may not, while it is always irrational for atheists, although they may.

Bruce Charlton said...

@MD - Yes - As I have always said, until a few years ago Jordan Peterson was like I was about 20 years ago, a decade before I was a Christian.

I was dangerously wrong about the Most Important things, and so was he - because being half right is worthless/ counter-productive in our situation.

That was JP a few years ago. But as of now, Jordan Peterson has joined the dark side, been corrupted, sold-out - as why not? He is a mainstream materialist leftist, after all.

You are right about 'missing the point' - but people nowadays can't be bothered even to inform themselves at the most basic level concerning what Christianity is about, and what it claims. When people Are informed, they blankly deny it.

Being a collaborator in behaviour is not the point ; it is joining the evil project in one's thinking that is the deep problem.

Modern people are not especially evil in what they do, but in terms of thinking there has never been any past evil to compare; and among the very worst souls are people who are not especially badly behaved, and maybe even 'nice'.

I suppose the problem is that people think that 'Religion'/ Christianity makes people well-behaved, which is not the case and has not been claimed. The point is that without religion you won't be good, because 1. good has no meaning and 2. you have no compelling reason to be good.

Bruce Charlton said...

@DR - That's well said.

I agree it is strange, which is why I have come to believe that a high proportion of modern Western people have been 'born bad' - that is, they were pretty evil from pre-mortal life. They are not destined to choose damnation - they must choose it; but they really don't need much persuading.

It is just *all too easy* to get modern people to join the side of spiritual evil; and they are terribly happy about themselves (smug, sanctimonious) when working for the promotion and implementation of evil.

I mean to say... that it is Very Evil Indeed to brainwash young children and their parents into accepting mutilating surgery and permanently harmful hormone derangment, under some transparently feeble pretence that they 'want' to change sex; and that this psycho-physical systematic abuse will *really* enable them to do so...

Well, knowing that this is extreme evil - at the Caligula/ Mengele level - is Not Exactly Rocket Science.

Yet the ruling Establishment, politicians, civil servants, lawyers, doctors, therapists, school teachers... in large/ majority numbers, are queueing-up to help out with this vile project.

It is not just tolerated (like evils in the past sometimes were), neither is it hidden (like the secret police activities, or death camps); it is not just advocated: it is compulsory - implemented with rewards and sanctions, and *everyone* involved and around must show positive and supportive feelings about the project - or else.

And (unlike in the USSR or under National Socialism) all this has been introduced with near-zero opposition and very little need for sanctions.

Those are the facts. I find it is hard to explain them without invoking a considerably-greater-than-usual tendency to evil among modern Western people.

Faculty X said...

Alien invasion and infection is the problem of the West. You may replace 'demons' for Aliens in your language, or 'Mind Parasites' in Colin Wilson's terminology.

50 years ago the advance of consciousness nicely correlated with accomplishments such as landing actual humans on the moon... which is why it all had to be stopped dead.