How close are we to the collapse of the Western world according to you?

[Raptor With a Saber]

very far away but within a 400yrs depending on how stable regions in africa/middeeast/south a are by then.

[Donald Hellscream]

Not very..

[Alydael]

Very very close

I can’t wait till the water wars begin.

Russia, through the power of memes and trolling, is doing a great job on dividing the western world.

True. I think it is hilarious that we could beat Russia's tactics just by not engaging online- but people won't do it....... They would rather become more hatefilled, polarized and violent [all the while complaining about all the hate and the violence], instead of just not watching the propaganda......

Guess this civilization has reached a point where it is basically too dumb to save it's own self........

[Jonnusthegreat]

It won't collapse, but it will take a good 10-20 years before realizing what actual work is to fix their area.

[Mistame]

This is really just a "lack of traditional norms will destroy the world" thread wrapped up in a list of other "bad things".

[cubby]

The Western world is suffering from many issues in recent years of which some have been brewing for decades and others have recently become bigger.

To name a few issues that seem to contribute to the collapse:
- Further Political polarization;
- Only extremes matter in politics;
- The political"fallout" after the Trump era;
- The increasing resentment towards the EU in many member states;
- Rapidly rising financial inequality;
- Housing problems;
- A big economical crash looming on the horizon (the "big one";
- Cheap labour- and the lack of worker rights in non-Western countries;
- Increasing unemployment numbers, further automation and robotization;
- Lack of common values or goals in our society;
- The decline of the traditional family;
- The absence of traditional norms and morals;
- The increasing "men vs women" views;
- Rise of mental health problems amongst young people (for different reasons);
- Ageing population, eventually too few people have to pay for the elderly (pensions/healthcare);
- Healthcare in general is getting more and more expensive;
- Mass immigration from undeveloped countries;
- A possible military conflict with Russia in Europe;
- A possible military conflict between the US and China;
- Etc. etc.

For me it's not a question of "if", but one of "when" we will see the unavoidable collapse of the Western world.

So when will we see it collapse? What do you think? Or do you think it's not going to happen at all?

I love that you make a post like this with 10+ reasons, and none of them include climate catastrophe.

We are about 50 years away from massive social upheaval - set off because of incoming climate change migration, when the coastal cities are flooded and the equatorial cities are abandoned because of desertification. Nothing we're seeing right now, save the possible civil unrest if Trump refuses the rule of law, is really anything new. All of the items you listed are definitely a concern, however, and should not be ignored.

[ohwell]

The authoritarian right is completely upset with trans people in the same way they were once obsessed with black and gay folks. Kinda funny to hear it in a thread about the collapse of the West, though. In fact, it's downright hilarious.

It has very little to do with authoritarian and everything to do with them trying to subvert science. The left of today is the right of the 20th century(and today in certain regards). They want to ignore facts and science when it is convenient to them and have been using alternative facts for about 30 years now calling it "you don't know unless you're XXXX" or "that's your narrative, but mine is XXXX".

[GreenGoldSharpie]

It has very little to do with authoritarian and everything to do with them trying to subvert science.

The medical consensus in the late 20th century was that transgender and gender incongruent individuals suffered a mental health disorder termed “gender identity disorder.” Gender identity was considered malleable and subject to external influences. Today, however, this attitude is no longer considered valid. Considerable scientific evidence has emerged demonstrating a durable biological element underlying gender identity.1,2 Individuals may make choices due to other factors in their lives, but there do not seem to be external forces that genuinely cause individuals to change gender identity.

Although the specific mechanisms guiding the biological underpinnings of gender identity are not entirely understood, there is evolving consensus that being transgender is not a mental health disorder. Such evidence stems from scientific studies suggesting that: 1) attempts to change gender identity in intersex patients to match external genitalia or chromosomes are typically unsuccessful3,4; 2) identical twins (who share the exact same genetic background) are more likely to both experience transgender identity as compared to fraternal (non-identical) twins5; 3) among individuals with female chromosomes (XX), rates of male gender identity are higher for those exposed to higher levels of androgens in utero relative to those without such exposure, and male (XY)-chromosome individuals with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome typically have female gender identity6; and 4) there are associations of certain brain scan or staining patterns with gender identity rather than external genitalia or chromosomes7,8.

-- Endocrine Society.

Want to try that science denying claim again, sport?

[Ravenblade]

The west will slowly collapse because of all the enrichment we get every year from africa / middle east. We will be dead when this happens but our kids and their kids will have to deal with the problem we let into our borders.

The scapegoat you seek is one of your own.

[Deleted]

on the one hand im like "this is something of all ages, im starting to say the same type of "everything used to be better" my parents and grandparents used to say" on the other hand im like, a lot of this stuff going on sure doens't seem sustainable and sure does seem to be starting to reach its breaking points (e.g. national debts are starting to get pretty nuts in some big countries).

[Powell]

The most probable impact to our infrastructure is space junk.

We keep dumping shit in a low earth orbit.
Eventhough space is vast and empty, a chain reaction could cause significant damage to most satelites and other important systems that are intigrated in our society.
Phones, internet, GPS, military and health systems, etc.

Another unavoidable problem is the greying of our society.
All the baby boomers are becoming old. The older generation is going to become dependent on a less wealthy younger generation.
More people to be taken care of, and less people with working jobs. Automated jobs aren't coming fast enough to compensate for the loss of a large workforce and universal income won't happen anytime soon to aid the increasing wealth gap.

[Kokolums]

Very close.

The KEY metric used to determine political stability is TRUST. Trust in the US among the public has collapsed. When trust in the system collapses, revolt soon follows. The next recession to hit the western world is extremely likely to bring major revolt, but it could happen from various other major events. Again, the key is that the West is WIDE open to it because no-one trusts the system anymore. The West is now destabilized.

Other events and situations in the past 50 years might have been more dire, but the West still trusted the system so it held together. It would take a relatively minor event to push it over the edge now because trust is gone.

For example, I will 100% guarantee you that you will see civil unrest and a revolt in the US if Trump is removed from office or resigns. It doesn't matter how much evidence they find against Trump. His backers have already been trained to believe it is a witch hunt and a coup attempt. They will fight. I guarantee it. In THIS climate where trust is gone, it will tear the US in half.

- - - Updated - - -

Events on a global scale are pretty slow but also pretty clear to see.

1. There will be a major revolt in Western Civilization pretty soon pitting the left vs the right.
2. China and Russia are quite obviously virtue signalling that they will back and support the right wing in that fight once the fighting starts.
3. The right will win thanks to support from China and Russia and liberalism will be totally destroyed.

I think all of those events are coming and set in stone. We're just currently waiting to see which event sparks the war.

[Bethrezen]

A man is winning Miss Universe.

Mental illness is deep rooted in many walks of life.

[Rustedsaint]

Probably when we get fully automatic factories and have 0 income for the majority of population.
Even if we get a universal income or some shit there’s Gona be a lot of restless people with nothing taking up their free time

[Bakis]

Western world not so much, the entire planet with global warming very much.
Closest threat on the hirozon is China and thats long after we fucked ourselves royaly.
Retirement age, manufacuring with robotics etc are non-issues in the big scheme of things.

[Lex Icon]

it happened yesterday.. you just failed to pay attention.

[Zuvio]

As soon as the UN migration pact is implemented in countries.

[Serenais]

Rome is already falling.
Whether the West as a whole will follow, or just remade after a period of darkness, will remain to be seen.

[Lochton]

We aren't close if we say the western world as overall. Now, if we talk more about certain life choices and selfishness, we're getting closer to that chapter breaking down.

[infinit]

A man is winning Miss Universe.

Mental illness is deep rooted in many walks of life.

hell yeah buddy, its fucking hilarious.... A biological Man won Women of the year and now possibly Miss Universe.

Men get shit done!