How the West Was Lost: The Decline of a Myth and the Search for New Stories

by Ben Ryan

Westerners love an existential crisis. Each decade since the First World War has raised up prophets of doom proclaiming the end of the Western world as we know it. But this time it's real. Weighed down by economic woes, the seemingly endless war on terror, and the declining power of religion as a unifying force, the West has been limping along. With the public sphere fraying and authoritarian politics rising, this deep-seated crisis is now urgent, and potentially fatal. How did we get here?

Ben Ryan's diagnosis is simple: the West is a myth, and it is dying. Its own people are no longer convinced or united by its defining ideal--a sense of universal morals, and of constant progress towards them. Following a series of 'system failures', Westerners--from urban millennials to post-industrial workers-- have lost faith in the West as a moral force. Yet there is a chance for redemption, if we can forge a new common myth of the West: one reviving its great values, and reshaping its ideals for a diverse, forward-looking world.

This smart and thoughtful book explores what the West is, what has happened to it, and how we might save it.

Genres: Politics

ebook

Published January 13, 2020

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben Ryan is the head of research at Theos which is a religion and society think tank. He is obviously a rising star.

The West is defined as Europe (except Russia) , North America and Australasia. Sorry Japan and South Korea. Why this criteria? Equality, liberty and fraternity/solidarity under a background of Christian values. The West is in trouble because it has lost many of its 4 values.

Equality has been lost between the rich and poor (a la Piketty), old and young (astronomic college fees in US & UK while it used to be free; lack of secure job for the young but guaranteed job for life for baby boomers), majority and minority/immigrants/refugees.

Liberty has been lost in some of the countries such as Hungary and America post 9-11.

Solidarity has been lost post the Great Recession/European crisis where austerity is letting the rich bankers off the hook without any punishment. Instead, the innocent people suffered austerity from the technocrats.

Christianity has been secularized away and most churches in Europe have poor attendance. The same thing is happening even in America.

So the West has become purely an economic project, and has lost its old idealism that things will get better. That is how the West was lost.

On top of it, Eastern and Southern European youths see no future for them and have migrated to the richer West.

How to reverse it? Acknowledge its Christian connection. Build new social grassroot societies to replace the church. Restore the 3 principle republican values.

I think It will be very hard, because democracy means every group wanting the best for itself and to exercise its rights. Without sacrifice of some of one’s right to benefit others it will be impossible to have solidarity or have equality.

A very well thought out book.

[Kai Ling, Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling observations made about the West. I thoroughly enjoyed the way Ben Ryan wrote about the different phenomena happening in the West and I'm very impressed by how updated the observations are.

Ryan also put forward a good proposition to go back to its fundamental values, especially that of solidarity. But it makes one wonder how that can be practically carried out in such a chaotic and dynamic state of affairs.

[bloosmartie]

As you can probably see from my logged books, I tend to stick to fiction and only really go for non-fiction that someone gifts or recommends me. This was a gift, my mother is a long-standing friend of the writer's mother and I have met him though it was a long time ago (he still had the same dimples though!). I don't know whether this book came at just the right moment for me with other things going on in the world and in my life, or whether it would have struck me the same way anyway, but I found it very interesting. Knowing the little I do about the writer, it is clearly written with a bit of bias but it is one I share, and one that he supports in his references so isn't entirely based on emotional response or upbringing. I found it well written and readable, my husband is much more of a non-fiction reader and gave up reading before the end of chapter one as the style didn't suit him. Personally, I thought it was accessible and engaging.

It's especially surprising that most of what he is saying is holding true through the current crisis, about which he obviously knew nothing at the point of publishing, and it honestly looks like most things are set to get worse. I now feel I better understand why we are where we are and better armed to try to do my bit to change our course. For the first time in ages I have a small measure of hope and have stumbled across exactly some of the initiatives he talks about as being potential ways to move forward.