The Decline and Fall Of Declinism: Article in The American

Here is the link.

Many people desperately want America to be imperial, war-mongering and perpetually in decline:  this confirms many of the ideas they want to be true.  

Even Pat Buchanan likes declinism but for different reasons: the moral decline of secular society…. for failure to live up to religious commandments.

So, anti-declinism articles like this one can be a good antidote against all that.  Walter Russell Mead can be too.

Is it all just declinism and anti-declinism out there?

Reminds me of a certain movie…

Photo found here.

More On Daniel Deudney’s Bounding Power

Here is a previous post which includes several links to Deudney’s work:

How Will Deudney’s Book Fare?:  Deudney has said that he has been deeply influenced by the writings of Kant.   Very few people will argue that Kant is a political thinker, and while his moral writings are obviously influential, they’re largely derived from his Critique Of Pure Reason and there are many reasons to disagree with him. 

Kant is often labeled a rationalist, with some deep roots in Leibniz and the 18th century school of German rationalism;  He’s not always welcomed in the anglo-world.

In fact, there is a vigorous school of thinking which includes the depths of David Hume’s arguments (to whom Kant is responding), many other British Empiricists, Friedrich Hayek, much American economic theory influenced by Hayek (Milton Friedman for example), as well as objectivists, Lockeans, etc…..all of whom capable of putting forth some very good reasons why they’re not interested in such a project. 

As insightful as Deudney may be in attempting to merge one of the more important philosophers there is (Kant) with a pretty shrewd understanding of political theory and some practical politics, he is not necessarily assured a welcome audience for his book.