Everyone knows this: the West is declining and it seems there is not much we can do to stop this collapse. We have entered the Mirror Hall of Fame, but only the most perverse among us feel that we are home. That may seem inevitable, but there may be a way to slow this decline or reverse it. But first, we must diagnose the diseases that are tainted by civilization. Why is Nishi so sick?
In “Zero Hour”, Jonathan Pageau – author, artist, host of “The Symbolic World” podcast – James Polos We discuss the decline of Western civilization, the nature of identity, and the loss of wisdom in modernity.
Asked about the cause of the collapse of civilization, Pago said, “I've heard people talk about the world of clowns. Our civilization has reached a carnival point. …The whole aesthetic of carnival or fringe is that there is a slack. And that slack can be expressed as a lot of freedom and as freedom to move in excess with your desires. But it soon becomes a kind of breakdown.”
They also talk about the loss of Western identity. Pago pins this loss by misunderstanding what identity is and explains that identity is most fundamentally linked to participation in the world. “We tend to forget that you're something you're engaged in. Being volunteering for something, joining the world, being a father, husband, a member of your community. …In reality, many identity issues just disappear because you don't have time to think about it.”
Of course, there are also the issues of technology and modern scientific thinking. We have discarded the question about what to do in favor of how we can do with an IF. “There is a difference between wisdom and understanding. We now have a lot of understanding and ability to explain things, but we put the concept of wisdom aside. We don't ask ourselves why we should do something, especially in the world of technology,” he uses theologian examples. Theologians were “prayers” in the past. Today theologians may simply be experts in theology, and even atheists.
Poulos and Pageau continue to talk about Pago's work on retelling traditional fairy tales. Recognizing what Disney was doing with fairy tales, he took it to himself to justify them in modern contexts.
To hear more about Jonathan Pago's identity, religion, the decline of civilization, and the reclamation of fairy tales; Full episode “Zero Hour” with James Pouros.
