Zombie state: How to achieve the great escape

Alienation is a virus reducing mutual support within society 

Western civilisation marks the Judeo-Christian influence on Europe in particular and, from that source, to different degrees, the bulk of the world's nation states. The talk these days, though, is more of the decline of that system of thought and practice. If the fall of "the West" eventuates, it will be recorded in history along with the Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great, or the Greek Empire under Philip and Alexander, and the Roman Empire under caesars of fame and infamy.

But such a fall will be a heavy defeat for the world, not a sign of progress as many of today's "progressives" would have it.

As political power is wielded through history there is an accompanying flow of ideas that shapes separate societies into distinct cultures. A key factor within the Western civilisation's mindset has been Christian beliefs that enriched attitudes toward birth, death and the search for the Truth, the Good, the Beautiful, all of which gave rise to a devotion to study, to science, to art—under God.

However, those who are able to stand apart from the impulses of this present age few signs of postive outcomes ahead, and more signs of a warped mentality, elements of which still hold to Christian concepts but without the transcendental underpinning and the God-given morality that guides us along the path that produces a life of meaning and satisfaction. 

The fascinating "theo-drama" of the past 2000 years has been replaced by a "ego-drama" rendered monotonous by its inspiration from the likes of Nietzsche and his nihilism, will to power and Übermensch (Superman).

Of course, from Nietzsche, via Marxism and Paul-Michel Foucault, we have the viral Critical Theory that has captured the commanding heights of Western political and cultural power, with a concerted effort under way to colonise any society remaining outside its imperial reach.  

Wellsprings of social vitality have dried up

The impact at home of the cultural plague that infects more and more sectors of society are becoming plain. Jacob Howland, provost and director of the Intellectual Foundations Program at UATX, commonly known as the University of Austin, writes in Unherd and here that "America is now a zombie state":

It’s not just in politics that the wellsprings of individual and social vitality have dried up. Americans are marrying less and later, and having too few children to reproduce themselves and the families that nurtured them. What is more, our public schools have largely ceased to transmit the accumulated knowledge and civilisational wisdom of the past to the children we do have. A taste for historical repudiation has taken hold across the culture, leading curators to “contextualise” art, city governments to take down statues, colleges to rename buildings, and publishers to censor or rewrite books. But creativity withers when it ceases to be nourished by the oxygenated blood of the tradition. Little wonder that Hollywood increasingly cannibalises its legacy by pouring old films into new plastic scripts.

Technology has exacerbated our national enervation. We have become charging-stations for our smartphones, which drain psychic energy with insistent distractions and overloads of information-babble. Video calls and work-from-home limit in-person interactions with actual existing individuals, who would otherwise be together for most of their weekly waking hours. Targeted advertising, fine-tuned algorithms, and politically stratified social media sharply decrease our exposure to new ideas. We are immuring ourselves within our own private caves, watching flickering images in darkness.

AI language-learning models offer a cautionary parable of these larger cultural developments. Programs such as ChatGPT, whose writing remains formulaic and prone to errors, learn by sifting through a sea of digitalised text, a growing share of which consists of AI-generated content. The predictable result of this feedback loop is the kind of levelling we’ve seen across our institutions. Like newspapers that drink their own ink — and which ones don’t, these days? — their product can only get worse.

Cultural exhaustion, social withdrawal, and the general enfeeblement of life forces are the practical expression of a will to nothing. There is a name for this spiritual and intellectual condition, and it is nihilism. Nihilism is demonic to the extent that the will to nothing is still a will, a life force. That it is only a negative one is by no means reassuring, because it is easier and more economical to tear down than to build up. Destruction is dramatic and accomplishes the illusion of vitality with relatively little energy. And who in this apocalyptic time, including the nihilist, doesn’t want to feel even a little alive?

 Drop in community support 'very concerning'

It's not only Americans who are becoming more self-absorbed as perspectives shrink and dis-ease takes hold among the confused young especially, but not just the young. For example, the willingness of UK people to volunteer in the service of the community decreased as activity picked up after the long Covid lockdown.

In 2021/22, 34% of respondents (approximately 16 million people in England) had taken part in either formal or informal volunteering at least once a month. This is a decrease from rates in 2020/21 (41%) and is the lowest recorded by the Community Life Survey for this measure. (Source)

A BBC report on the results of a separate survey in Northern Ireland quotes Denise Hayward of Volunteer Now, which promotes volunteering across Northern Ireland. She says:

 "Mostly our volunteer population was at about 28% of our adult population and it sat at that point for years - it never really moved."

The report says the latest government statistics reveal a change:

"[They were] the first real stats after Covid [and] the numbers had gone down to 17%. That could be church-based organisations, sports, arts," Ms Hayward said.

She says Covid broke the habit of volunteering and many volunteers never came back or came back slowly.

"Now that may well change, but overall, we have seen a decline of over 10 percentage points and that is very concerning."

Ms Hayward described the impact on fundraising as huge because "volunteers are a huge driver of fundraising".

But it has also affected the delivery of organisations' services.

"Often volunteers are the ones doing things like befriending schemes. Some needs really rocketed because you saw more isolation, so what you are seeing is demand for services, in many cases, increasing but actually a decreased ability to deliver those services." 

The American experience is manifest in these headlines: 

Americans Are Volunteering Less. What Can Nonprofits Do to Bring Them Back?

Why and How Charities Should Revive a Declining but Vital Resource ... Volunteers

Nonprofit Leaders Want More Volunteers but Say It Is Tough to Recruit Them

This kind of evidence about the state of an alienated society is compelling. Accordingly, everyone in each society must scrutinise the historic forces shaping that society's future, and be prepared to take up  a countercultural lifestyle; at least, that of going on the offensive is not feasible.

Often decisions on the use of money and time, made within the family, the basic cell of society, demonstrate the presence of a generous spirit, and it is  that spirit which makes or breaks the ability of a society to thrive.

There's the challenge, to break free of the cultural brambles that choke us—the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life—and to seize life in all its difficulties, to embrace objective truth and beauty, and to sow a people-centred generosity of spirit that defeats alienation by fostering partnership and wider solidarity.

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