The West is limping along. Weighed down by economic woes, the seemingly endless war on terror, the rise of authoritarian politics and the declining power of religion as a unifying force, the Western crisis is existential and potentially fatal. How did we get here?
Ben Ryan’s diagnosis is simple: the West has lost its purpose. Its defining ideal—a sense of universal morals, and of constant progress towards them—no longer unites or convinces its own people. 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: forging a new shared myth of the West, and reviving its great values for a diverse, forward-looking world.
This smart and thoughtful book explores how the West was lost and how we might save it.