The Decline of Western Civilization
by Jonathan Penton

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time once again for the standard disclaimer I use before all political articles:

Unlikely Stories is a literary site, not a political site. We now run, every month, Sub-Commandante X's political views, but they are intermingled with stories of his personal life, and as much a journal as a political column. Unlikely Stories has many readers who are not American citizens and do not live in America, and we (me) at Unlikely Stories are aware that American politics are not the sum total of political discussion, nor do we expect the world to be interested in American politics. However, I feel compelled to write about politics this month, because it's what interests me at this particular moment. I will try not to do this too often.

For anyone who doesn't know, I've been on tour of the United States, visiting a number of Unlikely Stories contributors. These contributors come in a wide variety of ages, and several of them fell into that vague and hastily-named age bracket known as Generation Y. (I asked one how he felt about the label Generation Y, and he disputed the idea that there was such a thing as a generation. Indeed, now that the baby boomers are finally surrendering their stranglehold on American culture, the concept is beginning to seem insignificant. On the other hand, there is still a Generation X, and we are still making fun of the rest of you.) Several of these Gen-Yers expressed an opinion that I found very surprising: that the American system of government would cease to exist in ten to twenty-five years.

When I first heard this theory, I asked what evidence the speaker had to back it up. He had none, but he felt it very strongly, and was surprised to learn that I had no such intuition. I argued the point a little, but it was senseless: one simply can't argue with a feeling.

The third time this happened, the speaker inadvertently put me in a tight spot. He was expressing this feeling on camera: I was taping him for the Unlikely Stories documentary. After stating his "case," he said, "Don't you agree?"

I did not agree, but the purpose of taping him was to learn about his thoughts, and I didn't want to spend much camera time talking, let alone arguing with him. I believe I responded with an uncomfortable "Uhhh…" But the point here is not that I felt uncomfortable, although that is a subject of which I will never tire. The point is that he felt so strongly about this that he, too, just assumed I felt the same way.

It's a bit disconcerting to think that a significant portion of the 21-year-olds in America believe America is about to crumble. It's even more disturbing to learn that many are surprised to hear others have no such intuition. On the one hand, there's the least likely possible scenario: they could be right. They could be receiving cosmic vibrations that help them understand America's impending doom. After all, many New Yorkers claim to have intuited danger shortly before Sept. 11, 2001. (None of these New Yorkers called me in advance to warn me, but they wouldn't, really.)

If there were cosmic vibrations warning of America's destruction, the young would be the most likely to pick up on it. After all, they have the least invested in America. Furthermore, I got the impression from talking to them that they had no real idea what the destruction of America would mean. While I have no doubt that they would adapt to any new regime, very very few Americans would benefit from the destruction of the current government. First, there's the whole large amounts of people dying thing, something that seemed to be a constant in the theories of every young mind. It seems that very few Americans, of any age, approach that possibility with any gravity. After all, we do keep fighting wars.

But on a more literary level, we live in a truly great time to be an artist. Many point out that America's budget for the arts is truly shameful, a disgrace to our supposed power and intellect. But the freedom we have to create art has never been seen in any other time in human history. While it's true that American magazine publishers rarely get grants, the American invention of the Internet allows anyone to become a publisher on a shoestring budget. And while America will not pay for the creation of independent films, it hardly needs to. Any fool with $1000 can buy a digital camera and shoot a movie. What's more, people are beginning to watch such films.

21st Century America is practically heaven for the creative mind. Although one must find a separate source of income, one must answer to no one. We have the opportunity to do good work. It seems ridiculously unlikely to believe that a sudden coup would help matters.

The Gen-Yers I talked to were not interested in current politics. They confused the Green and Reform parties. One had actually had a brief stint in the military, and was familiar with our so-called strategy in Afghanistan, but none understood the actions of the current Attorney General. None were interested in the current machinations of the Bush dynasty. After all, why should they be? They believe that the whole fucking thing is coming down.

This leads me to the second possible cause of their intuition: sheer laziness. If one believes that America will soon be destroyed, one is excused from the process of American politics. In order to be an active citizen, one must be an educated citizen, and that is, frankly, a lot of work. Besides, in 2002, just because you've educated yourself doesn't mean you're going to know what to do. The political climate of America has gotten a lot scarier over the past 18 months, and all indications suggest that it's about to get a lot worse. It must be significantly easier to damn it all and assume we are near the end. Just look how well it works for the Christians.

Finally, there's a simple physical factor. During adolescence, one's world does come to an end. The trauma generated by this lingers long after the body stops changing and we enter adult society. It's easy to see how a young person, after his physical body and social status are reformed anew, might still believe that the world is coming to an end, then project these feelings on the American government. But I'm not aware of any other generation intuiting destruction like this.

Which brings me to how I felt about all this, and as we all know, my feelings interest me far more than the actual state of the outside universe. There are any number of sociological implications to a generation that feels the world is ending, and I hope you're taking the time to consider them, because I certainly won't here. Listening to these theories, I discovered something: I think people younger than me are idiots. The implications of what these Gen-Yers are saying are terrifying, but I wasn't frightened. I was contemptful and disgusted. I am now, for the first time, seeing the infamous generation gap from the older vantage point. It's incredibly exciting. Not only do I get to see the previous generation as a bunch of irresponsible, self-righteous babies who convinced themselves that the nations of Vietnam are an American phenomenon, I get to see the upcoming generation as a bunch of self-absorbed, nihilistic sociopaths who create decline by believing it inevitable. This is the payoff I've been waiting for. All those years of being a cynical youth have reached a climax. We of Generation X can now feel superior to everyone.

Jonathan Penton is the overworked editor and publisher of Unlikely Stories. Check out his literary works at this site.