The below was written in 1377 by Ibn-Khaldun who was a Tunisian statesman, historian, and jurist. It is an early sociological analysis of the fascination that power holds for those who have been conquered and so are submitting to their overlords.
“Those who are conquered always want to imitate the conqueror in his main characteristics — in his clothing, his crafts, and all his distinctive traits and customs. This is because the mind always sees perfection in the person who occupies a superior rank and to whom one is subordinate. He is thought to be perfect because the repose in which he is held is deeply felt, perhaps because it is falsely supposed by the subordinate person that it is not the natural consequence of defeat but is the result of the perfection of the conqueror. If this false supposition is fixed in the mind, it becomes a firm belief. The mind then adopts all the mannerisms of the conqueror and tries to be as similar as possible to him. This is imitation… This attraction goes so far that a nation dominated by another neighbor will try very hard to become like it and imitate it.”
The West has become dominated. The fact of that is seen in its willingness to turn a blind eye to the removal of its Western white history as seen in the ongoing removal of its statuary. The West has become dominated. The fact of that is seen in its willingness to let non-western ideas and non-western people successfully bully the American who still retains some principles that made America, “America.” The West has become dominated. The fact of that is seen in our declining birth rates and the unwillingness to accept the fact that our enemies are pursuing the Christian white man’s replacement.
Oddly enough the West has come to the point precisely because of its victories in the past. Because of the false guilt ginned up by our enemies and owned by the weak and insipid many Westerners believe that their system is worthless. It is as if the only desirable conquests were those in which the native minority triumphs over his Western conqueror. Harkening back to the Greek influence on Roman culture, many Westerners seemingly no longer want anything other than to be conquered by the cultures of the minority non-Christian peoples they once subdued.
This encapsulates the Rousseauian ideal of the noble savage. Westerners are convinced that the savage, the derelict, the ne’er do well precisely because he is a savage, derelict and ne’er do well has more nobility than he as a Westerner could ever hope to have and the only way to gain nobility is to become like the third-worlder in customs, mannerisms, and culture.
As such we ink our skin like the savages of old thinking that by doing so we will gain in our “coolness factor.” (And what else is being cool except a new version of being noble?) As such we pierce our body parts like the pagan South Sea Islanders of old thinking that by piercing our bodies we are cleansing our souls. As such we fornicate like the savages we once conquered even going as far as bringing it into the Church.
Civilizations wax and wane. This appears to be our waning time.