“… Comparing energy flow data for 1974 and 2025, it shows industrial final consumption has fallen by about 70% in absolute terms, from 41% to 14% of the national total, whilst transport rose by 76% to become the largest single sector. Only 50 years ago the UK was still a major industrial power. Iron and steel manufacturing, once substantial, has all but completely disappeared … The country has lost the industrial capacity to reproduce its own energy system … in ceasing to manufacture, it has exported its exposure to the energy systems of its suppliers, some of whom are strategic adversaries.”
De-industrialization cut the local (but not global) production of CO2 and gave the temporary benefit of cheaper imports – but the price is coming due. We can add to this the observation that Mohammed (in its various spellings) is now the most common male baby name in England, and a plurality (perhaps majority) of fighting-age French males are Islamic. About a third of the population of Sweden is not Swedish.
Stepping back, it is clear that it is over for the West. The defeat may have been self-inflicted, but it is still a defeat. We lost! Now, where do we go from here?
History says there is probably no way back for the West. Italy is a poor shadow of the glory that was Rome. Egypt and Persia never recovered from their declines. China is arguably the only exception to the “No Second Chances” rule.
While there is no evidence of any willingness in the West to do what needs to be done on a societal level – let alone any acceptance by the Political Class that the problem is existential – individually, the path is clearer. Smart young people should be learning real physical skills – and selected foreign languages.