The Classically Greek Roots of Civilizational Self-Doubt
Quillette | Benedict Beckeld
In this excerpt from Western Self-Contempt: Oikophobia in the Decline of Civilizations, Benedict Beckeld goes back to the ancient Greeks to show how Okiophobia, or “the fear or hatred of one’s own society or civilization” takes over a society.
Beckeld shows that once external foes have been defeated and a society reaches a certain level of comfort, its people have the luxury of self-reflection which brings about self-critique. From here, “a gradual rejection of one’s own traditions is accompanied by a fragmentation of the populace into smaller interest groups that will view the closer threat—other interest groups of the same people—as more urgent than the more distant Other.” Beckeld also writes of the resentment that grows from a people’s dependence on government, which only strengthens hatred of one’s own society.
Beckeld’s analysis reveals a fascinating parallel between ancient Greek society and western civilization today. “The rise itself contributes to the fall, and what was strength, namely diversity and openness in adopting new ideas, becomes weakness and fragmentation.”
