The Crises We Face | General David Petraeus

As the world approaches a quarter of the way through this century, nations have to consider threats that know no boundaries.
Visit charlierose.com for the full conversation, which aired on July 28, 2023

[@Marcus007]

I've been a long-time fan of both Charlie and General Patraeus - and it's good to see you both again. So it is with respect and productive intent I offer a my view for your consideration from an X Gen perspective:
This clip of conversation rings as the product of an outdated basket of concerns. And it's not to suggest there are not real issues related to international relations with China, Russia, Ukraine, Iran, or the rapid advance of tech, - but these are relatively nuisance issues whilst on the Homefront in every Western nation is suffering from crises equivalent to advancing stages of cancer. And no, I'm not referring to White Supremacy.
I have post graduate degrees in useful subjects yet I maintain friendships old friends from my youth who hold a diverse set of occupations, personalities and perspectives ranging from tradesmen to professional peers, liberals, Regan Conservatives, Bernie Bros, Trump supporters and independents too.
Yet, I don't know of a single person who thinks the US, or any Western nation, or the West as a whole, is on the "right path." Do either of you? Because many polls unequivocally support that my experience is not aberrational. I'm speaking of people who are exposed to the common views held among the 99.5%.
For years now, from lawyers to plumbers - every candid conversation I have about the mid-term future people expect the US and many other Western nations will endure some major internal conflict long before the end of this century. Causes of the impending doom range from systems collapse or economic crisis caused by dim witted policies or the corrupt regulation of those with undue influence, to civil wars drawn on ideological, cultural or ethnic lines. No matter the cause, there is not even the expectation of a post conflict reconciliation but rather succession, Western diminishment, or simple chaos. None have ever cited as the cause for the expected impending conflict as nuclear, climate change, biology or simple technology.
Their common cited cause, even though expressed in varying terms is clear - the advancing entropy in the quality of choices made by Western elites and their refusal to recognize problems and untruths in their increasingly narrow, intolerant, uniform and self-serving Worldview.
Another common sentiment - especially among Millennials and Zoomers is that these problems are the inheritance from the few prior generations before X-Gen - referred to collectively if imprecisely as “Boomers” - whom not only foolishly refused to acknowledge them but even canceled or systematically censored those who do.
To my eye it all seems similar to how earlier generations discharged toxic pollutants with little regard in pursuit of profits, willfully obtuse to the environmental damage future generations would endure.
The crises we face are all homemade. I've spent thousands of hours reading of World history and the fall of civilizations since my post grad days and on such information, I assert the following with deep regret: Never in World History has so few generations of leaders, in so little time, taken the reigns of a civilization so well positioned for the future and left it with a future in such doubt.
Every major institution - media, academia, military, Congress, judiciary, corporate leadership, healthcare industry, Hollywood, classic liberalism, even our founding fathers - are simultaneously suffering an unprecedentedly deep crisis in confidence. Even if one were to entertain the fantasy that such was not well deserved and warranted, it nonetheless would still be true that such a widespread lack of confidence in vital institutions is unsustainable in a peaceful society. Indeed, history shows such will inevitably lead to destructive conflict.
I see in you both highly capable men with proven capacities for wisdom, leadership and courage. So please, begin to engage in conversation addressing the real crises of the day and coming century such as:
- rapid cultural decay;
- an increasingly detached, effete, decadent, bigoted elite (intolerance of those with differing views);
- the ongoing destruction of the US middle class;
- the coming job crisis to be driven by tech and roboticization;
- the oncoming Western decline driven by demographic change and replacement migration as the solution for the fiscal problems caused by working women and it’s resulting sharply reduced birth rates;
- rampant price gouging by both higher education and the healthcare industries;
- the elite's promotion of racial strife as the new distractionary wedge issue;
- the crisis of free speech in the US and other Western nations;
- the rise in popularity of "alternate post WWII " narratives.
- the refusal of current elites to recognize any of the forgoing because such would be politically incorrect or antagonistic to those with undue influence.
There are fair grounds why the term referring to the last two generations of leaders - Boomer - is exclusively used as a pejorative among preceding generations. Don't kid yourselves with conversations of flattery on an increasingly narrow set of subjects with an even narrower set of acceptable views that are rarely held by other generations: your generations legacy will be dismal to say the least.

If you two have not the freedom and latitude to engage in sober and frank discussions of the forgoing upcoming problems - ones that future generations will clearly be forced to recon with, in spite of all your individual accomplishments, even at this stage in your lives where, frankly, so much of it has already been lived, then I pity you both for what prisons your lives have produced.

[@jamesrathz3311]

Two serious and intelligent people who destroyed their reputations using their little brains. Still, I'm they're still engaged in the public square.