The more I read, the more I’m convinced that the mark of a truly great writer is economy of words. This doesn’t necessarily mean that their books are shorter than others, but rather, that they say more in less.
By that mark, Spencer Klavan stands above the rest. His writing is compelling and full of substance, his arguments well-developed and his thoughts very deep. And the subject matter of his book How to Save the West is as compelling as the title would suggest—perhaps even more so, given the breadth and scope of the subjects he tackles.
Like most people these days, I’ve found myself increasing looking around at the world and wondering “how in the hell did it get this bad?” Klavan answers that question with a diagnosis of our present situation, dividing it into five philosophical crises and giving us a brief history of each. It turns out that none of these crises is new: Western civilization has either dealt in some way with each of them in the past, or has been dealing with them for several centuries now.
Ultimately, Klavan concludes that the West is more resilient than we think, and will emerge from these troubled times with a new rebirth, just as it did in previous eras. However, the form of that rebirth will depend largely on how we respond to the crises of our time, not just as a people, but as individuals. This, in the end, is the key point: that the West will not be saved by a great leader, or by all of us taking some great collective action, but by each of us as individuals choosing to live good and virtuous lives, and having a positive impact within our own individual spheres of influence.
It’s a remarkably white-pilled ending for a book that does not, in any way, gloss over the challenges of our time. It’s also remarkably empowering for a book with such a clear-headed look at our times. Where other, more black-pilled authors might get bogged down in the details of how bad things really are, Klavan never loses sight of the forest for the trees—
—and I think that comes back to his economy of words. There is no filler in this book; no wasted words or meandering explorations of ultimately tangential issues. He gets right to the point, examines the issues clearly and concisely, and fearlessly presses forward to his ultimate conclusions. It’s a very good read.
How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises by Spencer Klavan
It has been proclaimed many times, but perhaps never more convincingly than now, when every news cycle seems to deliver further confirmation of a world gone mad.
Is this the endgame? Have we come to closing time in the West?
Author Spencer Klavan is a classicist, with a Ph.D. from Oxford, and a deep understanding of the West. His analysis: The situation is dire. But every crisis we face today, we have faced before. And we can surmount each one. Today’s “five essential crises” are:
• The Crisis of Reality: Is there such a thing as objective truth—and even if there is, can “virtual reality” replace it?
• The Crisis of the Body: Not just the “transgender” insanity, but the push for a “transhumanist” future
• The Crisis of Meaning: Evolution—both biological and cultural—is a process of endless replication, of copying. But is there an original model that gives us an aspiration to aim for? Do our lives and actions have meaning?
• The Crisis of Religion: Science has not eliminated man's religious impulse, but rather misdirected it—and wrongly dismissed the profound philosophical plausibility of Judeo-Christian revelation.
• The Crisis of the Regime: Has America reached a point of inevitable collapse? Republican government was meant to end the destructive cycle of regimes rising and falling—but can it?
Klavan brings to the West’s defense the insights of Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, and the Founding Fathers to show that in the wisdom of the past lies hope for the future. That wisdom can improve our own lives and the lives of those around us—and ultimately save the West.
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