I suggest Hasbeen and others watch this documentary: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/civilization-is-the-west-history

This documentary does not however suggest that western civilisation will decline catastrphically, merely that it will be overtaken by civilisations from the east such as China.

Just as the Chinese empire was over taken by the British Empire and went into a decades long period of stagnation until recently.

No civilisation or empire is invincible.

No civilisation or empire has lasted for more than a couple of thousand years throughout history and the current western empire is no difference.

Sooner or later and in one way or another it will decline and be replaced by another civilisation at some point.

Peak oil etc will complicate this however.

Oh I don't doubt the west is in decline, on it's way to history.

What I doubt is that this has anything to do with peak anything.

Peak anything other than the peak stupidity of greenies, bleeding hearts & all the other bludgers, including academia, who have sucked the life out of those who could have continued to make it great.

Too many have given up trying to build a better world for their kids. When they have to carry too many bludgers, they ease back & just enjoy what they have done.

So many of my friends are hard to see these days, they are driving around Oz, Europe, or sailing the world, so I suppose in a way you have won. You have turned many productive people into loafers, who will never again bust a gut, employ staff, or pay the taxes the bludgers thrive on.

Do enjoy the decline, your are on it

Hasbeen, to many old farts like you have lost the idealism and vision of your youth and have for to long focused on the enrichment of yourselves over your society so you can become one of the over weight endlessly holidaying bludgers like the younger ones you were whinging about in your previous post.

The young bludgers are simply emulating your poor example and are attempting to get their own snout in the trough along side yours!

It will be you over weight and lazy old farts that will be the downfall of the west, not the younger generations.

The reason why western society is losing its drive is because there are to many of you old farts focusing on accumulating wealth for your total retirement rather than investing and working for the betterment of your nation and civilisation.

You have had it to easy for to long and now regard total retirement to a holiday lifestyle as an entitlement!

But this is not enjoyed any where in the world, other than in the west, and was not indulged in at any other time in human history......at least for ordinary working folk.

Collectively, you are rapidly becoming a drag on western civilisation.

When the 'party' ends with cheap plentiful oil you will either go back to work commensurate with your abilities or else be cut loose to the societal scrap heap in old age.

Boylesy you sound like a public servant, [yes what a joke], to me. That's a worry, because it is your attitude that is the problem.

When you find that some of your hard working staff would be better off on the dole, even though you are paying well above any award, you start to wonder if it is worth while.

When you see that there is no way that you will be able to make enough profit to pay them more.

When you take home, each year, less than they do.

When you have to start to import the products you have been making in Oz for a decade, because it's that or go broke.

When you look at the stupidity of regulations pushed through by idiot greens & lefties, & compare Oz today to the UK before Thacher, you can see the place is stuffed, & decide it is not worth the candle.

From now on, I'll spend my time enjoying what I have earned, & watching my back to make sure I don't have too many of your type, trying to "HELP" me. Your help is something I & all my fellow citizens can well do without.

Every time I fire up that big V8, I'll think of you & smile.

"Boylesy you sound like a public servant, [yes what a joke], to me. That's a worry, because it is your attitude that is the problem."

Wrong, I run a small business.

"When you find that some of your hard working staff would be better off on the dole, ......."

What a load of bull$hit - those on the dole DO NOT get paid more than public servants!

I guess the reasoning of many dole bludgers is that they would rather get by of less and not have to put up with bigoted morons like you telling them how good you are and how hopeless they are!

"When you see that there is no way that you will be able to make enough profit to .......

May you/they are just poor businessmen unable to break out of habit of running their business in a manor that was appropriate 20 years ago.

Or perhaps you/they are simply to greedy and lazy and want maximum profit for minimum effort.

"When you have to start to import the products you have been making in Oz for a decade, because it's that or go broke............."

That is not the fault of greenies you imbecile, it is the fault of the major political parties who believe in free trade and the global economy at any cost!

Neither see any problem with the Australian economy losing all its manufacturing industries and importing everything from over seas.

The major parties lack the intellectual capacity to consider the long term impications of losing manufacturing in a post cheap oil world where it will not be so easy and inexpensive to run a global economy.

"From now on, I'll spend my time enjoying what I have earned, & watching my back to make sure I don't have too many of your type, trying to "HELP" me. Your help is something I & all my fellow citizens can well do without."

You do that and enjoy it while it lasts.

Because I suspect you will not be able to sustain your perpetual holiday lifestyle for that much longer.