Many people have been talking for quite a long while now about the very possibility of the fall of the so-called western world, the western countries, the western culture.
The so-called "western world" is a somewhat vague and extremely loosely defined collection of so-called "western countries" (some of which do not physically reside on the western hemisphere). The concept is a lot more vague than the definition of many of the empires in the past, like the British Empire, or the Roman Empire (both of which had relatively clearly defined borders, land area and centralized government). However, it can still be argued that the so-called "western countries" do form a kind of "soft empire", as they share many defining aspects in common which shape how the countries are run and what kind of policies are enacted, and how they interact with each other. "Western" in this context refers, loosely, to the culture, politics, forms of government, economics and societal values of these countries.
The "western world" is also much more loosely defined as a concept than gigantic past empires in that there is no clear "central authority", some one singular central government (although entities like the European Union nowadays control a significant portion, but not all of it).
However, it can still be argued that, even if more loosely, the so-called "western world", the so-called "western countries", do form a kind of "empire", not completely different from those of the British Empire or the Roman Empire. The formation of this empire may have been quite different, and the way in which it's governed may be vastly different (as there's no one unique central authority, as mentioned), but for all intents and purposes it's still an empire not completely dissimilar to the vast empires of the past.
This "western empire" shares a lot of fundamental core values within almost all of its "constituent countries". For example the form of government is almost universally parliamentary representative democracy, with the head of state being almost universally called a "President" (although a few countries still retain the title of "King" or "Queen" due to long historical reasons). The government representatives (usually including the head of state) usually have a very limited term in office, before new people may be elected by the citizens, and pretty much any citizen can be a candidate for governmental positions (with the exception of the abovementioned kings and queens). Almost universally the laws of these countries are based on a fundamental document, a Constitution, or some similar set of fundamental principles, which ensures basic human rights and the equal treatment of citizens under the law. The economics of these countries is almost universally free-market capitalism (most often, although not necessarily always, in the form of welfare capitalism.) Free, almost unrestricted trade between the countries is a given.
The core of the western world, where the entire socio-politoco-cultural phenomenon arose and reached it absolute peak, can arguably be placed in Europe (especially western Europe) and North America, with the rest of the "western countries" being kind of offshoots of this, having adopted those same values, cultural norms, forms of government and economics later on.
Even though the western world, especially the core of it, is currently facing internal political turmoil and a radical shift in cultural norms (or at least an attempt at a radical shift), and even though there have been such a massive influx of foreigners being imported into the western world, to levels that are completely unprecedented in the history of humanity, it's hard to imagine how this all could just collapse, and how the "western world" could just disappear. Sure, maybe a few countries might suffer some horrible economic recession due to this political turmoil and the unrestricted immigration, and maybe most other countries will likewise suffer a bit from the same recession (because what happens economically to one country, especially a big one, often affects most other countries as well), but surely it will be something temporary. Maybe the problems will last for a decade or three, but eventually everything will be sorted out, and the economy can once again get onto its feet and everything will return to relatively normal?
Well, I'm sure that many people who lived in the Roman Empire during its height would have considered it completely ludicrous that the Empire would fall, be split, and completely disappear, only to be remembered in history books. Surely many people felt that Rome was so big, so powerful, so vast, that it would be unthinkable for it to just collapse and disappear. After all, the Roman Empire (which started as the Roman Republic) lasted for like a thousand years. At some point it must have felt eternal, unshakeable, absolutely powerful. No might in the world could ever bring it down.
Yet, lo and behold, by about the 5th century or so, the Roman Empire was effectively gone. (Or, at least, the western half of it was. The eastern half nominally still existed for about another millenium before it, too, effectively disappearing.)
And it's not like the Roman Empire disappeared and split into independent self-governing areas for the better. Arguably the next 500 to 1000 years were significantly worse in many regards compared to the prior empire (and, especially, the Roman Republic). After all, the fall of the Roman Empire marked the beginning of the so-called Middle Ages, where kings, emperors and aristocracy ruled over in a quite oppressive manner the majority peasant population, and life in Europe was not exactly a paradise.
So yes, no matter how vast, mighty and powerful an empire may be, it can fall. It can be destroyed. It can disappear. It can split into small oppressive totalitarian areas warring with each other.
And it doesn't necessarily require an external offensive force to destroy it. The empire can be destroyed from within, by its own citizens, by its own people. When people live too long in comfort and luxury, when people never experience true hardship, danger and fear, they grow tired of their life and start seeing monsters in every closet and below every bed, and start rebelling against imaginary threats. Suddenly the system itself is evil and must be destroyed.
So yes, no matter how unlikely it might feel, it is perfectly possible for the so-called "western world" to completely collapse, disappear, and change into something completely different and significantly worse. It is possible that all these riches, all these luxuries, are going to disappear, to be replaced by small oppressive totalitarian regimes spending and destroying their own resources at a much faster pace than they can produce them.
It is perfectly possible we may get a "second Middle Ages", or "Middle Ages v2". It is perfectly possible that this "soft empire" of ours is going to completely collapse, and people will suffer in oppression and poverty for the next thousand years, where technological progress and development has stopped, and the existing riches are the exclusive privilege of the minority aristocracy and ruling class.
Just study a bit how everyday life was in the Soviet Union to get a picture.
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