Western Civilization Was Nice While It Lasted

I'm glad I'm in my 60s and not in my 20s. Things are falling apart faster than I could have imagined. We have 3 stories today which I believe point to the complete collapse of civilization.

First we have a disturbing story out of Germany. I honestly didn't know whether to start with this story, or keep it for the end. German 'cannibal teacher' goes on trial accused of killing and eating man he met on date

The 41-year-old maths and chemistry teacher, named only as Stefan R under German privacy laws, is accused of luring Stefan Trogisch, an overhead power line technician, to his flat in Berlin suburb of Pankow after they met on a gay dating website.

There prosecutors allege Stefan R murdered Trogisch before dismembering his body with a saw, eating part of it and hiding the remains around the city.

This was to satisfy some twisted "sexual desire."

A dispute at a mall leads to violence. Police: Girl, 15, shot after Danbury mall altercation

The media will, of course, blame the inanimate object and ignore the person.

[Danbury Police Chief Patrick] Ridenhour said an altercation occurred inside the mall near the Macy’s entrance between two groups involving at least eight people. One person pulled out a gun and fired at least one shot, possibly two, aiming for someone in the group and wounding the girl, Ridenhour said.

Chief Ridenhour said the girl was not the intended target. Actually he said "She got in the way," as if it were her fault, and not the unnamed person behind the gun. Regardless of the spin Chief Ridenhour would like to apply, it was not her fault. When the authorities, even the police, are blaming everyone except the criminal...

We all hate waiting in line at the cash register, but this shows how far we have fallen. ‘Impatient’ customer waiting to pay for beer shoots clerk in groin, NC video shows

“Preliminary investigation revealed that two black males were impatient and did not want to wait to pay for their beer at the cash register. (They) went into the beer cooler to persuade another employee to take their money (and) when he refused the shooting occurred,” police said.

The Left will blame the gun, instead of the 52-year-old man (who has been arrested) for throwing a temper tantrum in the checkout line. It is bad enough when a 2-year-old does that, but we make allowances for toddlers.

If there is no Right and Wrong, no Good and Evil, then the only constraints on your behavior come from your own character. It seems that character is sadly lacking in the 21st Century.

Stories like this are starting to put me in mind of Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. A few years back I was thinking of the decline of the British Empire, which was tough on the British, but it was not so bad for folks like India. Today I think the fall will be much farther. Hence the photo above.

And of course the general lack of fear of any law-enforcement repurcussions brings to mind Hobbes "State of War."