The West's Globalist-Leftist Elite-Driven Self-Hatred: A Path to Civilisational Collapse, By Brian Simpson

We are inmates in an era where historical reckoning often feels more like ritualistic self-flagellation. The Spiked Online article "The West's self-hatred is deeply dangerous" (published February 17, 2026, link below) cuts through the noise with a provocative critique. Written by an ethnic-minority lecturer from Morocco, it dissects the 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) frenzy — not as a noble pursuit of justice, but as a performative exercise in Western self-loathing that distorts history, entrenches division, and ultimately sows the seeds of societal unravelling.

The piece argues that this elite-fuelled narrative, which paints Western heritage as an unbroken chain of oppression, does little for marginalised groups while eroding the cultural foundations that hold civilisations together. Extending this, I'll explore how such self-hatred, amplified by intellectual and political elites, poses an existential threat: not just to morale, but to the very stability and longevity of Western societies, potentially accelerating a collapse akin to historical precedents.

At the heart of the article is a sharp takedown of what the author calls "performative activism." The BLM wave saw statues toppled (like Edward Colston's in Bristol or campaigns against Cecil Rhodes at Oxford), apologies demanded for centuries-old sins, and a broader push to "decolonise" everything from curricula to public spaces. This, the author contends, stems from a deep-seated self-hatred where modern Westerners, often white liberals, denounce their ancestors to signal virtue and absolve themselves of inherited guilt. As the article notes: "This is a very dangerous thing to do, because it leads to a much deeper form of self-hatred." Why? Because it severs generational ties, framing history as a litany of evils without nuance. Forgotten are Western contributions like Britain's pivotal role in abolishing the transatlantic slave trade or France's imposition of rule of law in colonies that ended formal slavery. Instead, everything "touched by any white man is bad," creating a cartoonish villainy that ignores complexity.

This isn't just historical revisionism; it's a form of blame-shifting that avoids confronting present-day issues. The author points out the absurdity: when asked, no one feels personally responsible for slavery, yet they eagerly attack symbols of the past. Toppling Colston's statue — erected in the Victorian era for his philanthropy in education and hospitals, not his slave-trading — becomes "a bizarre scapegoating of an inanimate object for something that happened in the 18th century." It's easier to rage at bronze than tackle modern French meddling in African affairs or contemporary global slavery. This moral catharsis provides emotional release but achieves nothing tangible, reinforcing a cycle of inaction and resentment.

This elite-driven self-hatred is "dangerous in a civilisation-undermining collapse sense," and the article implicitly supports that view. Elites — academics, media figures, politicians — propagate this narrative, often from positions of privilege, while claiming to speak for the oppressed. But as the Moroccan-born author argues, it harms ethnic minorities most by trapping them in eternal victimhood. By assuming Western heritage excludes non-whites, it denies immigrants like her the agency to appreciate and claim both the good and bad in their adopted cultures. Statues, she notes, are vital historical markers — physical traces of a nation's story, absent in places like Morocco where dynasties left little behind. Destroying them erases lessons, leaving only selective grievances that focus on harm to one group (e.g., African descendants) while ignoring universal human flaws. As quoted: "Ironically, the best thing a community can do to claim agency is to know their history – and to understand that the history of any people has both good and bad within it."

This selective memory fosters division, not unity. It promotes a "collective attitude" where positives are overshadowed, entrenching identities based on oppression rather than shared progress. In a broader civilisational context, this is corrosive. History shows that societies collapse not just from external invasions or economic woes, but from internal loss of confidence — think Rome's late-empire decadence or the Ottoman stagnation amid self-doubt. Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West (1918) warned of cultures entering a "winter" phase marked by cynicism and rejection of their own vitality. Today, Western elites' self-hatred mirrors this: decolonising museums, renaming schools, and apologising endlessly signal weakness, inviting exploitation by adversaries who don't share such scruples (e.g., authoritarian regimes like China or Russia, which proudly tout their histories).

The dangers compound in practical terms. Undermining cultural cohesion leads to policy paralysis — open borders without integration, weakened defence postures amid global threats, or economic self-sabotage via "reparations" debates that divert from innovation. Post-2020, we've seen campus unrest, polarised politics, and a youth generation (Gen Z and Alpha) steeped in guilt rather than pride, less equipped to defend liberal values like free speech or democracy. If elites continue this path, it risks a feedback loop: eroded institutions breed more discontent, accelerating decline. The article's call to "take ownership over the bad things happening right now" is an antidote — focus on present inequalities like education gaps or modern exploitation, not symbolic purges.

Yet, there's hope in resistance. Voices like the author's, from outside the elite bubble, remind us that immigrants often value Western freedoms precisely because they've experienced alternatives. A nuanced embrace of history — warts and all — builds resilience, not fragility. As the piece concludes, this self-hatred "undermines societal stability by promoting self-hatred and division." In 2026, with geopolitical tensions rising (e.g., ongoing Middle East conflicts or AI-driven disruptions), the West can't afford to collapse inward. Elites must rediscover pride in Enlightenment ideals, scientific triumphs, and abolitionist legacies, lest self-hatred become self-fulfilling prophecy. The alternative? A civilization too ashamed to survive. And, one which does not.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/02/17/the-wests-self-hatred-is-deeply-dangerous/