A Conservative Pro-West Critique of Caitlin Johnstone’s “Western Civilisation Is Not Worth Saving,” By Peter West

Caitlin Johnstone's September 2, 2025, essay, Western Civilisation Is Not Worth Saving, delivers a scathing condemnation of Western society, branding it genocidal, ecocidal, imperialist, and spiritually bankrupt. From a conservative, pro-Western perspective, her critique is both misguided and selective, conflating the West's current cultural distortions with its foundational legacy while conveniently ignoring the flaws of non-Western societies, particularly the Islamic world. Johnstone's argument misidentifies the problem: the West she vilifies is not the West of Newton, Shakespeare, or Locke, but a warped version dominated by Marxist ideologies, radical feminism, and multiculturalism, ideologies that conservatives argue have eroded the West's core strengths. Her failure to critique non-Western regimes, especially authoritarian Muslim-majority states, further undermines her case, revealing a one-sided narrative that distorts the West's value and potential for redemption.

Misrepresenting the West's Essence

Johnstone's central flaw is her refusal to distinguish between the West's historic achievements and its modern ideological drift. She paints Western civilisation as an irredeemable "train wreck," ignoring its unparalleled contributions to human progress. The West of Isaac Newton gave us the scientific method, gravitational theory, and the foundations of modern physics. The West of Shakespeare produced literary masterpieces that probe the depths of human nature, shaping global culture. The West of Locke, Montesquieu, and the Founding Fathers, birthed concepts of individual liberty, checks and balances, and constitutional governance, ideas that remain the bedrock of free societies. These are not the hallmarks of a "genocidal" or "degrading" civilisation but of one that has advanced human knowledge, freedom, and creativity like no other.

What Johnstone attacks is not this West, but a caricature shaped by decades of Leftist ideologies. Since the mid-20th century, Marxist-inspired movements, radical feminism, multiculturalism, and identity politics, have infiltrated Western institutions, from universities to governments. These ideologies, conservatives argue, prioritise collectivism over individual merit, erode traditional values like family and faith, and promote a victimhood culture that stifles free speech. For example, radical feminism often vilifies traditional gender roles, while multiculturalism, in its extreme forms, equates all cultures as morally equivalent, undermining the West's confidence in its own principles. Johnstone's "McGenocide ideology" is less a product of Western civilisation's core than of these distortions, which conservatives have long warned against.

Selective Outrage: Ignoring the Non-Western World

Johnstone's essay is conspicuously silent on the flaws of non-Western societies, particularly the Muslim world, which reveals a glaring double standard. She accuses the West of imperialism and racism, but spares authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and beyond from similar scrutiny. Consider the Islamic Republic of Iran, where dissenters face execution and women are imprisoned for defying hijab laws, or Saudi Arabia, where religious minorities and apostates lack basic freedoms. These regimes enforce systemic oppression, yet Johnstone doesn't call for their end. Nor does she mention China's Uyghur camps or North Korea's gulags, both non-Western systems with documented human rights abuses. By focusing solely on the West, she implies it's uniquely culpable, ignoring that tyranny, dehumanisation, and environmental degradation are global issues.

This selective outrage aligns with a Leftist tendency to romanticise non-Western cultures while demonising the West. For instance, Johnstone's reference to Gaza as a "mirror" of Western evil overlooks the role of Hamas, a terrorist organisation that embeds military assets in civilian areas, exacerbating the conflict. By framing Gaza solely as a Western failing, Johnstone sidesteps the complexity of non-Western actors' contributions to global suffering, undermining her credibility.

The West's Redemptive Potential

Johnstone's call to "end" Western civilisation ignores its capacity for self-correction, a hallmark of its strength. The West's history includes dark chapters, slavery, colonialism, environmental exploitation, but it also includes the abolitionist movement, decolonisation, and environmental reforms driven by Western innovation. The civil rights movement, women's suffrage, and the push for free speech emerged from Western values of reason, justice, and individual dignity, not from Marxist or multicultural dogmas. Conservatives argue that these values, rooted in Judeo-Christian ethics and Enlightenment principles, allow the West to confront its flaws and evolve, unlike many non-Western systems where dissent is crushed.

For example, the environmental crisis Johnstone decries is being addressed through Western-led innovations like renewable energy and conservation policies. The U.S. and Europe have reduced per-capita carbon emissions significantly since the 1970s, while non-Western nations like China and India drive global emissions growth. The West's scientific and economic prowess offers solutions, think Tesla's electric vehicles or CERN's research, while its democratic institutions allow for debate and reform. Johnstone's dismissal of this potential as "emotionally stunted" or "culturally vapid," ignores the West's dynamic ability to adapt, a trait less evident in rigid authoritarian regimes she spares from critique.

The Danger of Johnstone's Anti-West Nihilism

From a conservative standpoint, Johnstone's essay is not just wrong but dangerous. By declaring Western civilisation unworthy of saving, she fuels a nihilistic narrative that undermines the confidence needed to defend its best aspects. Her rhetoric echoes the Left's push to dismantle institutions, family, religion, free markets, that conservatives see as bulwarks against chaos. If the West is as irredeemable as she claims, why preserve free speech, which enabled her to write this critique? Why uphold the rule of law, which protects her from arbitrary persecution? Her call to "radically transform" the West risks throwing out its baby, liberty, innovation, and moral clarity, with the bathwater of its flaws.

Moreover, her failure to critique non-Western systems like radical Islamism emboldens regimes that reject the very freedoms she exercises. The Muslim world, for instance, includes states where blasphemy laws carry death penalties and where women's rights lag far behind even the West's imperfect standards. A 2023 Pew Research study found that 79% of Muslim-majority countries have laws restricting religious expression, compared to 20% in Western democracies. Johnstone's silence on these issues suggests a blind spot, if not a tacit endorsement of cultural relativism, which conservatives reject as a betrayal of universal human rights.

Reclaiming the True West

Rather than ending Western civilisation, conservatives argue for reclaiming its core values from the grip of Leftist ideologies. This means rejecting the Marxist lens that pits groups against each other, restoring faith in individual responsibility, and celebrating the West's contributions, science, literature, democracy, while addressing its shortcomings. Immigration, Islam, or "the trans agenda" aren't existential threats; they're challenges that a confident West can navigate through open debate and adherence to its principles. Johnstone's error is equating the West's current ideological malaise with its essence, ignoring its capacity for renewal.

Gaza, far from being a mirror of Western failure, reflects a complex global reality where the West's democratic values are tested, but not invalidated. The conservative response is not to abandon ship, but to steer it back to its foundational ideals: liberty, reason, and moral courage. Johnstone's call to end the West, ignores its triumphs and potential, offering no alternative but destruction. The real task is to save the West from its internal betrayers, ideologies she unwittingly echoes, while holding it accountable to its own high standards. Anything less surrenders the best of humanity to the void.

https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/09/western-civilisation-is-not-worth-saving/