Has Europe Declined? When the World Catches Up, You Stop Being Exceptional

Recently, I have been seeing an extraordinary number of YouTube videos about “Europe’s decline.”

That is probably because demonstrations and social unrest in France have been attracting attention.

But the content somehow feels shallow.

Europe was exhausted by war and formed the EU. In recent years, its economic growth has slowed. Aging populations and low birthrates, immigration problems, fiscal deficits, a lack of innovation…

These videos simply list facts that could have come from a textbook and have an AI read the script aloud.

Videos like this have suddenly multiplied. They spend endless amounts of time explaining things everyone already knows, while leaving out the crucial question: why?

That reminded me of a lecture by an economic commentator that I once watched on TED.

I still remember that one today.

Europe Did Not Decline; the World Caught Up

The commentator’s argument was remarkably clear.

The main reason for the decline in Europe’s relative position is not that Europe itself became incapable. It is that the rest of the world caught up.

Europe once overwhelmingly dominated the world in science and technology, industry, military power, and economic strength.

With that advantage, it controlled vast colonies and gathered the world’s wealth and resources.

After World War II, however, the colonial empires were dismantled. Asian countries, beginning with Japan, industrialized, and China grew into an enormous economic power.

Opinions differ on whether the United States should be counted as part of Europe. Geographically, it is a separate region, and since white people are apparently expected to become a minority there in the future, it can hardly be called Europe anymore.

In any case, technologies and industries once possessed only by Europe spread throughout the world.

Once that happens, the logic is simple.

If countries possess similar technologies and can manufacture similar products, those with larger populations and markets have the advantage.

It is therefore only natural that Europe is no longer as overwhelmingly dominant as it once was.

European Civilization Became Global Civilization

What stayed with me most from the lecture was its final point.

The science, technology, and industrial systems developed by modern Europe no longer belong to Europe alone.

People around the world have learned them, used them, and developed them further.

In other words, the modern civilization that developed around Europe became a civilization shared by the world.

Hearing this reminded me of ancient Greece.

Greek civilization had an enormous influence on later generations through philosophy, mathematics, science, and other fields. But as its culture spread across the Mediterranean world and was inherited by Rome and others, Greece itself ceased to be uniquely exceptional.

Greek civilization did not disappear. It spread widely and was absorbed into other civilizations.

Could something similar be happening to Europe today?

The Same Education Can Produce the Same Industries

Following this argument to its conclusion leads to a more fundamental point.

Human intellectual ability is not determined by race in the first place.

Europeans are not the only people capable of understanding science or building advanced machinery.

Whether they are Asian or African, people who receive sufficient education, learn science and technology, and gain access to the necessary capital and infrastructure can develop similar industries.

Japan, South Korea, China, and other countries have demonstrated this through their historical development.

Europeans are not the only people capable of producing cars or semiconductors.

Europe was exceptional not because Europeans were exceptional human beings, but because Europe was historically the region that modernized first.

Once that gap narrows, the loss of its advantage is inevitable.

Europe’s Decline Is Also Progress for Humanity

The important distinction here is between relative decline and absolute decline.

In the past, Europe alone was wealthy while other regions were poor.

If Asia and other regions subsequently develop and become wealthier, Europe’s share of the global economy naturally becomes smaller.

But that does not mean Europeans have become poorer than they were before.

It simply means that wealth has spread to other parts of the world.

Of course, Europe today also has its own challenges, including economic stagnation and fiscal problems.

But merely listing those problems does not adequately explain the change in Europe’s historical position.

People throughout the world gained access to the scientific, technological, and industrial systems Europe had built.

As a result, the era in which Europe alone held an overwhelming advantage came to an end.

For Europe, that represents a loss of status. For humanity as a whole, it represents progress.

European civilization spread across the world, and as a result, Europe ceased to be exceptional.

When you think about it, it would be difficult to imagine a more impressive success for a civilization.

For the people whose civilization achieved that success, however, the ending is probably not very satisfying.