Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer says he will step down as coalition talks collapse

You know it is really kind of scary to consider all these western governments having a hard time holding themselves together.

And I do throw the United States in that 'concern troll' level too.

It feels like there is a power vacuum (of course there is after 4 years of Biden) and if the world is really without leadership the world is in peril.

Everyone on FR knows that. Power vacuums lead to dangerous times. Trump is going to need a lot of support and frankly the dang D's ...well...

I don’t think “centuries”, in a historic sense, fall into neat little groups of one hundred years. I think the 20th century ran from about 1914 to about 2024 or so. It was a century of lies, corruption, communism, war, violence, and genocide. Mostly the lies and communism part.

If we can get a political class in place that tells the truth and which works against a self-enriching Ruling Class and which wants government to be smaller (because government is always the problem and never the solution) then the 21st century might turn into a good time.

There is potential. But my natural tendency toward optimism is perhaps not as strong as it once was. But the collapse of western governments has got to be a good thing.

I agree that there’s a case for optimism with all of this. The ‘freedom parties’ are getting a good toe-hold in many places, & the problems caused by the migrants are coming front & center, forcing gov’ts to address their stupidity. Leftists are now on the back foot, although still dangerous & capable of causing more problems.