Civilization and Culture of the 21st Century: Failing and Unfailing Forecasts

This paper deals with the present state of the human civilization and culture in relation to social-historical forecasts made by N. A. Berdyaev and E. Jünger. Indeed, in full accordance with E. Jünger’s thesis, the dominant trend nowadays is subordination of the social to the technical. Actually, the German philosopher’s thought on fellahization of the society — on the “live for today“ principle dominating our daily routines — is also true. E. Jünger’s case is also proven if we speak about his thought on the destructive impact of politics on the fate and fortunes. The author discusses the interpretation of the eternal return concept by Jünger and alternative interpretations. If compared with the forecast of the German thinker which today is proven in the majority of its aspects, N. A. Berdyaev’s forecast can be verified only in part, and only if we assume that now we are dealing with a mutated form of the “barbarous prologue” to the non-capitalist future. Speaking of the thoughts of the Russian philosopher, the author is skeptical of both the possibility of New Middle Ages as such, and everything that can be interpreted as an empiric manifestation of some of their features. Such features rather indicate the formation of a new kind of serfdom in a technologically cutting-edge digital society. The text ends with the description of the present state of the human civilization and culture given by the author, a pessimistic forecast is made for the second quarter of the century.