Watch The Western Story Lecture #8: Critics of the West: From Tacitus to Michael Moore

For more than two millennia, Westerners have criticized their own culture. Some of these homegrown critics object that Western civilization is unjust because its fruits are not evenly distributed. Others fear that the West has become decadent, having lost touch with the virtues that made it great. These self-critiques are beneficial up to a point, because they prod the West toward greater progress. But when the critics get out of hand, the results can be catastrophic.