The
Future Of Civilization
Between
demographic trends, the rise of AI, and the nature of power, the possibilities
can be very grim.
Jacob Fraden |
May 20, 2026 www.americanthinker.com
For decades—perhaps since the era of the Vietnam War—America has lived under
the shadow of what many call the “Deep State”: a hidden machinery of influence
operating behind the façade of democratic institutions. One of Donald Trump’s
central missions has been the struggle against this entrenched apparatus and
the dismantling of its vision for humanity’s future. Though he has shaken the
foundations of the establishment and achieved victories once thought
impossible, the resistance has proven fierce, and the conflict remains
unresolved.
Yet the American Deep State is merely the visible crest of a far larger
iceberg—a closed club of rich and powerful. These individuals were never
elected by the peoples of the world, yet through wealth, institutional control,
and social prestige, they have formed an unofficial aristocracy—a closed World
Elite Club seeking not merely influence, but stewardship over the future of
civilization itself.
The presence of such a World Elite Club is discernible in organizations such
as the World Economic Forum, the corridors of the United Nations, international
banking institutions, intelligence networks, and the executive chambers of
technological empires. Among them are billionaires, central bankers, hedge-fund
magnates, ministers of finance, media architects, and the rulers of the digital
sphere.
Human nature has always been driven by two ancient appetites: wealth and
power. Everything else—including sensual pleasure—is secondary, because power
and money themselves are the ultimate aphrodisiacs.
The members of the global elite already possess unimaginable wealth. Their
remaining obsession is therefore inevitable: dominion over the future itself.
And today, the future appears to be shaped by two colossal forces converging
simultaneously: the intellectual decline of humanity and the explosive rise of
artificial intelligence (AI). To seize control of these forces is, perhaps, the
defining ambition of the World Elite Club.
The reason for the intellectual decline is a sharp reduction in fertility
rates in developed countries and, as a result, an aging population.
Civilizations, like organisms, die when they cease reproducing themselves.
In Japan, South Korea, the United States, Italy, Germany, and other
developed countries in East Asia and Europe, the number of births per woman
ranges from 0.7 to 1.7, far below the minimum replacement rate of 2.1.
Countries with a fertility rate below 2.1 are doomed and, in 50-100 years, will
either disappear or be completely transformed.
Meanwhile, across much of the underdeveloped world—sub-Saharan Africa, parts
of South Asia, sections of Latin America, and many Muslim-majority
regions—populations continue to expand rapidly, with a fertility rate of 4-6
children per woman. At the same time, mortality falls thanks to medical and
financial aid from members of the World Elite Club. Thus emerges a dramatic
demographic inversion: the developed world contracts while the underdeveloped
world multiplies.
The consequence, according to this vision, is civilizational transformation.
Over several generations, the cultural and intellectual profile of entire
continents could change beyond recognition.
This is directly related to the intellectual decline of the world population
because the intelligence of people in all underdeveloped countries is much
lower than that of people in developed countries. Today, in European countries
and the U.S., the IQ is in the range of 98-101, in Asia, 100-105, and in
Israel, among Ashkenazi Jews, 103-115. On the other hand, people in
underdeveloped countries are much less intelligent: in Somalia, the IQ is
68-72, in Niger 65-70, in India 76-82, and in Latin America, 82-96.
Hence, we arrive at the inevitable conclusion: if nothing significant
happens, in 2-4 generations the demographic shift will lead to the extinction
of developed countries, while growth in underdeveloped countries and
uncontrolled migration to developed countries will lead to the dumbing down of
the entire planet—there will be fewer smart people and more dumb people.
Of course, we are talking in statistical terms: the overwhelming majority of
people will become stupider, but a relatively small percentage of smart and
talented people will always remain.
While the natural intelligence of the world’s population is declining, the
pervasive AI grows; that is, humanity is getting dumber, while AI is getting
smarter, and it grows at an incredible rate in two directions: information
processing and robotics.
In a not-so-distant future, AI will replace many human professions that
require mental work: doctors, lawyers, scientists, inventors, journalists,
writers, accountants, programmers, teachers, and many others. Professions that
require manual work will also soon be replaced by AI robots: surgeons, nurses,
construction workers, farmers, musicians, soldiers, and salespeople, etc.
A future begins to emerge in which billions of human beings become
economically unnecessary. And then comes the terrifying question: What becomes
of a civilization in which the majority of humanity is no longer needed for
productive work?
The World Elite Club solution lies in the old imperial formula: divide and
rule. If current trends continue for centuries, nation-states themselves may
gradually dissolve into something else entirely. Borders blur. Populations
merge. Humanity stratifies into rigid layers.
One could imagine a future world divided into three castes:
The Plebs—the vast majority (perhaps 99% of all), intellectually diminished,
politically passive, sustained through entertainment, subsidies, algorithmic
distraction, and dependency.
The Managers—a narrow administrative-technocratic class (no more than 1%)
tasked with supervising the plebs through AI systems, surveillance networks,
and robotic infrastructure.
The Elite—an extraordinarily small global aristocracy possessing knowledge,
power, longevity technologies, and near-total control over planetary systems.
History may then complete a dark and ironic circle. The ancient Roman Empire
understood the principle of managing the plebs: bread and circuses. Keep the
intellectually inferior population entertained, fed, distracted, and
emotionally stimulated, and political stability can be maintained.
In such a world, the masses may gradually cease to be viewed as citizens and
instead become perceived as a logistical burden, so I can imagine that the
Elite will find a way not only to limit the birth rate of the plebs but also,
in the more distant future, to get rid of all these useless masses altogether,
say, through their natural extinction.
In the future, humanity would not disappear entirely. Rather, it might
contract into a tiny biological elite surrounded by intelligent machines,
synthetic servants, cyborg systems, and autonomous networks. Yet the greatest
danger may lie not in that distant age, but in the turbulent transition leading
toward it.
There may come a time when millions—perhaps billions—of people find
themselves economically obsolete, yet retain enough awareness to feel
humiliation, resentment, and rage. A civilization drifting into purposelessness
can become profoundly unstable. As the old American proverb warns: “An idle
mind is the Devil’s playground.”
Such an era could become a time of unrest, fragmentation, violence, and
spiritual collapse—a historical storm unlike anything humanity has previously
endured. Whether the World Elite Club possesses either the wisdom or the moral
restraint to navigate such a crisis remains an open question.