Were the 1990's the peak of Western Civilization?

[republicanism]

For many things I like in "Western Civilization", i.e. democracy and social progress, the 1970s could be considered a peak

Very high turnout levels, a peak of party membership (at least in Germany) and a very politized society in general.
Simultaneously a strong and growing public sector in the economy, a peak of employee participation and worker's rights.

Also many reforms to democratize universities and school reforms. Laws gave an equal status to women, decriminalized homosexuality and so on.
Of course especially what I mentioned in the last paragraph was only in it's infancy in the 70s, but there was optimism and confidence that the next decades would get even better.
Optimism of that kind, which is invaluable, is missed today big time.

And besides all that the 70s contributed greater music, literature and academic work than especially the 90s, hands down.

[republicanism]

Honestly, I'm not sure how you can justify using a post-World War I date for this.

Well but pre-WWI was a society of an utterly privileged upper classes and an utterly depressed majority. Not to mention the situation of women, the colonialism etc.

No question that great art and philosophic work was done in the 19th century, but so was in old Greece or in the Renaissance era, nevertheless those centuries were a hellhole for 90% of the population.

"Western Civilization", if we want to use the term in an affirmative sense at all, has to be defined as a project of emancipation, participation and social justice.

Just my two cents.

[republicanism]

But...why should it be used in an affirmative sense? 

I didn't say it should be. I said "if we want to...".

If you look at it with something like a Nitzschean "pathos of distance" (I hope this is the right term in English), blind for the suffering of the masses, of course you could make an argument that the late 19th and early 20th century was a peak of art and culture in some sense.

I have to add though that personally I'm not enough of an expert on art and literature to make such a statement.

1900 makes sense because "Westerners" (the Europeans) or their progeny (the US and the Republics of Latin America) dominated or heavily influenced the entire globe.  Said grip has seriously loosened.  I don't see why democracy, women's rights, pluralism etc. are more fundamental to the Western experience than colonial imperialism and military dominance.

If you look at it that way, I absolutely agree with you. Thinking about it, your definition of Western Civilization is a lot more to the point than mine

[republicanism]

Wow, you seriously believe that? Its been in decline all our lives.

When do you think the peak was?

[republicanism]

The answer is the late 60s/early 70s, right before the middle-class was destroyed.

That's an interesting argument.

I would argue that the main point was the destruction/bleeding to death of the organized working class in the 1980s.
The "middle class" (a very diffuse term in general) had a renaissance in the late 70s and 80s (Maggie Thatchers "consumer capitalism", the analogous ideas of Reagan and so on).

[republicanism]

That's an interesting argument.

He's using the uniquely American definition of the term.

The uniquely American definition of the "middle class" ? Or of the term "Western Civilization"?

[republicanism]

I meant the former, but the latter works as well.

But even with the strange American definition of middle class taken into account, how could one argue that the American middle class was destroyed in the late 60s/early 70s? I don't get that.

Unless you talk about an exclusively white middle class...

[republicanism]

No, both blacks and working-class whites have seen a plummeting of their incomes since the 1973 peak, black 'middle class' (in the american sense) perhaps even more so than the whites.  But both are in abject desperation.

I have to admit I don't  know the statistics for America, but in Germany the decline in real incomes didn't start before 1980, and didn't start getting really severe since 1990.