Three children dead in a Philippine school, murdered by a classmate nursing a bullying grudge. The story is horrific, predictable, and now a pretext for the UK to demand ‘global action on youth violence’. But let us resist the urge to wring our hands in empty solidarity and instead ask the uncomfortable question: what manner of civilisation produces this kind of atrocity as a recurring pattern?
Our ancestors would have called it a moral collapse. We call it a mental health crisis and move on. The Philippines, like much of the developing world, is experiencing the aftershocks of a cultural earthquake that began in the West decades ago.
The breakdown of the family, the atomisation of community, the glorification of grievance and victimhood: these are not natural disasters. They are the fruits of a decadent intellectual climate that has eroded the very idea of shame, honour, and restraint. The British response is typical: a call for more policies, more programmes, more international summits.
But no conference in Geneva will restore the lost art of raising children to endure hardship without resorting to butchery. We have exported our pathologies and now we feign surprise when they bear fruit. The real scandal is not the shooting itself, but the deafening silence about what it reveals: that we have created a world where a bullied teenager can see no other escape than murder, and where the adults in charge can only offer bureaucratic platitudes.
The Victorians at least understood that civilisation requires a backbone. We have replaced it with a spine of jelly. Until we relearn the virtues of stoicism, responsibility, and moral clarity, expect more of these tragedies.
And expect the UK’s calls for ‘global action’ to be as hollow as the promises they accompany.