Europe Abolished the Tithe, and Fell Into Endless War

1. The tithe is abolished in the 18th century

The French Revolution of 1789 abolished the tithe that had lasted a thousand years and handed economic control to the state and individuals. Britain, too, ended collection in kind through the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836. As community capital that had been locked in the giant vault of the church poured into the market all at once, an unprecedented industrial revolution took off. Disposable income rose, consumption exploded and Europe enjoyed the most glittering golden age in the history of the world. But it was only a temporary boom, like cashing in at once the savings their ancestors had built up for a thousand years.

2. Europe received world wars as a gift

Capital without the moral and religious brake of the tithe combined with extreme nationalism. A thousand years of accumulated wealth and technology, instead of enriching humanity, was thrown into the suicidal frenzy of World Wars I and II. The meticulous capital management their ancestors used to build cathedrals and universities was squandered in just a few years on weapons and war costs that could wipe rival nations off the map. Through these wars, Europe destroyed its own heart, its people and infrastructure, and started down the road of decline.

3. A sudden war between Russia and Ukraine

Having lost its own ability to accumulate capital, Europe survived by depending on cheap outside resources such as Russian energy. But the recent Russia–Ukraine war exposed the true face of the European economy. Germany, having lost its energy independence, lost its standing as a manufacturing powerhouse and fell into contraction, while Britain and France struggled with high prices and strained public finances. When the foreign energy that had filled the gap left by the tithe's community capital was cut off, a thousand-year empire's pride fell, in an instant, to the position of a beggar. The pandemic and Middle East wars only added to it.

4. Is Europe's crumbling economy a coincidence?

Europe, where the tithe, a compulsory form of community capital, disappeared along with faith, now focuses on immediate welfare costs and short-term speculation rather than future industries like artificial intelligence and advanced technology. The population is aging fast, yet there's no center of capital to support it. The price of squandering a thousand years of accumulation on war and luxury in just 200 years is brutal. Europe has lost the power to stand on its own and is preparing to fade into history.