# Civilizational Shame Creates a Vacuum for Rivals by Marco Rubio > “Too much of the West has forgotten [the fire of *thumos*]. Over time, we in the West came to feel ashamed of the very things that made us exceptional. We felt embarrassed that our achievements set us apart from the rest of the world. Our prosperity became a source of guilt. We no longer believed we deserved and had earned our greatness. We tore down our monuments, condemned our own history, taught our children to be ashamed of the countries they would inherit, opened our borders, outsourced our industry, allowed our militaries to wither and decay, and transferred our decisions to global bureaucracies beyond the reach of our control. Others were happy to fill the vacuum left by our weakness. As the West's confidence faltered, its adversaries and rivals grew more assertive, building their own wealth and power in our stead.” > **— Marco Rubio**, *Remarks at the Pnyx, Athens, October 7, 2026, 12:31–13:41* ## Sources and Context - **Primary recording:** [U.S. Department of State recording, 12:31–13:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOv1DpML7I4&t=751s), October 7, 2026. - **Official transcript:** [U.S. Department of State — Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks](https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/10/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks), October 7, 2026. The State Department page returned a technical-difficulties notice during the source-research pass; the audiovisual recording remains the controlling primary source. - **Prepared source record:** [[research/Secretary Rubio Delivers Remarks from the Acropolis in Athens|Secretary Rubio Delivers Remarks from the Acropolis in Athens]] preserves the complete spoken transcript, the attendance record, the source architecture, and this statement's position in the full address. - **Editorial record:** The bracketed phrase ‘[the fire of *thumos*]’ replaces the context-dependent delivered phrase ‘this quality.’ The complete uncompressed delivery remains available in the prepared source record for direct comparison. - **Context:** The bracket restores *thumos* as the subject of “this quality.” The unit preserves Rubio's causal claim: civilizational shame produces material, institutional, military, educational, and strategic consequences rather than remaining a private emotion. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/War With Empire|War With Empire]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/war with empire/Authorship of the West|Authorship of the West]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Neo-Westernism|Neo-Westernism]] - [[wiki/Marco Rubio|Marco Rubio]] - [[wiki/Civilizational Confidence|Civilizational Confidence]] - [[wiki/Western Order Succession|Western Order Succession]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Too much of the West has forgotten [the fire of *thumos*]. Over time, we in the West came to feel ashamed of the very things that made us exceptional. We felt embarrassed that our achievements set us apart from the rest of the world. Our prosperity became a source of guilt. We no longer believed we deserved and had earned our greatness. We tore down our monuments, condemned our own history, taught our children to be ashamed of the countries they would inherit, opened our borders, outsourced our industry, allowed our militaries to wither and decay, and transferred our decisions to global bureaucracies beyond the reach of our control. Others were happy to fill the vacuum left by our weakness. As the West's confidence faltered, its adversaries and rivals grew more assertive, building their own wealth and power in our stead.” — Marco Rubio, Remarks at the Pnyx, Athens, October 7, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-marco-rubio-civilizational-shame-rival-vacuum ```