His point is that civilizational decline, which Hayes exemplified with his gutless statement that he’s uncomfortable with the word “hero” applied to the military since it’s “rhetorically proximate” to a sanction for war, is a choice. And that it’s people like Hayes, with their pampered elitism and moral degradation, who can be counted on to sneak out of the city at night and throw open the gates to the barbarians.

But on the other hand, Whittle says, people like Elon Musk represent a different choice. Musk, an immigrant from South Africa, made billions with PayPal – and invested that money in a company which was able last week to resupply the international space station just a few short years after its foundation. That’s something only the governments of America, China, Russia, Japan and the European Union have been able to do; now an American company with 1,800 employees in Hawthorne, California is part of that club.

Choose wisely, Whittle says.