Those of you who follow this site know how much I love Mark Steyn. This time, the Freedom Fighter respectfully disagrees with some of his conclusions.
In this piece, entitled 'It's the demographics, stupid-The real reason the West is in danger of extinction' OpinionJournal - Extra
Steyn makes the following points:that in Europe, declining birth rates, the need for Muslim immigrantion at unsustainable levels to fund Europe's welfare state and Europe's decadence and multi-culturism will lead to the decline and fall of Europe.
Steyn, as always, cuts to the heart of the matter, and makes some significant points..and yet...I honestly don't believe Europe is quite as finished as he appears to think. Here's why:
I predict that while the EU will ultimately fall apart, especially if Turkey is admitted, I also see new limitations on Islamic migration to Europe, especially in Germany, Denmark, Britain and the Netherlands. Some laws are already in the process of being changed.And I see more conservative governments being elected in the future. Especially as people begin to realize that most of these new immigrants use up more in social welfare benefits than they pay out in taxes...something Steyn didn't touch on.
For instance, can you imagine how much Le Intifada Francais cost the French economy in property damage and insurance costs alone?
I also see, unfortunately, increased visibility and power for European nativist, anti-immigrant movements. Some of this is going to be fought out in the streets, as in Australia.
Ultimately, faced with the loss of the welfare state or with a total loss of freedom, Europe will opt for freedom. Muslims are still only a small percentage of the population in Europe, and the horse is not out of the barn yet. Even the French might end up surprising us, as political correctness goes by the boards.
Further Islamic riots and at least one major terrorist bombing (most likely in Denmark or Britain) will accelerate this trend.
Slowly, slowly, the West begins to realize what Jihad is and that it must be defeated. That's how I see it.
First, it's L'intifada, not Le Intifada.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could agree with Joshua but I can't. The fact is that Europeans are not having enough kids. Breaking up the EU -- which will not happen completely since all the trade and related regulation will continue to come out of Brussels -- is not in the cards. Limiting Muslim immigration might slow things down but I understand that the percent of under age 18 French that are Muslim is 30%. That is a horror. Europe should have brought in Indians and Chinese for labor because they adapt well to their new countries and are value added. The Arabs are destructive parasites to any culture but their own. The European deal with the Arabs goes back to the Europeans selling themselves out for Arab oil and a deal cut by various Europeans with Arab countries to bring in immigrants for labor. Habib Bourguiba, former Tunisian president, predicted over a generation ago that the deal would result in the present state of affairs: The Arabs would breed, the Europeans wouldn't, etc., and Europe would revert to be part of a Muslim dominion.
There is an irony here: The Europeans betrayed and slaughtered their Jews. Now they've inherited the new enemy of the Jews. The Europeans made their bed of nails, didn't they? They destroyed themselves when the denied the "Judeo" in Judeo-Christian culture. Now they are pagans being conquered by savages. Not the first time in history, just the most tragic but so was the Holocaust: See Spengler on the rise of the barbarians.
The Europeans really are miserable cowards and have no stomach for a fight. They really don't care enough for their own culture to defend it. In fact, many of the Euroleft are Arabophiles so that compounds the problem even more. Anti-Semitism is quite the rage in Britain, and Europe is cold as hell -- at best -- towards Israel.
All this does not make for Europe surviving. The worst ideas in history came from Europe: Facism, Nazism, and Communism. Why should it surprise one that commiting culturcide -- which those isms are anyway -- by other political dogmas should come as any surprise? These people couldn't even handle the Balkans on their own so eon't expect things to really change. Slow down a bit maybe, but not change.
When Europeans show outrage against Palestinian hate mongering and terror against Jews and Israel, when Europeans warn Iran that their nuclear program will be terminated by bombs, I'll believe there's some hope.
And that will be the cold day in hell before it comes. While Europe counts, tragically they are reaping the seeds they've sown -- and America will be alone.