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August 31, 2006
I noted Mark Steyn lecture at the IPA in an earlier post on public opinion. This followed an appearance at the CIS Big Ideas Forum dealing with challenges confronting the West. This turned out to be a good old bash against multiculturalism (all cultures are equally valid, cultural relativism etc) and the modern multicultural state.
Steyn's task at the IPA lecture was to answer the question, 'Does western civilization have a future in terms of the future of much of the rest of the world'?, in terms of seeing if anything can still be saved. For the West, make no mistake, is dying. Steyn's thesis links demographic decline; the unsustainability of the social democratic state; civilizational exhaustion. He says that none of these is caused by radical Islam. They’re self-inflicted.
Steyn is the guru of the right-wing brigade and he dishes up the old conservative declinist thesis characterised by degeneracy of western civilization---disaster, collapse, corruption, decay--- and the need to recover military virtues to defend the West. The West needs to be qualified as Europe is Steyn's classic example of his thesis that civilizations die from suicide, not murder. His is a trajectory of affluence, softness, decadence, extinction. Europe stands a very good chance of living under Sharia law given the demographic changes that are afoot. It's too late to save Europe. Western Europe is written off.The best Steyn hopes for is to save some parts of the West, by which, based on his previous writings, he presumably means America--- and Australia. I'm not sure about the UK.
Steyn reworks the declinist narrative in terms of demography. The West, as a matter of demographic fact, is dying. Demography is destiny. The implication is that the progressive agenda of the elites in the commanding heights of the culture---lavish social welfare, abortion, secularism, multiculturalism--is collectively the real suicide bomb. Clearly, a liberal civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does---and full of self-hate---will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself. That points to a civilization suicided from despair; death from want of a reason to live. Civilizational confidence is the key. War brings that about. Lavish social welfare, abortion, secularism, multiculturalism has got to be fixed. It is a re-working of the neoconservatives’ defense of white immigration from the ‘90s: all the problems stemming from immigration are really stemming from liberals leftist policies and culture.
The Anglo-Americans have a future if they continue to breed and stop becoming Islamisfied from increasing immigration to roll back a declining population. Becoming Islamisfied raises the prospect of increased terror and violence as the Muslim population expands. So Australia must start taking serious measures about the Muslims in its midst—stopping their immigration cold, deporting all Muslims who adhere to the Islamic political agenda, restricting their mosques. This would result in the beginning of the decline of the Muslim power and numbers. However, the USA and Australia only have a future if the Mums and Dads continue to breed and grow the population. As Steyn writes, "It's the demography, stupid."
The right wing brigade in Australia love it, by all acounts. It's deep. It's a grand narrative with punch. Stein stands for sanity. Steyn's case is unimpeachable. It's time to be afraid. That seems to the response to his argument: if we stopped being leftist and politically correct and if we increased our birthrates, then the Muslim threat would go away. Alas, underneath this attractive political pacjage sits a simple thesis--- the decline of the west is all due to demographics.
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RE philosphy
?Philosophy is the science which considers truth?
http://beepbeepitsme.blogspot.com/2006/08/philosophy-is-science-which-considers.html