Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Steyn
You in a good mood? Feeling optimistic about things? Good, because you won't be after reading Mark Steyn's latest on the Suicide of the West. Here's just the beginning:
Rich Leonardi adds his own thoughts here. Wretchard of the Belmont Club here. And here's Jeff Goldstein's slightly different take.
Most people reading this have strong stomachs, so let me lay it out as baldly as I can: Much of what we loosely call the Western world will not survive this century, and much of it will effectively disappear within our lifetimes, including many if not most Western European countries. There'll probably still be a geographical area on the map marked as Italy or the Netherlands--probably--just as in Istanbul there's still a building called St. Sophia's Cathedral. But it's not a cathedral; it's merely a designation for a piece of real estate. Likewise, Italy and the Netherlands will merely be designations for real estate. The challenge for those who reckon Western civilization is on balance better than the alternatives is to figure out a way to save at least some parts of the West.There's really not much more I can add to this fantastic and sobering piece except to say that you really ought to read it.
Rich Leonardi adds his own thoughts here. Wretchard of the Belmont Club here. And here's Jeff Goldstein's slightly different take.
# posted by Paul Zummo : 3:16 PM
