Goodbye Europe (Steyn Alert)

The American Enterprise Online ^ | 12/5/02 | Mark Seyn

[TomB]

I find it easier to be optimistic about the futures of Iraq and Pakistan than, say, Holland or Denmark. What's wrong with the Islamic world is relatively straightforward. With Europe, it's harder to foresee any happy endings. The good news is we won't have to worry about another Hitler or Mussolini because, on present reproductive trends, the Italians and Germans are going to be out of business in a couple of generations. Few people have ever been in less need of lebensraum. Instead, the European Union figures it will require another 50 million immigrants in the next few years just to maintain a big enough working population to fund the lavish social programs its vast retired army of baby boomers expects to enjoy.

The main source of European immigration is Muslim youth from North Africa and the Middle East. Whether these are the chaps to keep Hans and Pierre in the style to which they've become accustomed is a moot point: According to some Scandinavian statistics, 40 percent of those on welfare are immigrants. And, while it's not true that every immigrant on welfare is an Islamic terrorist, it's a good rule of thumb that every Islamic terrorist in Europe has been on welfare, living in radicalized ghetto cultures with nothing to do but sit around the flat plotting the jihad all day. Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammed, who recently held a pro-Osama rally in London, has demanded the imposition of Islamic law in Britain, and at one time called for the assassination of then-Prime Minister John Major. Given that it's Mr. Major's ministry, and now Tony Blair's, that has financially supported Sheikh Omar ever since he arrived 15 years ago, that seems a tad ungrateful.

In defiance of traditional immigration patterns, Europe's young Muslims are less assimilated than their parents and grandparents. Instead of becoming more European, they're becoming more Islamist. If the "root cause" of September 11 is Islam's difficulty with modernity, we shouldn't be surprised that this manifests itself less in Indonesia than in Holland, the epitome of the boundlessly tolerant post-nationalist state, a liberal utopia of cannabis cafés and gay marriage--for now. Sheikh Omar's demand for the imposition of sharia doesn't seem so absurd when you consider that in 20 years the majority of the Dutch under 18 will be Muslim.

A multiculturalist society has a hard time even discussing these things. In the advanced technocratic Euro-state, almost any issue worth talking about has been ruled taboo. Continental voters, faced with a choice between Eurodee and Eurodum, have been turning elsewhere. The beneficiaries of this tune-out, in Italy, Belgium, Denmark, and elsewhere, don't have much in common--some are maverick magnates, some fascist nostalgists, others gay hedonists. What unites them is what they're against: the traditional European cultural consensus that's now sleepwalking its way to suicide.

In Holland, a militant vegan killed the flamboyant homosexual nativist Pim Fortuyn during the election campaign. Surely the first time in Dutch political history that a fruitarian had killed a fruit Aryan. This murder is an apt summation of what Marx would call the "internal contradictions" of the rainbow coalition.

Popular politicians who survive their campaigns shouldn't expect a congratulatory telegram from the grandees at the European Union. In February, the Belgian foreign minister, speaking on behalf of the E.U., threatened sanctions against Italy if its citizens voted for Umberto Bossi's Northern League. Those Continentals who attacked President Bush for presuming "to tell people who they can vote for" when he gave an anti-Yasser Arafat speech forget that in Europe they do it all the time.

Before it too offended the E.U., the perfect emblem of the post-war European state was Austria, where regardless of how you voted you wound up with the same center-left-right coalition government. That was the whole point. Europe's post-war political structures were specifically designed to stifle the populace's baser urges. Indeed, Europe has been so focused on what went wrong in the past it's been blind to what might go wrong in the future. The future is now here. A collapsed birthrate, accelerating immigration, lavish welfare, an evasive political culture, phony transnational structures: For Europe, this is the Perfect Storm.

[TomB]

"Surely the first time in Dutch political history that a fruitarian had killed a fruit Aryan."

Unbelievable. How does he do it?

[TomB]

Another gem.

[Travis McGee]

Welcome to EURABIA.

[Illbay]

In Holland, a militant vegan killed the flamboyant homosexual nativist Pim Fortuyn during the election campaign. Surely the first time in Dutch political history that a fruitarian had killed a fruit Aryan.

Absolutely, positively the Quote of the Week.

[Right Wing Professor]

"Surely the first time in Dutch political history that a fruitarian had killed a fruit Aryan."

Unbelievable. How does he do it?

I almost gagged laughing it this myself.

[Steve_Seattle]

I've argued with Canadians and Europeans on-line who are more afraid of Bush and the "Christian Right" than they are of radical Islam. This piece should be required reading for those people. But as Steyn points out, "Almost any issue worth talking about has been ruled taboo." Those allegedly super-smart Europeans are committing cultural suicide, they are throwing everything away, and they simply haven't a clue what awaits them.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[Badger1]

Continental voters, faced with a choice between Eurodee and Eurodum, have been turning elsewhere

Great description of the EU.

A collapsed birthrate, accelerating immigration, lavish welfare, an evasive political culture, phony transnational structures: For Europe, this is the Perfect Storm.

When people don't feel positive about the future, they are less likely to have children. Unless Europe pulls itself out of the destructive spiral of socialism, these trends will not only continue they will accelerate.

[Tax-chick]

I'm sending this quote to all my friends! :-) I'm also going to Holland next year, where I'll close my eyes to everything but the tulip festival and the art museums!

[canuck_conservative]

DO NOT - ever - eat while reading a Mark Steyn column, or you will be cleaning your monitor after you start belly-laughing...

[knighthawk]

Today we took another step towards the Islamic Republic of the Netherlands.

Today we celebrate Sinterklaas, it's a festivity for children (the guy was saint). But today also was the sugarfest, the end of ramadan. So in 25% of the schools in the Randstad (the Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Utrecht area) put Sinterklaas on another day, and celebrated sugaerfest instead. And in some schools they removed the cross from the headgear of Sinterklaas, because 'some people could take a cross as an offense'.

And this from the same people (the apologists) who claim that islam is a tolerant religion.

[Steve_Seattle]

It's a recurring theme in the Bible that when people abandon God, they lose their political freedom. I think over the next few decades, Europe will (again) see how true that is. People who can't learn from the Hitler experience are probably unteachable. Traditional religious belief is much stronger in the U.S.A, and I think that is one factor that makes us take the Islamic threat more seriously.

[America's Resolve]

sleepwalking its way to suicide

Man! Does Steyn have a gift for wordsmithing!!!

[BullDog108]

ping!

[Guillermo]

Bump for another great Steyn piece.

[Dr.Deth]

Surely the first time in Dutch political history that a fruitarian had killed a fruit Aryan.

Oh my goodness, that has to be a candidate for Quote Of The Year.

[Paleo Conservative]

I'll close my eyes to everything but the tulip festival and the art museums!

I wonder how long it will be before that infidel art is destroyed by Islamists?

[Gritty]

A collapsed birthrate, accelerating immigration, lavish welfare, an evasive political culture, phony transnational structures: For Europe, this is the Perfect Storm.

I swear, if I didn't know Steyn was talking about Europe, I would have thought he was talking about the United States!!

[TomB]

A little intentional silliness (with serious commentary woven in) as opposed to the unintentional silliness of our friend.

[centurion]

So,in about a generation or so Europe will be Muslim controlled, and we will be at war with stronger Islamist.

[Tax-chick]

I hear a voice asking this question from about 800 A.D. in Constantinople!

[Loyalist]

So,in about a generation or so Europe will be Muslim controlled, and we will be at war with stronger Islamists.

If they stay true to form, they will plunder Europe and leave it a devastated wasteland. There may be more of them, but they won't be any stronger.

[BfloGuy]

Traditional religious belief is much stronger in the U.S.A, and I think that is one factor that makes us take the Islamic threat more seriously.

Traditional religious belief may very well be one factor. But it isn't the only factor.

Our form of government which allows for different parties to hold the White House and the Congress is also one of those factors. It's held us closer to the middle than the European parliamentary systems have.

With the western shift to socialistic thinking (and we are certainly not immune to it here) we'd probably have gone down the same road as the Euros and the Canadians had we been left with a parliament instead of the Constitution.

You religious types wish to forget that many of us on the right are not religious at all -- we're here, though. And I guess we help each other.

[Rocky]

A man fell off a 100-story building. At the 50th floor, someone called out a window, "How's it going?" The falling man replied, "So far, so good."

In Western Europe, "So far, so good."

Sell your Euros.

[aruanan]

"Surely the first time in Dutch political history that a fruitarian had killed a fruit Aryan."

Pretty succinct.

[Travis McGee]

When will the Dutch begin to fight for national survival?

Is the very idea of defending your culture now taboo?

[okie01]

So in 25% of the schools in the Randstad (the Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Utrecht area) put Sinterklaas on another day, and celebrated sugaerfest instead. And in some schools they removed the cross from the headgear of Sinterklaas, because 'some people could take a cross as an offense'.

Stunning news. Frightening, even.

The Dutch are forgetting who they are. Some, anyway.

Or they are not proud of who they are. Which is the same thing.

Not to say that we don't have the same problem in the United States.

This from a doughty little country that colonized almost a third of the known world, using small, round-bottomed boats...

[uncbob]

So,in about a generation or so Europe will be Muslim controlled, and we will be at war with stronger Islamist.

They will be a bunch of welfare raised uneducated walking dead living in a new Dark age and no threat to anyone but themselves . If the Middle East didn't have oil for $$$$ they would be back in the cave man era.
And Europe has no natural resources outside of Russia . And even if they did who the hell is going to set up the means of production, this bunch of rag headed parasitic rabble

[OldPossum]

I agree, by that point, if all goes well, the United States will be so military and economically powerful that no group of European weaklings will constitute a threat. With any amount of luck, we will have instituted military and trading agreements with countries that will really count, i.e., India, Turkey, Isreal, Russia, and, if things fall into place, economically strong Latin American states. Who will need Europe at that point in history?

I suppose that I can just kiss off my modest investment in a European stock fund, made eight years ago, when I didn't know any better.

The caveat, of course, is that we don't make the same mistake that Europe is in the process of doing: destroying our national identity.

[copycat]

When will the Dutch begin to fight for national survival?

Is the very idea of defending your culture now taboo?

Not if you're a Muslim...

[intolerancewillNOTbetolerated]

"I've argued with Canadians and Europeans on-line who are more afraid of Bush and the "Christian Right" than they are of radical Islam. This piece should be required reading for those people. But as Steyn points out, "Almost any issue worth talking about has been ruled taboo." Those allegedly super-smart Europeans are committing cultural suicide, they are throwing everything away, and they simply haven't a clue what awaits them."

So true...and the Democratic Socialists in this nation seem to think these nations are a good model. (Remember how often we heard "the Europeans are laughing at us for making such a big deal out of having a sleazeball like Clinton defiling the Oval Office"?)

This nation didn't become great by following any other nation's lead.

As for your point about their being more afraid of Bush and the "Christian Right", such witness to the fact that this is the Truth that the Deceiver does not want those he is leading astray to discover is seen all the time. One can have lengthy cocktail party discourse on the various aspects of Buddhism, or Islam or Hinduism or any world religion, but mention the name of Christ and people start getting "offended". It's a phenomenon that is fascinating to hear people, such as myself, talk about the experience of having been blind members of the wrong army in the continuing spiritual warfare that most in the world have no idea we all are active participants in and have the blinders fall away.

Changed lives!...the only tangible proof of the Truth of the Bible and God's wonderful plan of salvation...PRAISE GOD!

[Arthur McGowan]

When they are in the majority, they will burn the museums and art galleries. They will blow up the medieval cathedrals, baroque churches, the Sistine Chapel, and Saint Peter's.

[Nogbad]

Bump

[knighthawk]

It has been for quite a while.

Years ago if you were wearing an Dutch-army jacket, with a tiny flag on your sleeve, you could be dragged into court, because it offended people! It became big news, and a journalist asked that how it was possible Turkish youths could wear leahter jackets with huge Turkish-symbols on the back, some were even Gray Wolves symblos, the extremist Turkish organization (still not banned in the Netherlands).

We are lost. Some are trying to stand, but the AEL wants to become big in the Netherlands. A Dutch version of the riots in Antwerp is not too far away.

[knighthawk]

We lost our will to fight centuries ago. The Dutch used to rule the waves. We fought the Spanish and even won sometimes.

But socialist/liberals wrecked the place.

[weikel]

You Europeans need to give power back to your royal houses IMHO as soon as you became Democratic everything went to hell.

[livius]

Ping for later read. But I've sent the "fruit Aryan" thing to everybody I know!

[MoJo2001]

BTTT

[TonyRo76]

Sell your Euros.

I never bought any. A worthless currency if ever there was one.

[Pokey78]

Thanks Tom!

[TonyRo76]

I've heard it suggested here on FR before; and I concur: American cities, museums, companies, wealthy collectors, anyone with the means and the desire, should start buying up and shipping over here as much of Europe's artistic patrimony as we can save—paintings, sculptures, buildings, etc.

That way, once Europe is finally deluged by Islamikazi barbarians, we can be kinda like Ireland during the dark ages—preserving the classical culture of the Old World from oblivion so that future generations can enjoy it!

[dead]

In the advanced technocratic Euro-state, almost any issue worth talking about has been ruled taboo.

We’re not far behind on that front.

Great, great article.

The Eurinals are doomed.

[skeeter]

Today we took another step towards the Islamic Republic of the Netherlands.

It may have been another step, but not towards an islamic republic. More like another step towards a violent confrontation after which islam will again be purged from the continent, IMO.

There is time to settle things peaceably, provided the multiculturalists are stifled and sensible policies enacted. But if pushed far enough, western man will eventually have had enough and push back.

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

The Dutch are faced with an insurmountable obstacle, that of Being White. They may be damned tall, but they are most definitely very white. This condition precludes them from mustering any organized defense of their culture.

I've told a few people in the last year that, if they want to go visit Europe as they think it is, they better hurry it up. Been a few years since I was over there, and already it was like walking through the ME/NAfrica in many cities.

[Travis McGee]

Indeed.

[Cuttnhorse]

You have probably read this Ivan...but wanted to be sure...an excellent article.

Cheers from Chile

[MadIvan]

You have probably read this Ivan...but wanted to be sure...an excellent article.

I have to agree with Steyn - the Continent is an absolute mess - Britain will only gain if we move far away from anything they want.

If we move away, we'll be all right. If we tie our future to them, i.e., join the Euro, we'll be dead.

Regards, Ivan

[Cuttnhorse]

BTT

[RonDog]

In Holland, a militant vegan killed the flamboyant homosexual nativist Pim Fortuyn during the election campaign.

Surely the first time in Dutch political history that a fruitarian had killed a fruit Aryan. - Mark Steyn

Absolutely, positively the Quote of the Week. - Illbay

Quote of the Day ping!