bump for later read
Mark Steyn Magnum Opus ping
The rapid advances in technology, computing and communications continue to wash over human civilization, with increasing speed and force.
I view the rise and dominance of main stream media, not to mention Nazi Germany and Communist Soviet Union, in the last century to be a result of corporate and big government acquiring the means and control of rapid communication and publication before the ordinary person did. Now as us ordinary citizens are gaining similar powers, the main stream media is losing its position of dominance.
In most of the wars fought by these United States, from the Revolution, to the Civil War, to Vietnam, to the misnamed War on Terror, there was vigorous and wide spread dissent. The dominance of daily newspapers and radio broadcasting during World War II, and its control those mostly supporting the war, is the most outstanding exception.
Fifty years ago, the existence of Islamo-Fascists on the Arabian peninsula was of little concern to the average resident of Manhattan. On 9/11, it was of major concern. With the advent of world wide travel and communication, what was once a localized problem has now become a world wide problem.
As with any change, it comes in phases. Some aspects of the change come sooner, some later. We are now seeing the brunt of the changes that made the world so much smaller, putting Afghanistan next door to Manhattan, putting eleventh century fascists on the same flight as Barbara Olson.
But as modern technology, and democratic reform, infiltrate the eleventh century civilization that work up one day to find itself sitting on a big oil patch, they may loose their rabid potency for terrorist destruction.
Just as it would have been hard to predict the rise of FreeRepublic.com by looking at the dominance of big media (television, newspaper, books and radio) between the 1930's and the 1980's, so it will be difficult to predict what will happen to the Islamic civilization, now that it is being flash merged with our civilization.
"Best case scenario: the Continent winds up as Vienna with Swedish taxes." If that's the best case, all is lost. I've spent time in Vienna. All the taxi drivers are Moslem.
Too many gems to cut and paste here- suffice it to say it's one of Steyn's best and most serious.
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Bump
Good one. It is interesting to ponder the fact that the beliefs of even the most moderate Muslim are in opposition to the most cherished beliefs of the left, yet they still favor mass Muslim immigration. The hatred of their own societies overrides all other considerations.
Reference bump - you forgot the long read disclaimer! Still Steyn is the best! ;-)
Thanks and Happy New Years!
And one may ask; "Why does the left do that which will guarantee not the perpetuity of our civil rights and liberties, but the destruction of them?"
And the answer that no one wants to acknowledge is that the Left does not want to ensure anything. The left only wants to see the destruction of Western society as a whole. Think about it: every aspect of Western values, whether it's Christianity, Family values and Parental rights, Capitalism, Civil Rights or whatever is under some sort of major cultural assault by the liberal left. Their complaints? Basically they are attempting to redefine every aspect of decency in such a way that it has no further meaning or values in Western society. They are chipping away, piece by piece at the cultural bedrock that supports Western society.
And we are collapsing to them.
Incrementalism has been their tools. Small battles, one by one and sneak attacks on cultural aspects that no one thought important enough to stand up and say "Enough!" They are winning small battles and will eventually win the war this way.
And that victory won't see the implementation of "liberal values". Why? Duh, because there are no "liberal values" unless you count the absence of any values at all. A moral vacuum will exist. Subsequently, nature abhors a vacuum and it will be filled. Most likely, as again Mr. Steyn correctly points out, with the culture with the greatest birth rate. Hello Sharia law and rule in America.
And the death of any liberals who resist it.
So, anyway, great article. Well written, well said, great post!
BTTT.
WOW...thank God Steyn never went to the university to get his magnificent brain washed! Instead of reading a book about Teddy Roosevelt, I suggest Pres. Bush read this excellent synopsis of the Fall of Western Civilization. This article needs to be tatooed on the foreheads of every so-called Republican conservative, so they might get a hint of the long-range coming attractions in the Muslim jihad against the West. Worrying about global warming and its effects 500 years from now, or the 60 victims of bird flu since 1996 loses its urgency when one reads Steyn's opinion of the real dangers we face in the not-too-distant future if we don't wake up.
Finally got to finish reading this this morning. A must read for everyone.
This is a very good article.
Perhaps I am being naïve but I think (maybe it’s really hope) that things will work out better then the way this article predicts. The way people seem to be more concerned with the latest football scores is not encouraging. The internet has allowed people to tune out really important news and focus on totally inane pastimes creating legions of useful idiots but on the flipside it has allowed the formation of groups like the Swift Boat Vets and the Pajamadheen. Truth triumphs over lies, order trumps chaos, eventually.
The man's a genius. But how do we turn around, now?
This Steyn piece just made it onto the WSJ opinion page today @ www.opinionjournal.com. It is the New Criterion essay from Jan 1, different from the November one of the same name.
Excellent Steyn piece. My question is What can Europe do at this point? The people are lulled into a coma by the free lunch programs, and they think they are paid for by others. In the case of their defense, he is right-- we Americans shoulder that cost for most of the West. I do not see much chance until it gets much worse.
Our own issues with Social Security reform offers a similar problem, we see a ticking time bomb yet no one wants to defuse it. So we have to wait until the d@mn thing goes off before we fix the blast damage. It would be so much easier to make the smaller adjustments now.
9-11 provided a catalyst for action, that the US is squandering to some extent by repeatedly hitting the snooze button on Iran, Syria and SA. The rest of the West turned off the alarm clock on about October 11, 2001.