Mark Steyn: The strange death of the liberal West

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 03/22/05 | Mark Steyn

[Rummyfan]

An unintended consequence of liberal philosophy -- they kill their dem voters of the future.

Known as the Roe Effect!

[alwaysconservative]

Thanks for the ping, Pokey!

[nothingnew]

If only a million babies are born in 2005, it's hard to have two million adults enter the workforce in 2025 (or 2033, or 2041, or whenever they get around to finishing their Anger Management, Systemic Racism and Gay Studies degrees). If that's not a political issue, what is?

Mark never leaves me without a LOL.

FMCDH(BITS)

[AmishDude]

Mark Steyn for UN SecGen.

[A. Pole]

That's where so-called progressive politicians such as Blair and John Kerry have it all backwards: the point about abortion is not that it's a "matter of conscience" for individuals to "wrestle with", but that it's a crucial part of the central political challenge of our time.

Almost every issue facing the EU - from immigration rates to crippling state pension liabilities - has at its heart the same glaringly plain root cause: a huge lack of babies.

Lack of babies and the revival of XIX free market ideology have the same roots.

[PeterFinn]

To really save Western (European) culture we'd have to do the following:

1) Ban abortion execpt in extreme circumstances such as ectopic pregnancy.

2) Prohibit all extensions of marital rights to anyone outside of marriage.

3) Allow employers to discriminate against single mothers, divorcees, atheists, and homosexuals & lesbians. This will have the effect of immediately reducing the numbers of those groups.

4) End welfare in every possible form. Social safety nets will be found in the churches once again and in nuclear families once again. Government spending should also be reduced to eliminate the 'other' welfare: Public Employment.

5) Prohibit immigration by Muslims, atheists, Communists, and any other undesirables.

6) Eliminate tax exemptions for non-Judeo-Christian faiths.

7) Require competency in English, Christianity, and Citizenship as a condition of citizenship for immigrants. Further, Citizenship boards should have the right to reject applications for citizenship arbitrarily.

8) Require a minimum two-years of public service from EVERYONE in some form or another as a condition of suffrage. People who do not serve their country should not be allowed to vote. You want to vote? Serve.

9) Amend the Constitution so that all of the above are legal and so that Constitutional rights are only allowed to US Citizens.

Honestly, I'm afraid we'll be living in a Sharia State before anyone has the balls to do any of this.

[PeterFinn]

"Soylent Green"

[irv]

The 19th-century Shaker communities were forbidden from breeding and could increase their number only by conversion. The Euro-Canadian-Democratic Party welfare secularists seem to have chosen the same predicament voluntarily, and are likely to meet the same fate.

What a shame. Those Democrats made such nice furniture, too.

[spodefly]

BTTT

[Zivasmate]

When you read Steyn, you keep thinking he cannot top what he wrote last time. His combination of wisdom and wit has never been seen in our lifetimes, and we MUST begin to push for more exposure of this genius with words and political thought.

[lawgirl]

For my next birthday wish, it is going to be that I might meet a man as smart and conservative as Mark Steyn. LOVE steyn bump!

[servantoftheservant]

Excellent post. Thanks.

[llama hunter]

I agree with Steyn most of the time but abortion has very little to do with the birth dearth, although I do see his argument is it is also part of a pervasive way of thinking on many issues

I believe in Canada the rate of abortion has begun to decline steadily, actually and on a per capita basis, which is good news......and the 2000 stat was 105,000 abortions which is hardly going to stop the birth dearth in a country of 30 million.....Canada has also been more conservative in this area as well, in part because a large percentage of our hospitals are Catholic based/funded/supported hospitals, a hiccup from the days of the French in early Canada,

for example, I'd never heard of partial birth abortions which I think is disgusting......until it was an issue in the US

the birth dearth is a function of a whole host of other factors, the days of popping out the sprogs until menopause rescues you, like my poor old Grandmother, who had 12 kids in 24 years, are gone....except of course in the countries where they can't seem to feed or support those large families, it amazes me that poor malnutritioned women can pop out that many sprogs

[AmishDude]

I think Steyn's point is that abortion is more of a symptom than the problem itself

[HanneyBean]

You're going to have to fight me for such a man, Lawgirl!!

Steyn is my ultimate fantasy man, and I'm serious about that. His wife is ONE lucky woman...

[clearsight]

You are describing a planned "national arrested development campaign" which is succeeding excellently.
Go to "savethemales.ca" Plenty of articles describing the process of inflicting "arrested development" on society.

[LibFreeOrDie]

"The Shaker Party...."

Hey! The Shakers were celibates, capitalists, and darn good farmers!! (Concepts foreign to most Democrats).