I would respectfully suggest that you missed his point. Islam - Radical or Otherwise - is no more the basic problem than the barbarians were for the Roman Empire. It is not that they are strong; the West is weak.
ummm, yeah...that's why I said "surrendered"? I probably was vague though, my commentary wasn't specifically on this piece - re Steyn's work in general.
....the West is weak
Two massive wars killed all the decent males/breeding stock...what's left can't even reproduce. To make up for lack of adequate testosterone, a nanny-state was formed which then taxed so hard that it further discouraged the investment in children and families...just MHO
I just realized that when people talk about us being the modern day Roman Empire in its decline, they had the right point but missed the target. It's "old Europe" that far more closely resembles the dying Empire.
Like decaying Rome, you have a center with a declining birthrate demanding its bread and circuses to keep the masses happy. The modern European welfare state. And that declining birthrate meant that you saw a demographic barbarization of the Empire, in addition to just plain old invasions. Just like they're seeing now. They really don't have the guts to fight off the barbarians -- they just buy them off with appeasement.
And other attitudes are similar as well. The late-Empire Romans feared more vigorous cultures, looking upon them as somewhat uncivilized and not respecting their "betters". That's how they looked at the Franks, etc. And that's kind of how they look on us. Loud, uncouth, too strong for our own good, and just not as "sophisticated" as they are.
They're circling the drain, dude.
They may not be the basic problem, but they are the IMMEDIATE problem. It's all well and good to talk about why they may want to kill you and whether you brought it on yourself, but if addressing it isn't Job one, there is no Job 2.