http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594033722/ref=nosim/nationalreviewon
“”Theodore Dalrymple explains how European intelligentsia turned on Western civilisation and paved the way for hedonism and Islamism to run roughshod over a once proud European culture. Western Europe is in a strangely neurotic condition of being smug and terrified at the same time. On the one hand, Europeans believe they have at last created an ideal social and political system in which man can live comfortably. In many ways, things have never been better on the old continent. On the other hand, there is growing anxiety that Europe is quickly falling behind in an aggressive, globalized world. Europe is at the forefront of nothing, its demographics are rapidly transforming in unsettling ways, and the ancient threat of barbarian invasion has resurfaced in a fresh manifestation. In “The New Vichy Syndrome”, Theodore Dalrymple traces this malaise back to the great conflicts of the last century and their devastating effects upon the European psyche. From issues of religion, class, colonialism, and nationalism, Europeans hold a ‘miserablist’ view of their history, one that alternates between indifference and outright contempt of the past. Today’s Europeans no longer believe in anything but personal economic security, an increased standard of living, shorter working hours, and long vacations in exotic locales. The result, Dairymple asserts, is an unwillingness to preserve European achievements and the dismantling of western culture by Europeans themselves. As vapid hedonism and aggressive Islamism fill this cultural void, Europeans have no one else to blame for their plight.
About the Author
Theodore Dalrymple is a former psychiatrist and prison doctor. He writes a column for The Spectator of London, contributes frequently to the Daily Telegraph, and is a contributing editor of the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. He lives in France. “”
Part 1.
http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/post/?q=MWYyOWMzOTgyZjgxYjk2ZWYzZTRkMTA5ZmU5NmEzZmY=
Part 2.
http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/post/?q=Y2FhYzIxOThhNTUwOWNlNDgzNjkzZmIzMjgxOWI0NmY=
Part 3.
http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/post/?q=NTBhYmE2MDY0ZmM2YmRjN2UzODBlMGVlMGMzMjVjZDA=
Part 4.
http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/post/?q=OTAzMTA2OTBiOWI2MzViNzkzZWQzN2E5Y2QyMmZlOWY=
Part 5.
http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/post/?q=N2QxNzNmY2Y2YjA4NWIzMGRhMzk5ZGRhMTc5MmI3ZWY=
I’m definitely a fan. But one of these days I’m going to have to ask him to his face if he chose to use a pen name rather than his real name cause he didn’t want to be mixed up with the C3PO guy from “Star Wars”.