Posted on 09/13/2011 8:54:44 AM PDT by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
The other day I was reading n article by Mark Steyn that peaked my interest. The article was entitled "A Tale of Two Declines." The theme of the article is basically the same as Laura Ingraham's in her new book "Of Thee I Zing": "Even if our economic and national security challenges disappeared overnight, we'd still have to climb out of the cultural abyss into which we've tumbled." The rest of the article goes on to site examples from the book that illustrates the depth of our cultural abyss.
If one is prompted to wonder whether there is a way out of the abyss, the article is of little help in addressing that question. It was just such a question that led me to take a look at a book that the Hudson Institute put out in 2001 entitled "Building a Healthy Culture: Strategies for an American Renaissance." The book consists of a series of essays on the various aspects culture, its importance to a civilization and the possibilities for cultural renewal...
(Excerpt) Read more at renewamerica.com ...
Both. As long as Obama is in office it will be a seemingly irreversable decline. The renaissance will begin immediately, albeit slowly, after Obama is gone.
The title reminded me of the recent photos of Hiroshima.
It got, uh, better. 8->
Ask on 11/7/12
American Renaissance? Only after Obama is out of office and Democrats are put in the back of the bus. The interesting part is that Democrats are beginning to realize this and socialists are running for the hills. They realize also that the American people are tired of their lies and are will to stand up for their beliefs.
Depends on whether we, via our elected representatives, can reign in the Leech in Chief
I’ve not read these two books and have no idea what’s in them...but I’m just a little burned out on the doomsday stuff. Even tho some of them have helped wake us up and start getting us engaged with the political elite and remove the commies we let take over.
Both my children were wide awake even before I was, as I was mired down into professional studenthood for several years after they grew up. And my oldest grandson is already engaged and headed in the right direction as well as the ones coming up behind him.
We need to give thanks for the ones that woke us up, but now we need to concentrate on getting busy, instead of sucking up more doomsday stuff. Give us your assistance helping us right the wrong, instead of more writing. Action! Action!
Both. It's dying in the USA and being reborn in the far east.
Until people begin to recognize that marriage is a life time commitment, we'll continue to struggle with criminality, ignorance, illiteracy, vulgarity, and unproductive people leeching off the productive.
Yes, we are at a fork in the road. On a November day in 2012, the American people will decide which direction to take. The seldom taken road to prosperity or the well worn, socialist path to oblivion.
decline...demographically induced
not just us...western civ in general
unless views change markedly and very quick
in 20-30 years or so, this nation will be minority “white” and those minorities..with 2-3 sub group exceptions have always voted for who they thought would give them something or were voting against traditional views here.
Latinos 80% democrat...they will be at least 25% of America in short order..amnesty or not
blacks 12%...90% Democrat
others...again over 80% Democrat
only whites vote majority GOP in national elections as a group..and even then...not always but they have since 2000
I don’t see anything stopping a permanent tilt to what we today would call the left and by then whites will be out of money to pay for atonement
I realize political evolution is not straight line but just based on historical trends since the 1950s and given corresponding population trends it’s just not a very rosy future for our way of life as we know it
I see us having a distinct possibility of becoming like Brasil in many ways. Large urban crime areas with political corruption and a huge disjointed family and lower income segment of the population which contributes less and less taxes voting to force an ever oligarchic appearing mostly white minority to pay for the things to keep them from full scale revolt...not pretty
“...renaissance”
What we need is a spiritual enlightenment, like a good, old fashioned, New Light Movement, evangelism on a grand scale, values, morals, principled thinking that will overcome the corruption of pop culture with Christian values of compassion, gentleness, forgiveness, honesty, charity, personal responsibility, decency, manners, respect of elders, children, spouses, neighbors, strangers, animals..., hard work, thriftiness, and so on. The biblical principle of not getting buried in debt would go a long ways towards curing some of our economic woes. The biblical principle of small government, as demonstrated at Babel would help tremendously. Parental responsibility over children, discipline, turning off the televisions, the pop music, the drugs, the juvenile subculture, will certainly help. It seems an impossibility, but that is God’s specialty. That isn’t to say that the mess we’ve created won’t have to collapse first.
The author has a homophone error in his first sentence. That’s pathetic.
Decline. How can a First World nation not decline when the majority of its immigrants are muslims and 3rd world citizens who have little to contribute and no intention to assimilate.
The saying goes, you are what you eat. In the case of the US it is, “You become what you allow to immigrate.”
Hell, we don’t even have an official language and we are getting further away from that decision each day that we fail to establish one.
In the midst of decline I do see the beginnings of a renaissance but it is going to take a little while before it really kicks into full gear.
I forgot to say thanks for the book recommendations. Thanks!
"Piqued", not "peaked."
I liked your post. I agree. Never met anyone who’s KIDS forced them to wake up. Interesting notion.
Exactly. If I’d already taken an interest in the article, I would have sighed and read on, but since it was the first sentence, I just stopped.
Besides, I read Laura Ingraham’s book and found it tiresome, not worthy of discussion articles.
Politics are a result of culture, not the other way around.
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