Mark Steyn: We’re Doomed (Is Canada on the slippery slope towards oblivion?)

Western Standard ^ | March 14, 2005 | Mark Steyn

[quidnunc]

It’s in the nature of things that a conservative columnist in Trudeaupia spends much of his time lowering his readers into the abyss of despair. And, to be honest, I get a little disheartened by the amount of correspondence I get beginning, “Great piece on the Martin Liberals! Right on the money!! Do you have any information on emigrating to the U.S.? Or maybe one of those eastern European countries with the 16 per cent flat tax?”

Which I suppose gets to the heart of the matter: is Canada doomed?

A lot of places are. Russia, for example. It’s midway through its transition from “superpower” to ghost town. Russian men already have a lower life expectancy than Bangladeshis; not because Bangladesh is brimming with actuarial advantages, but because being a Russian male is to belong to an endangered species. By 2025, the country’s population will have fallen by a third. By mid-century, vast, empty Russia will have a smaller population than tiny Yemen. The decline in male longevity is unprecedented for a (relatively) advanced nation not at war. Russia has a serious AIDS problem, though not as bad as Africa’s, and it’s a measure of the nation’s decline that for once nobody seriously thinks the HIV pandemic can be solved with free condom distribution. AIDS, along with extraordinary rates of drug-fuelled hepatitis C, heart disease and TB, is just one more symptom of what happens when an entire people lacks the will to rouse itself from self-destruction.

-snip-

[bowzer313]

"...liberalism is literally a death culture."

Truer words were never spoken. Yet, this uniquely western "Culture of Death" philosophical movement, underway for well over five hundred years, continues unabated on its trajectory of death and destruction, with the complicity and participation of the greater majority of westerners themselves. From the rise of secular humanism, to the grief-stricken tragedies of their bloody revolutions and wars, to the creation of the freedom-robbing and slavery-inducing welfare and communist states, to the ultimate end of suicidal self-immolation reflected in the self-loathing negative birth rates of the western nations.

The sweep of western European history, that is, the utter collapse of a once-Christian civilization in its descent to barbarism and its surrender to Moslem dhimmitude, proves beyond the shadow of doubt that the Catholic tradition of Original Sin, the Fall of Man, Christ's Redemption, and the approach of Armageddon is surely true to any but the willfully blind among us (and therefore eternally damned).

[Gritty]

For a good three decades, the Democratic party has been running on fumes, except in the Clinton era, when it was running on semen.

Is there anybody else around who can offer such penetrating insights? Anybody?

Thanks for posting this entire, irreplaceable article, Brian Allen.

[Brian Allen]

<< Is there anybody else around who can offer such penetrating insights? >>

Not for my money -- and you're welcome.

[ride the whirlwind]

Bumping Steyn.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

I am of the opinion that a falling birth rate and the decline of religion with the rise of secularism are connected. Once one begins to concentrate of self and sensual fulfillment the less one concentrates on moral values, discipline, and longterm outcomes. Children take away from the assets available for self-gratification and are postponed or negated altogether. It would be interesting to know how many of the first children in today's society were conceived prior to marriage, even though marriage is less of a requirement now.

The Bible is not just about morals and salvation, there is a lot of wisdom for everyday living there also.

[Yardstick]

It would be interesting to see Mr. Steyn debate the European future with our own Euro-optimists like Jeremy Rifkin and T.R. Reid.

You're right. I enjoy reading Steyn's predictions of Europe's impending collapse nearly as much as I enjoy eating chocolate ice cream, but sometimes I wonder if it's too good to be true.

Is there anyone out there rebutting him? I mean directly. I know the Euro-optimists are out there making their case, but surely there's someone who's dealing specifically with Steyn's columns. It would be interesting to see what they have to say.

[Brian Allen]

<< I am of the opinion that a falling birth rate and the decline of religion with the rise of secularism are connected. Once one begins to concentrate of self and sensual fulfillment the less one concentrates on moral values, discipline, and longterm outcomes. Children take away from the assets available for self-gratification and are postponed or negated altogether. It would be interesting to know how many of the first children in today's society were conceived prior to marriage, even though marriage is less of a requirement now.

The Bible is not just about morals and salvation, there is a lot of wisdom for everyday living there also. >>

10/10!

[And the third-world islamists that are flooding into Europe are, at least according to their death-cult's dictates, "religious" -- and are already breeding at rates that will rapidly overwhelm the aging Euro-peon states.

[whereasandsoforth]

I had thoughts about this before reading your post. No, Mark is never discussed by DUmmies and their ilk. They will tear everyone else to shreds (Ann Coulter), but Mark is never mentioned. He's like dog crap on a Manhattan sidewalk to them.

[Slings and Arrows]

For a good three decades, the Democratic party has been running on fumes, except in the Clinton era, when it was running on semen.

D-mn, I wish that would fit in a tagline!

Thanks for curing the q-flu.

[Yardstick]

A quick google search brought up some folks challenging Steyn on Europe:

http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/003117.html

***And notice why Steyn views an Islamized Europe favorably. Not because it will be better for Europe and Europeans, but because it will make Europe "easier for America to deal with." In other words, an Islamized, and presumably weak, Europe will stand less in the way of America's global ambitions than does the present Europe. In Steyn's view, continents, nations, and peoples have the right to exist only insofar as they do not oppose the American democratist empire. Even our own civilization has the right to exist only insofar as it does not oppose the American democratist empire.***

http://forums1.sonymusic.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/486103162/m/3661060362/r/7561045462

***And I always get a good laugh from statistics like his "40% of the EU may be Muslim by 2025." He's obviously factoring in an acceptance of Turkey into the EU -- a highly dubious assumption -- but he's also obviously trying to create the impression in readers' minds that France, Germany and Britain will be 40% Muslim within twenty years.

Which is, of course, beyond laughable and beyond contempt.

The current population of the EU is 459,938,780 (link). The TOTAL Muslim population in the US, Australia, and Europe is about 20 million (link).

Let's pretend those 20 million are ALL in the EU, just to give Steyn's scarifying the best chance to succeed. That makes the Muslim population of Europe currently 4.3 percent.

Let's also assume that the white folks of the EU have zero population growth.

Even with acceptance of eighty million Turks into the EU, you still need another 213 million Muslims to get to a 40% Muslim population by 2025.

Let's get some perspective. 213 million is about the population of Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. It easily exceeds the population of Pakistan. Steyn is trying to tell us that the equivalent of ONE IN FIVE MUSLIMS CURRENTLY IN THE WORLD will move to the EU by 2025, or have their countries accepted into the EU, or be bred from the currently scary population of 4.3 percent.

That is, of course, so very stupid. So very racist. So very Steyn***

http://austinbay.net/blog/index.php?p=98
***I don’t underestimate the French and German peoples’ capacities for change, either, especially when challenged at home. Yes, I know about Dutch emigration. I also read about a building Dutch anti-Muslim backlash– there are two trains running, neither look good. That’s why I think what will happen in Holland is something in between, but concentrating on a “re-birth of western values,” controlling immigration, and focusing on integration for the immigrants it allows. (In German Der Spiegel says Joschka Fischer has finally lost his teflon because of the visa scandal– a step to controlling immigration in Germany–and getting rid of the Old Reds of ‘68–see one of the early comments in this thread.)***

[untenured]

And I always get a good laugh from statistics like his "40% of the EU may be Muslim by 2025." He's obviously factoring in an acceptance of Turkey into the EU -- a highly dubious assumption -- but he's also obviously trying to create the impression in readers' minds that France, Germany and Britain will be 40% Muslim within twenty years.

Which is, of course, beyond laughable and beyond contempt.

This is a fair point. I have often thought that the Eurabia scenarios were not well thought-out demographically. This is not to say that they're false, just that they aren't really proven. A few weeks back I posted this, which was relegated to the bloggers' forum and didn't draw much comment. It was the only systematic attempt I could find to actually run numbers on the Muslim population in Europe. (Which doesn't even take account of the extent to which Muslims can be and are assimilated).

If it's true, the Eurabia scenario is a disconcerting one, but whether it's true is still very much up for debate IMHO. Population projections are very unreliable, and so we're all working with very little here.

OTOH, the people you quote are probably too optimistic:

Let's also assume that the white folks of the EU have zero population growth.

In fact, it seems to be true that European populations, other than immigration, will begin shrinking in the next few years. But the whole issue is so inflammatory that AFAIK no good demographer has ever tried to break down European demographic projections by race or religion.

[NZerFromHK]

IMHO one of the difficulties the Euro-optimists in attempting (or truly) rebutting Steyn is he moves in the same insider circles as them when it comes to Euro and British politics. He personally knows Giscard d'Estang, Chris Patten explicitly names him in derision, he knows the British establishment. So far I think only some continental Euros had seriously attempted to rebut him - American leftists no longer have the capacity of arguments.

Anyway, this is just my guess, and given that Steyn reads FR perhaps he will respond to the challenges you found on the net in some of his tidbits or future articles?

[headsonpikes]

No one seems to be allowing for Old Euro emigration.

If a million Dutchmen head for North America, that would certainly influence the demographics.

[JFD]

Not even that, look:

20 million muslim immigrants there right now. Add in 80 million from Turkey joining the EU. Add in a ridicolously high birthrate, and ramped up immigration in the upcoming years...and he says 2040/2050 for the 40%, not 2025.

Anyways, factor in all of that, then shrink the EU population by 30-40% or so in one generation because of a birthrate that is hovering around 1.5 and you see where he gets the 40% number. It's not that hard. And in Western European countries it'll probably be around 30% Muslim - the youngest of the country while the fraliest are old. Who would in a fight, pray tell?

As usual, Steyn is right and these douchebags are wrong.

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

....for posting the article in full! :-)

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

....for posting the article in full! :-)

[Dog Gone]

Trudeaupian statism

BWAAAAHAHAHA I'm stealing that term.

[Brian Allen]

<< Trudeaupian statism

BWAAAAHAHAHA I'm stealing that term. >>

Too late, I've been using it already for 24 hours.

And modified it to "Trudeaustan" as the new name of the state without a country that was once called "Canada."

[wlyonmackenzie]

Not likely. Our politicized public shools are churning out an endless supply of Trudeaupian socialist quislings.

Stand up and delcare yourself to be in support of the stste of Isreal in a Canadian class room and you will face discapline...students are discaplined regularly for wrting or stating views out of sync with socialist state policy.

I'm sure you see the same socialist inbreeding in your own public schools in the blue states.

[Sunsong]

So what about Europe? Canadians are, at least psychologically, an honorary member of the EU: we take the “progressive” Euro-view on Kyoto, cradle-to-grave welfare, abortion, a bloated “public sector” workforce, confiscatory taxation, joke prison sentences, and just about everything else.

It's curious - we hear from the Candians here that Canada is really conservative - there's supposedly a silent majority there who haven't found their voice - and that any minute now they're going to elect a conservative government. But Steyn consistently contradicts them with statements like these. Who you going to believe - Mark Steyn or Canadians who tell us that all is really peachy keen up north and we should just overlook any overt anti-American acts or rhetoric?

I notice that you almost never see a Canadian post on a Mark Steyn thread...