Mark Steyn, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
Reviewed by Paul Eidelberg
Internationally renowned journalist Mark Steyn is famous for his abrasive yet delightful wit . One wonders, however, how a book subtitled The End of the World as We Know It can make delightful reading . Perhaps because Steyn$B!G(Bs wit conveys $B!H(Bpolitically incorrect$B!I(B truths obscured by timid and shallow pundits .
Like Oriana Fallaci, Steyn not only exposes Islamic imperialism, but also the moral confusion or cowardice of western elites$B!=(Bthink of George bush and Barack Obama$B!=(Bwho cuddle up to Islam or obscure its bellicose and hateful nature . Steyn quotes Bernard Lewis, the dean of Islamic scholars:
$B!H(BIn 1940, we knew who we were, we knew who the enemy was, we knew the dangers and the issues$B!D(B . It is different today . We don$B!G(Bt know who we are . We don$B!G(Bt know the issues, and we still do not understand the nature of the enemy . $B!I(B
America Alone is an urgently needed wake up call . Steyn warns America about what is happening to its NATO allies: (1) An aging and declining European population has necessitated the importation of foreign workers, primarily Muslim Arabs from North Africa . (2) Since these Muslims refuse to integrate, they constitute a hostile and prolific population that threatens to inundate the Continent . (3) Europe is committing cultural self-destruction not only because of its permissive immigration policies, but also because of the multiculturalism and moral relativism that permeate the mentality of Europe$B!G(Bs ruling elites$B!=(Bits post-Christian policy-makers and judges on the one hand, and post-modern academics and journalists on the other .
What makes America even more alone is that its allies disdain the country that saved them twice from tyranny .
America needs to understand, however, that its economic and political survival depends very much on Europe, and Europe , Steyn warns, is approaching the abyss as a result of its moral decline and low birthrate . Unless this trend is reversed$B!=(Band this will require heroic efforts$B!=(B Europe will be semi-Islamic within a generation .
Steyn has made an extensive survey of European demography . For a nation to maintain a stable population$B!=(Bno growth and no decline$B!=(Bit needs a fertility rate of 2 . 1 live births per woman . Whereas America has a 2 . 1 fertility rate, Europe , as whole, has a rate of only 1 . 38 . Spain , with a 1 . 1 fertility rate, is halving every generation .
In the major urban centers of France , of those aged 20 and under, about 45 percent are Muslim . France is self-destructing . So is Russia , the world$B!G(Bs largest country . With a 1 . 14 fertility rate, there may be only 50 million Russians at the end of the century . Large chunks of Russia will slide into the Islamic orbit . As Steyn puts it, Europe is $B!H(Bgoing out of business . $B!I(B
Steyn also emphasizes that Europe $B!G(Bs social democracies, with their cradle-to-grave welfare programs, are going bankrupt . The welfare state, by assuming all the responsibilities of adulthood$B!=(Bhealth care, child care, care of the elderly$B!=(Bhas effectively severed its citizens from humanity$B!G(Bs primal instincts, including self-preservation . As Europe gets older and more childless, it has to import more foreign workers . This can only end in Europe $B!G(Bs economic collapse .
Europe$B!G(Bs Muslim population is not very productive, since a large percentage of Muslims prefers to proliferate and live of welfare rather than work . To make matters worse, Muslims predominate in European prisons despite permissive judicial systems .
Meanwhile, mosques and madrassas, thanks largely to Saudi money, are flourishing . The cultural identity of European nations is evaporating .
Although Muslims in general reject the customs and laws of their host country, their votes are eagerly sought by European politicians . Moreover, government officials, whether obtuse or afflicted with multiculturalism, magnify Muslim power by failing to enforce monogamy laws . Since Muslims can have four wives, their birthrate is seven times that of Europeans . Some demographers say Europe will be dominated by Muslims in 20 years . Steyn does not exaggerate when he says Europe is committing cultural suicide .
Imagine French literature and culture: gone . German literature and culture: gone . Russian literature and culture: gone . In the home of humanism, humanism is dying .
Steyn offers a shocking example of this decadence . In 2006, Spain $B!G(Bs ruling Socialist Party introduced a bill in parliament legislating that apes be included in $B!H(Bthe category of persons, and that they be given the moral and legal protection that currently are only enjoyed by human beings . $B!I(B The party$B!G(Bs argument was that humans in Spain share about 98 percent of their genes with chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans . No wonder Spain $B!G(Bs fertility rate is only 1 . 1 .
But how did the Spanish socialists gain power? Well, on March 11, 2004, three days before the Spanish elections, a series of terrorist train bombings in Madrid killed more than 250 people . On election day, the voters tossed out the government that had been supporting the U . S . in Iraq and handed it over to the Socialists . It was this new leftwing government that introduced the bill to endow apes with the moral and legal rights of human beings (perhaps the result of the left$B!G(Bs unqualified struggle for human rights detached from obligations . )
Notice, however, that it was Muslim terrorists that brought this leftwing government to power .
To illustrate the fact that Europe$B!G(Bs burgeoning Muslim population does not integrate, Steyn points out that the most popular baby boy$B!G(Bs name in much of Europe is Muhammad . (The Saudis are willing to pay any man $1,000 to change his name to Muhammad . ) Steyn boldly adds that if you are Islamist, $B!H(Byou can lie, cheat, steal, rape, and kill women and children, as long as you are doing it for Allah and his victory over infidels . $B!I(B Islam thus provides would-be criminals with a license to steal and kill . (The present writer wonders: how many felons become Muslims to cover their evil motives and thereby minimize if not avoid punishment?)
What about England ? Alas, the teaching of moral relativism during the past few decades has enfeebled and corrupted English society . In fact, relativism has metamorphosed into moral reversal: witness the anti-Israel reportage of the BBC, where the Jewish victims of Arab terror appear as the villains.
England$B!G(Bs judicial system has also been tainted . The courts mollycoddle Arab criminals and terrorists as $B!H(Bvictims$B!I(B of so-called $B!H(Boppressive$B!I(B majorities . London has become a breeding ground for global jihad, thanks to the permissiveness of the courts .
And so America $B!G(Bs NATO allies are fading away . In the UN General Assembly in 2003, the members of the European Union voted against the U . S . position 54 . 5 percent of the time . Finland $B!G(Bs prime minister said in 2002 that $B!H(Bthe European Union must not take up arms at any occasion in order to defend its own interests . $B!I(B America is indeed alone .
Perhaps this is why Steyn repeatedly refers to 9/11 as if it were exclusively an American concern . Few people grasp the full significance of that fateful day . 9/11 was the greatest morale-booster of Islam in 1,000 years . 9/11 restored the confidence of the Muslim world$B!=(Ba world burning with envious hatred of the West . 9/11 showed ambitious Muslims that the $B!H(BGreat Satan,$B!I(B despite its military superiority, is vulnerable and can be conquered . By restoring the pride of Muslims everywhere, 9/11 heightened Islam$B!G(Bs ambition to conquer the world . It has already emasculated Europe .
To stop Islam$B!G(Bs forward march, Steyn offers various proposals, including the following (to which I add parenthetic comments):
$B!|(B Support women$B!G(Bs rights$B!=(Breal rights, not feminism$B!=(Bin the Muslim world . (Encourage the production of films to dramatize the plight of Muslim women . This would also serve to enlighten Americans about Islamic barbarities such as $B!H(Bhonor killings . $B!I(B)
$B!|(B $B!H(BRoll back Wahhabi, Iranian, and other ideological exports that have radicalized Muslims on every continent . $B!I(B (I wonder, however, whether sectarian differences in the Islamic world have any strategic significance . )
$B!|(B Cut off the Saudi funding of mosques, madrassas, think tanks, and other Islamic organizations in America . (Islamic influence on American society may also be exerted via retired, high-level American officials on the Saudi payroll . Legislation may be required to terminate this pernicious state of affairs . )
$B!|(B Marginalize the UN and ensure that Islamic states that persecute non-Muslims are denied international legitimacy . (To this end, the U . S . should demand the expulsion from the UN of any state that violates the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . )
$B!|(BTerminate the Iranian regime . (Needed is a $B!H(Bshock-and-awe$B!I(B attack on Iran $B!G(Bs nuclear facilities . )
But now I must say that something is missing in Steyn$B!G(Bs America Alone, namely, Israel . Yet Israel may contain the key to humbling Islam .
Scholars have noted the overweening arrogance of Muslim Arabs . Washington should therefore:
$B!|(B Call upon Israel to devastate the entire Arab terrorist network west of the Jordan River, including the Fatah- and Hamas-led Palestinian Authority$B!=(Bnow a proxy of Iran .
$B!|(B Declare that any attack on Israel will be deemed an attack on the United States .
$B!|(B Move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and urge Israel to exercise its rightful authority over the Temple Mount . This is the ideological key to terminating Islamic imperialism .
Of course, the U . S . may lack the will or leadership to roll back Islamic imperialism . Steyn is not optimistic . All the more reason to urge Americans, especially their decision-makers, to read America Alone and heed its proposals, lest America succumb to the fate hovering over Europe .
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