Excerpt:
The refined antennae of Western liberals mean that whenever one raises the question of whether there will be any Italians living in the geographical zone marked as Italy a generation or three hence, they cry, "Racism!" To fret about what proportion of the population is "white" is grotesque and inappropriate. But it's not about race, it's about culture. If 100% of your population believes in liberal pluralist democracy, it doesn't matter whether 70% of them are "white" or only 5% are. But if one part of your population believes in liberal pluralist democracy and the other doesn't, then it becomes a matter of great importance whether the part that does is 90% of the population or only 60%, 50%, 45%.
Since the president unveiled the so-called Bush Doctrine--the plan to promote liberty throughout the Arab world--innumerable "progressives" have routinely asserted that there's no evidence Muslims want liberty and, indeed, that Islam is incompatible with democracy. If that's true, it's a problem not for the Middle East today but for Europe the day after tomorrow. According to a poll taken in 2004, over 60% of British Muslims want to live under Shariah--in the United Kingdom. If a population "at odds with the modern world" is the fastest-breeding group on the planet--if there are more Muslim nations, more fundamentalist Muslims within those nations, more and more Muslims within non-Muslim nations, and more and more Muslims represented in more and more transnational institutions--how safe a bet is the survival of the "modern world"?
Read, of course, the whole thing.
A personal note: as one who has chosen a childfree life, I can't help feeling partly responsible for this sort of thing - but, then again, do I want my descendants living in the 9th Century?
3 comments:
Read more here:
http://washtimes.com/national/20050912-122024-9420r.htm
And, always read Lileks:
http://www.lileks.com/screedblog/06/010506.html
I have thought much on this line over the last year, but never very coherent.
I agree for the most part with the posts. I am not convinced of the probability of the worst-case outcomes, but I think its greater than 0.
To start out, I don't understand muslims (in this regard - multi-culturalism) and don't want to imply that I think all have the potential of Nazi's as I discuss a worst-case scenario in the next paragraph. But one cannot deny the similarities with the leaders of the Islamo-facist movement and the Nazis. I just don't know. I am not alone in this, and this is the single largest thing that would help clarify 90% of the problems in the world (not resolve necessarily, but clarify). What do 'average' (or western) muslims think? What do they want geopolitically? Honestly?
Continuing on the paths set out by the reference articles, one encounters a significant problem when you continue to think foreward in time. *If* Islamofacists continue to make gains (similar to the Nazi pre-cursor) what is to be the equivlent of the suicide of Hitler? What is the end? I am not a scholar of WWII, but I have to believe that once the real Nazi motives were exposed, most judeo-christian Germans had to have some sort of 'Whoa! Wait a minute...' moment. Nor am I a scholar of Islam. Would average (moderate?, western?) muslims, once exposed to the ways of their leaders have such a 'Whoa! Wait a minute...' moment? I don't know. That is the most scary thing. (Ok, scarrier comes when you realize what happens after... if the answer is no they will not...)
I guess on the (potential) bright side is the Iraqi experience ongoing now. Muslims accepting democracy in addition to their faith. This is the only real hope I have at the moment, in this regard.
With such fragile hope, it is also why I think that the games the Democrats are playing with the war are very *VERY* dangerous. I honestly think Kennedy should be convicted of treason. Honestly.
-S
I don't so much worry about what American Muslims want, or that their numbers will increase. I think we saw last month - with the Parisian riots - what European Muslims are capable of, though.
Fair enough. The US does a moderate job at assimilation. Stellar compared to Europe.
Lets say the 80/20 rule. Presume the 20% is causing the visible trouble. Whats the other 80 really want? Thats the unknown, and the concern.
-S
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