Mark SteynBesprekingen

Mr. Steyn has a clever writing style, which is needed to be able to read about such a somber subject. There is a Hilaire Belloc poem titled the Pacifist, which Mark Steyn references, and contains a line something like:

Pale Ebenezer thought it wrong to fight,
But Roaring Bill who killed him thought it right.

That will pretty much give you an idea of where this book will take you. Mr. Steyn points out that there's an angry and militant population out there, and the West isn't doing much to address it. The book is meant to be a wake-up call regarding the current war on terrorism, and who's winning. The author notes that Islam is on the rise, with high birth rates and zeal for its cause(s), while the West is declining with its low birth rates, and large social welfare dependency. Even if support for militant Islam is very low among Muslims, and assuming that the majority of Muslims neither support or condone the actions of the militants, the author notes that they're but a silent majority. As the author states, even if the number of militants is very small, like one-hundredth of one percent, in a population of one million, that still amounts to 100 potential terrorist supporters. And there are hundreds of population centers of over a million, not just in the Middle East and Muslim majority countries. Given that it only took 19 individuals to carry out 9/11, those numbers stack up against the west unless peaceful solutions are found.

A lot of fun, very gossipy but also full of interesting analysis. It's a book you can't read without singing along. But the first half is more fun than the second. The author hates everything made after 1965, and he starts to sound like a bit of a sourpuss.

A hot steamy jingoistic paranoid-schizophrenic right-wing mess.

Well, the title and sub-title says it all really. Very informative.

Interesting and important subject.
(Not much to say that hasn't been said in other reviews).

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CX02

N.B. Some people recommend trying to find points of agreement with someone you basically disagree with, before getting into the rest of it; the most obvious example is Paul in most of his epistles; many psychological writers make similar recommendations. So I’m at some point going to reread the book with an eye to that. Of course that’s not to say that I’m going to take on his battles against the youth, (not that he’s that old himself), the Muslims, or whoever, just that I would have something good to say about his intentions. I will try to carry both these tasks before me though, as they say, in the natural you can’t do it.

Update:

The world as a whole has always been mostly colored, and it is currently becoming less white. “We used to go out and colonize and now the immigrants are moving in.” So if you identify with the lily-white.... And he does slip in the disputes with the Mexicans, even though it’s supposed to be the Muslims, right. Unnerving!

Of course, globally Christianity is not receding; in Africa it’s expanding. But that’s not us, not the old stock, not the West.... And the old stock is still wealthy, wealthier—

But there’s the old human discontent. “I have money, so that’s not what I want.”

And there’s the old thing, which is very modern/young: the refusal to see that my rise, really any trend, does not last forever.

But Steyn likes to express his fears mathematically.

....................

Humor is usually a sort of veiled attack, although humor itself doesn’t have to be exactly an attack. Either way, when I first read through this book I wrote down all the things that I thought were funny, in a classic mock-the-mocker that was just too appealing to say no to. But when I really get going I can talk all day, so I decided to just leave the long review in the comments section in the unlikely event that you’re inclined to care, and leave you instead with one or two thoughts.

About Muslims. Steyn has to explain away, briefly at least, the success that the Muslim empires enjoyed in past centuries relative to Western empires; he does this by saying that they just sponged tax money etc. off the non-Muslim groups and had a big party until eventually there was nothing left. The problem here is what you consider the success of an empire, or really any human success, to be. Steyn seems to think it’s mostly money or something like that, or maybe warm bodies and the will to kill. But every African dictatorship has the warm bodies and the will to kill, including the Christian ones, but nobody cares, not even Steyn. But the Muslim states at their height were very advanced by any standards, in everything from math to mysticism, and many people in the past fled from West to East. And any, you know, cultured culture, whether it’s Renaissance Italy or anybody else, can’t just buy success. Sure, one guy buys the painting, but somebody else has to paint it. And it’s the same with anybody.

About Mark Steyn. I think that the real issue here is that he thinks that the youth are soft and corrupt. And there is some vice among the youth, although maybe it’s more a matter of being corrupt than soft, since rap has plenty of will to kill. But either way, Steyn’s solution is basically to have a big war with the Muslims—or the Mexicans, or whoever— and get a few youths killed to toughen the rest of them up. (I decline to comment specifically, except to say that this is not what I’ll be voting for.)

I must highly, HIGHLY recommend AMERICA ALONE to anyone who, like me, still believes in American exceptionalism. Mark Styen analyzes demographic trends in western civilization, paying special attention to recent trends in Europe. In particular, while the native populations of most European countries are on the decline, muslim immigrants are flooding in (and out-breeding europeans). Steyn hypothesizes that you cannot so drastically alter the demographic makeup of a nation without the political climate also being affected. He spends much of the book citing various statistical studies & current events to support his claim, and he does so marvelously! America Alone is an informative (as well as entertaining) wake-up call to the people of America. It is a warning of what we have to look forward to if we continue to kowtow to those who practice a faith that teaches that we are all infidels. Its not hard to see, based upon what is already happening in some parts of Europe. Its just a matter of whether or not America will realize what is happening before it is too late.

While the book has been banned in Canada (the weenies in the Canadian government claim that the book is "hate speech"!), it should not have been. It isn't about hating muslim people. It is about being aware of the goals of the so-called "religion of peace" & standing firm against the PC ideology that has us making concessions to the islamic faith & its practitioners.

Dry wit, puns and hyperbole are a lot like salt and hot sauce - great when used in moderation, but when you dump the entire bottle out and cover the dish in them, it tends to detract from the meal being served. That pretty much sums up how I feel about After America. I don't disagree with the author's analysis of the dire economic situation that the United States has put itself into, but this book reads like a 300 page rant. I love Mark Steyn's work - just not this particular one. I tried reading it, and then I even tried listening to the audiobook, and a third of the way in I just can't take it any longer. I really enjoyed Steyn's previous book [b:America Alone|30112|America Alone The End of the World As We Know It|Mark Steyn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316281197s/30112.jpg|30511], but the difference between it and After America is that in America Alone I was learning about a subject I had little knowledge of, whereas I don't need to read a book such as this to be convinced that America has a spending problem that is likely cripple if not completely ruin the nation one day.

The End of the World as We Know It

Get ready for Armegeddon

A controversial read and strengthens my views on all religious fanaticism.

A controversial read and strengthens my views on all religious fanaticism.

The main point I came to recognize from this book is that America is now just like Western Europe. We have huge unsustainable entitlements and a government that is unwilling to cut benefits. We also have a huge military budget on top. Military spending will decrease while entitlement spending will increase. We will not be able to spend money on anything we choose because it has already been promised to entitlements. America is not what it used to be.

I think I would have liked this book better if the author hadn't talked so much about the dangers of Islam.

I love Mark Steyn, but the reason this book only got 4 stars from me is that it is so depressing. And sadly, that isn't Steyn's fault.

Somehow Mr. Steyn makes serious politics and dire detailed statistics, dare I say it, FUNNY. The startling information is enough to make any liberty- and debt-conscious American/Western European cry in their oatmeal if they could only stop laughing long enough at the take-no-prisoners oneliners. Hated that the information is true and terrifying, loved that he had the heart to tell it to us without a lot of PC doubletalk and jumbled up economics-ese. Although I know many condemn it as such, I hesitate to classify this as a "political" book because it really isn't--he torpedoes people on both sides of the blue/red fence and a bunch of others who fall somewhere between or well outside of it. It's just a wake-up call to the evils of an over-sized government we and our allies can't afford. Frankly, I would have considered giving this book a rare "5" if it hadn't been for the title. C'mon Mr. Steyn--the pic, spot-on analysis, and information were enough. Why did you have to stoop to tacky sensationalism by adding the sub-title? I highly recommend this book. I almost wish it was required reading for registered voters, but that would just add another level of bureaucracy.½

After America: Get Ready For Armageddon is Mark Steyn’s sequel to America Alone, and while an interesting and entertaining read, it is dour in its conclusions and predictions. It offers but limited hope that the American People will wake up in time and in sufficient numbers to resuscitate their once great nation. In entertaining and humorous anecdotes, Steyn lays out America’s cultural folly and suicidal course as a great nation, pointing out that what he’s saying is neither new nor some clairvoyant insight but a simple recalling of history. It’s all happened before.
When the Roman Empire fell darkness ensued for hundreds of years, but when the British Empire fell hardly anyone noticed because, Steyn says, America was there to allow for a gentle landing. The transition of power was smooth and America’s actions were much in the manner of a benevolent, democratic giant. However, the theme of After America is that if - or when - America falls, the powers that will likely remain (China, Iran, Russia, etc…) are neither democratic nor benevolent and darkness (lack of individual freedom) will again ensue. A very good read, politically and literarily. Steyn’s command of the language and witty style could make reading your own obituary (or America’s) fun – well, almost.½

Disappointing. As much as I may agree and be entertained by his commentary, this is too rambling and repetitive.

Not so incisive as America Alone. Rather a lot of drift in the conclusion. But a good and certainly sobering read.½

I found the style enjoyable, but the subject matter, while familiar with some of the Broadway shows, but ignorant of most, a bit hard to digest. It is also hard to objectify something which is by nature subjective.

I found a couple parts of this book interesting, but mostly the author annoyed me. He seemed to dislike some things about theatre just because one is supposed to (Andrew Llyod Webber, etc.) and jumped back and forth on his opinions. If you REALLY love theatre, you might find parts interesting, but don't expect to enjoy most of the book.

Mark Steyn's writing is riveting.

America Alone is a polemic on the problems of aging and diminishing European societies and the expansion of the Islamic world into those societies. It is written by a Belgian-Canadian living in the US who espouses Christian Republican beliefs and for most people this will either be a book you hate or love. What is great about this book is that it lays down the tough issues that we face. What is terrible about this book is that it associates some clear thinking on demographics and religion with utter nonsense about climate change, welfarism, and citizen militia.

Mark Steyn deals in issies that most find unpalatable and much of the European world has chosen to ignore. The European approach is disasterous and with the exception of a few in the Netherlands, we just aren't ready to deal with our own decline. Steyn spells it out brutally and while he might be picking and choosing statistics to bolster his case, it is the general thrust of the problem that should worry the western world.

The issue that Steyn deals with primarily is demographics - we all know that Europe is in decline but we do nothing about it. We know that our birth rates are too low and that the population count is being artificially inflated by immigration. Immigration is not inherently a bad thing (and Steyn stops short of arguing that it is) but an influx of people who refuse to identify with the host culture is. In the UK, Muslims have overtaken Hindus in population size in the last decade - I'm not sure anyone can recall a single problem within the British Hindu population as it sought to make itself part of the society within which it lived.

This is part of the problem that Steyn identifies - a pan-Islamic model is massively more appealing to Muslims than is any national identity. Steyn is absolutely right to say that the exportation of Wahabbism from Saudi Arabia is a direct threat in the same way that Soviet Communism was but it is just a much more effective threat. Islam is not monolithic but you wouldn't know that from the examples such as that Steyn cites in which a European of Bangladeshi descent demands the right to cover herself from view in a burkha - the burkha is a Bedouin garment designed to combat sandstorms in the desert - not very useful in Europe or Bangladesh so not of those cultures. What the example highlights is that it is the assertive Arabian form of the religion that is being embraced.

Steyn fronts up on the war that is really being fought between the West and Islam - culture. It is a war being fought on terms that the West will struggle to win. Demographics favour the East. Henlein (Starship Troopers) puts it better than Steyn can - cultures that out-breed others will inevitable dominate them. Steyn illustrates this perfectly with the case of the United Kingdom which dominated more of the world than anyone in history simply by generating a surplus of healthy people combined with technological superiority. Without the surplus, there would have been no British Empire, no exportation of Corinthian values, no end to the slave trade (a worldwide phenomenon), no system of international laws or liberal institutions.

We in the West choose to ignore history - we ignore the collapse of the great and enlightened Athenian empire because it's people became too decadent. Steyn makes the point well that it is younger, hungrier societies that win. Europe has pretty much given up. The societies of the Middle East, filled with a surplus of angry young men are more than we are prepared to cope with so we appease them instead.

Unfortunately in reading this book, it becomes difficult to associate with it's core argument because the rest is appalling. Steyn does not even feel the need for internal consistency and his arguments disintegrate which makes this a missed opportunity. Steyn discusses the disgraceful transfers of wealth from the West to the House of Saud in return for oil and what that money does in waging cool war against us. Yet he abjectly refuses to acknowledge the root cause in our dependency on fossil fuels. Without Americans driving their gas guzzlers, we wouldn't be funding our own demise.

Steyn doesn't understand climate change and bashes Al Gore in mostly humourless fashion. Steyn promotes gun ownership by citing the safety it provides while living in a society with unbelievable homicide rates compared to gentrified Europe. Steyn advocates citizen militia as a more effective form of self-defence and claims that it is the welfare state that has driven Europe into the tailspin. This is so annoying as it could be argued that the welfare state is a symptom of a decadent society but Steyn argues it as the cause - why do those who take stands against our decadent groupthink have to always make such basic errors of logic?

This is an irritating book - it deals brilliantly with the core topic and the culture war Europe cannot win on present course - but it associates that argument with specious nonsense that panders to the Redneck convert and makes it difficult for those who can think for themselves to promote the core thesis.½