Fait Accompli
By Cicero | Related entries in The War On Terrorism
Western Europe is in a crisis. Fifty years of multiculturalist policies that kept Muslims segregated on social welfare roles will be the ink that writes the next chapter of European history.
On my side of the Atlantic, there’s little to relish in this crisis. Losing Old Europe is tragic. Many rich continental cultures are ebbing, having lost faith in themselves. And Europe is on the vanguard in the war against terrorist fascism. Watching the fires of France, I wonder if we are seeing a tragic axiom play itself out: As Europe goes, so goes the West. Europe is our first line of defense, whether we like it or not. For now, Dominique de Villepin is the front-line general in this global war. Not encouraging. And perhaps if he fails soundly, the pounding fist of Jean-Marie Le Penn will take up the sword.
France’s reaction to the unrest in its cites — amounting to more methadone for the addicts — has lead me to conclude that social democracy cannot fundamentally tackle militant Islamicism. It just can’t. Social democracy provides too many loopholes and gotchas for the Islamicists who have no patriotic allegiance to their European hosts. Extreme Euro-egalitarianism allows the very enemies of egalitarianism to borrow time, dig trenches, tie-up courts with litigation about t-crossing and i-dotting, achieve light sentences, receive public funding and a political framework to advance fundamentalism. From my perspective, Islamic fascism and social democracy are temporarily symbiotic. But the long view of their symbiosis is that social democracy is a tool of the Islamicist’s arsenal, not visa versa. The symbiosis of fundamentalism and social democracy is not mutualistic or commensalistic; instead, it’s parasitic, at the expense of a deferential, accommodating host.
It’s uncomfortable for me to conjure up metaphors of the European malaise that sound like cancer. The Nazis did that. Seeing a subculture as cancerous is a major step into the abyss, giving the green light for unspeakable policies that are anti-liberal in the extreme. I am very sensitive to identifying groups of people as parasitic. It scares me. And yet, is the analogy accurate on some level? I’m really asking.
Multiculturalists overlooked a major flaw in their rationalist creed: the world is not only composed of many cultures, but also a handful of civilizations, of which cultures are a subset. The strife in France’s cites are less about chafing cultures than it is about the age old divide between Islamic and Christian civilizations. I really doubt that multicivilization is a remotely workable concept. Multiculturalism can only work under the roof of one civilization. This war is not between cultures; it’s between civilizations. It’s not about i-dotting and t-crossing in a multicultural court; it’s about Sharia versus liberal democracy. There’s a choice at hand, and there’s really no complacent, pacifist middle ground to mix oil and water. They will not mix.
We’ve benefitted for years from a pacifist Europe. And now we want them to take up the sword — or at least get some of that old time nationalism to help thwart this wave. But that comes at a price — one that most Europeans are quite aware of, if we aren’t. European wrath is legendary. It’s not dead — it’s asleep. I appreciate their penchant for glossing it over. Europeans know what wrath they have wrought throughout history. They want to escape it. I can’t blame them.
Is America immune from malaise? No. We have our own multicultural leanings. Our country is less integrated than it used to be. At best, multiculturalism celebrates cultural differences; at worst, it isolates cultures as a disincentive for integration. The beauty of Americanism is that cultures are melted together. Multiculturalism in America is changing the melting pot into a tossed salad.
Is America immune from strife? Certainly not. I recognize that some of the rioters of Europe are not just Muslim, but are also the dispossessed. Many appear to be the dispirited, soulless youth that Western pop-culture grooms so well. Our culture can be possessed of the same soullessness at times — it depends on where one looks. But the malaise is here, too, although civilization’s divide is not as acute in North America as it is in Europe. Things are still comparatively fresh here, but that is only a matter of degrees. Strife can leap out unexpectedly.
There are of course cell phones and anonymous websites that give the European riots the whiff of conspiracy. The technological miracles of our time bleed civilizations into each other, in more ways every day. And as such, it isn’t even all about Muslims and liberals; there’s an inexorable, simultaneous pulling apart and coming together created by all this technology. Some hope it will bring humankind together; others think it deepens the divide between us. In either case, it’s a question of civilization, and whether or not there’s room on this shrinking planet for more than one.
A couple of years ago Michael Totten recounted something a friend told him about Europe:
I have an American friend who lives in Belgium, and he recently came by for a visit. I asked him why he thinks Europe is becoming such a dark place all of a sudden, and I must admit I wasn’t prepared for his answer.He said Europe has always been a dark place and it hasn’t changed at all.
I’ve never forgotten that view of Europe. The last 40 years or so Europeans have adeptly projected an image of a new, revitalized Europe — a global center for true equality, fairness and prosperity. That’s what the brochure says.
But Europe has always been a dark continent — in spite of its beautiful empty cathedrals, art, food, culture and pretensions of greatness. The continent’s somber history might be its fait accompli. Our fate hangs in the balance.
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November 17th, 2005 at 12:49 pm
A few brief comments from an ‘outsider’ looking in. The U.S.’s war on terror (I believe it remains a mostly American obsession) and the events in France are a refreshing reminder for tens of societies who are on the cusp of their own tranformation for the better. I believe many others have pointed out, the ‘Emperor has no clothes’ is an appropriate realization for those who held onto the belief that either
a) Western societies are infallible b) Western altruism is unique and mutually exclusive to this part of the world c) democracy is not a universal concept d) societies cannot retain their individual cultural and social identities and still remain progressive and enlightened. I believe the last two decades have steadily eroded these myths, and the ongoing ‘War on Terror’ crystallized the fact that no one society has the monopoly on social cohesion, well being and equity.
For decades, majority in the developing world have refused to face the reality of their own complicity in stifling progress by:
1) making excuses for poor choices in leadership and governance
2) perpetuating the wrong priorities in social values
3) copying the actions of others rather than emulating their results
4) most importantly, understanding the contradictions of Western democracy. Many have the luxury of marvelling at the success, freedom and democracy of Western societies when in their capitals, yet still experiencing the malevolence of their hegemony in their back yard.
Avoiding or ignoring these realities has finally come to a head, and for once the global community is forced to undergo introspection and some brutal honesty. The regression in values, ideals and cultural identity within Arab societies has given birth to Al Qaida, Arabs must take full responsibility for breeding not only rabid intolerance but also accomodating leadership who for self preservation and greed, have sold their welfare for a song to those who will exploit their weaknesses for self interest. Europe must come to terms with the specter of its recent colonial past, the underlying brutality of its involvement in so many countries coupled with disingenuity in some of its existing foreign policy, force it to remain trapped in a paradox of guilt and accomodation. Either they select strategic immigrants to their borders the way the U.S. does and completely assimilate them by offering equal economic rewards, or they have a closed border policy and concentrate on enhacing development of their poorer neighbors so that the demand for immigration is reduced. Recent events in South America show that those societies are starting to learn from their mistakes and are now charting an independent, progressive course based on their unique social and cultural heritage rather than external prescriptions and advise. Africa too seems to be shaking off its victim mentality, and taking responsibility for lack of accountability and parochialism. They are spurred on by the recent achievements of their peers in Asia and Latin America who are crafting their own solutions to problems rather than waiting for assistance.
In closing, introspection and honesty is also way overdue in this country. Many Americans live in a mirage of confidence in their unquestionable altruism and righteousness. It is no accident that more and more people across the globe see America as increasingly contrary to their well being, just because anti-American vitriol is spewed by Islamic fundamentalists, does not make some of the basis of their arguments less legitimate. American self interest is just that, good for Americans and not necessarily anybody else. I believe enough rational, objective parties have expressed this commensense fact. America is not the shining example of democracy in the world anymore precisely because the contradictions inherent in being a compromised honest broker have become too apparent to ignore. It is time for individual nations to rely on their own internal sense of decency and fairness to craft functioning societies, rather than idolizing and putting on a pedestal others who are just as fallible.
November 17th, 2005 at 2:48 pm
My additional thoughts:
1) On the effect on French politics: It would be cold comfort indeed if the French turmoil resulted in the current government being replaced by Le Pen’s National Front. I don’t doubt that he would do whatever he believes it takes to bring France out of danger, but somehow I doubt I’d care for many of his methods. And in any event, even what is called the “right wing” of French politics has very little in common with conservatism as it’s understood in America. The National Front has bought into the idea of the superiority of the French social model at least as thoroughly as have France’s other major political parties, complete with the snobbery and anti-Americanism we’ve come to expect from French politicians. The difference is merely in Le Pen’s view of how culturally non-French people fit into said social model.
2) On Islamic culture as a “cancer” on Western civilization: I’ve wondered much the same thing myself. On the other hand it’s self-evident that Islamists regard Western influence on the Islamic world in more or less the same way. Indeed, ridding Islam of this “cancer” is one of the primary stated goals of this jihad of theirs. Yet at the same time, the same Islamists evidently have no problem with co-religionists who do basically the same thing by promoting Islam – and its supremacist variants – in the West. The moral of the story, I guess, is that one man’s cancer on civilization is another’s divinely inspired blueprint for it.
3) On the effects of technology to simultaneously connect and separate people: I’ve seen one particular term bandied about that neatly captures the phenomenon you’ve described: “globalized tribalism.” Some bloggers have even wondered whether this phenomenon, by virtue of its transcending geographical borders, is the beginning of the end of the nation-state and national sovereignty as we know them.
Cicero wrote that “it’s a question of civilization, and whether or not there’s room on this shrinking planet for more than one,” and also noted that “multicivilization” even within a single nation was a dubious concept. Well, fasten your seat belts folks, for it looks like we’re about to find out on both counts.