Decline & Fall: Europe's Slow Motion Suicide [Hardcover]

 

 

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Decline and Fall is a valuable addition to the growing corpus of literature on the continent's problems and uncertain future. Recommended titles include the entertaining and witty but not unserious Menace in Europe by Claire Berlinski, the mostly disturbing While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer and the melancholy The Last Days of Europe by Walter Laqueur.

What constitutes Europe? Besides the 25 countries of the EU and those awaiting membership, it also includes non-members like Switzerland and Norway. For Thornton, the idea of Europe represents a set of values and beliefs or a particular world-view that broadly defines the West in general. He examines the specific nature of the European model, one that is perceived in certain circles as more humane and sophisticated than that of the Anglosphere. Then the evidence of Europe's accelerating decline and its causes are discussed.

The welfare state, accepted across the political spectrum with almost complete unanimity, has resulted in disappointing economic growth rates and perpetually high unemployment. The birthrate of native Europeans is in steep decline whilst there are large unassimilated immigrant communities suffering from mass unemployment resulting in huge welfare dependence. These people are alienated from, even hostile to, their host countries.

Europe's decline proceeded in stages beginning with the collapse of faith, followed by the disasters caused by Christianity's secular Salvationist substitutes like nationalism, socialism, communism, fascism and more recently the plagues of environmentalism and multiculturalism that have undermined its confidence. In Icarus Fallen and The Unlearnt Lessons of the Twentieth Century the perceptive French philosopher Chantal Delsol considers moral relativism - the rejection of all absolutes - as a form of nihilism that resulted from profound disillusionment with ideology. A newly resurgent Islam exploits this weakness and there is nothing to counteract the process.

The continent's dependence on oil imports coupled with its lack of a coherent belief system revived its long tradition of appeasement in the face of threats. After the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the subsequent oil blackmail a turning point in foreign policy occurred when countries like France shifted away from Israel to the Arab side as documented in Eurabia by Bat Ye'or. If antisemitism is a reliable measure of a society's mental health, Europe is seriously unwell. Anti-Zionism is rampant and barely distinguishable from antisemitism amongst the political and media elites.

Fanatically secular, these elites refuse to acknowledge the continent's Christian heritage, a significant spiritual bond between all member states. As the EU expands so does the Eurocracy. The EU power structure is not democratic at all and notoriously out of touch with ordinary citizens. As the continent loses ground to rapidly growing economies like those of India and China and living standards decline, dissatisfaction will rise. It is likely that the assault upon freedom of the press will intensify with the smoldering unrest amongst the immigrant communities flaring up more frequently.

Owing to the habit of consensus-seeking by the major parties of the centre left & centre right, the discontent of native Europeans is expressed by previously unthinkable levels of support for far-right movements in many countries. In their disdain for real democracy, the smug elites have been ignoring the danger signs. It's clear that sooner or later something must give.

A combination of external threats, declining living standards and internal unrest may lead to drastic changes. This scenario is not unlikely as there are indications of Russia seeking an alliance or cartel with oil and gas producers to put the squeeze on Europe while it is already buying aggressively into strategic European companies. Not found in the book, the following scenario is just speculation:

If these accumulating problems are exacerbated by major terror attacks, native Europeans will look elsewhere for leadership. A climate of fear will be conducive to spiritual revival in the form of a dramatic return to their historical faith, Constantine Christianity. A charismatic leader in that tradition who inspires confidence will signal the end of the Brussels bureaucracy, leading Europe towards a different kind of unity, one that may be based on faith.

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