Home >> Europe Western Europe Music and the Rise and Decline of Western Civilization
Fjordman - 10/20/2009
This text overlaps with a few of my earlier essays like Why Muslims Like Hitler, but Not Mozart. Europeans As Victims of Colonialism
Fjordman - 7/27/2009
In my book Defeating Eurabia I have included a chapter entitled Fourteen Centuries of War Against European Civilization, which deals with Islamic colonization of and attacks on the European continent since the seventh century AD. This part of history, when Europeans were victims of colonialism and slave raids, deserves much more emphasis than it currently receives, when the focus is almost exclusively on the briefer European colonial period. The “Right-Wing Threat” in Europe
Baron Bodissey - 6/5/2009
Paul Belien at the Brussels Journal takes note today of a last-minute attempt by the Dutch MSM to draw support away from Geert Wilders on the eve of the elections: Western Civilization and Socratic Dialogue
Fjordman - 6/5/2009
The American classicist Bruce S. Thornton, author of books such as Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created Western Civilization, places Socrates at the very heart of the Western tradition, not only because of what he taught but at least as much because of how he taught it, with what has been labeled Socratic method or Socratic dialogue. Culturist Solutions, Vlaams Belang, the BNP and the USA
Prof. John Press - 5/25/2009
Blogs and political parties focus on the spread of Islam. They have made us aware – if terrorism did not – of the danger Islam can pose to western civilization. But, what solutions can be had? Many worry that right – leaning political parties such as the BNP and Vlaams Belang will, for lack of positive options, move towards advocating ethnic cleansing. Such actions would completely undermine our values and cause major civil unrest. This policy could destroy the West. Culturism relies on history. American history provides lots of positive, legal solutions to the fear of Islamic law growing in western nations. Why Was There No Chinese Newton?
Fjordman - 5/24/2009
To my essay Western Civilization and Socratic Dialogue, Dymphna of the Gates of Vienna blog wrote a comment about Greek vs. Chinese ways of thinking. Culturist Geert
Prof. John Press - 2/24/2009
Geert Wilders, a Dutch parliamentarian, was refused entry into the UK. The Muslim community threatened to riot if his film FITNA screened in parliament. Ironically, the Muslims objected to the film’s portrayal of them as intolerant! And since freedom of speech is so central to a functioning democracy, this censorship threatens the continuance of western civilization. In appreciation of Wilder’s efforts, I would like to offer him the intellectual gifts of ‘culturism’ and ‘culturist.‘ Using them will ease and hasten his victory over multiculturalism. Why the West is Supreme
Kyle Bristow - 2/23/2009
A professor who is designing a class on contemporary European politics recently requested that I define Western civilization for him so that he can incorporate my findings into his future lectures. I met with him for well over an hour to enlighten him as to what the origins of the West are, what constitutes Western culture, and why the West is—simply put—superior than the other alleged civilizations. Who Defends the Jews of Europe?
Baron Bodissey - 1/9/2009
In the days since Israeli operations against Hamas began, mass demonstrations against Israel and in support of “Palestine” have taken place in major cities all over the world. Some of them have escalated into violent confrontations with counter-demonstrators and the police, and attacks have been launched against Jews in the United States, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Belgium, among other countries. Stained Glass: A European History
Fjordman - 12/6/2008
I will publish a multipart essay on the history of optics at the website Jihad Watch later this month. One of the parts will be about the history of glass, a fascinating subject which most of us rarely think about. We often talk about how much we owe to the ancient Greeks, but when it comes to the use of glass, we owe much more to the Romans than to the Greeks. Austria Rising
Kyle Bristow - 12/3/2008
On September 28, 2008, Austria held elections in which right-wing nationalist political parties received 29 percent of the total vote. The left-wing British newspaper Guardian described these nationalist parties as “neo-fascist” in an article published on its website entitled “Extreme Right Emerges as Strong Force in Austria” (9/29/2008). The article goes on to say that these nationalist parties “emerged from a general election as a contender to be the strongest political force in the country for the first time.” With how Europe has been infected with severe cases of multiculturalism and multiracialism for years now, it is about time that the people rise up and let the storm break loose. Cash is King
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/8/2008
Libya has recently emerged as the second-biggest shareholder in Unicredit, Italy's number one bank and Europe's sixth largest banking institution, with a massive presence in Central and Eastern Europe. Japanese, Chinese, and Arab investors and sovereign wealth funds are purchasing Western assets at bargain basement prices: banks, brokerage houses, factories, and real estate. Europe’s Decline – Hurrah! We Capitulate!
Fjordman - 9/18/2008
This story is extremely serious. The European Union is now about to do what senior officials have already agreed upon years ago in meetings with Muslim nations, as documented by Bat Ye'or in her book about "Eurabia": To officially recognize sharia lawin European countries: Spanish Crusade Against Communism
Kyle Bristow - 8/13/2008
Communist movements throughout Europe in the early twentieth century posed a dire threat to the West. As Bolsheviks came to power in Russia and aided radical revolutionaries in their desire to overthrow conservative governments, a choice was forced upon the men of the West: Fight the Red menace or let freedom die. In the country of Spain, which has a proud history of civilizing the acolytes of Satan in Mexico, combating the hordes of Muslims in the Levant, and expelling the Islamic savages from the Iberian Peninsula, the men chose to fight. The Decline of the Will; the Decline of the West
Kyle Bristow - 6/9/2008
As Westerners lose the will to take on threats to their civilization, the decline of the West is allowed—through Western negligence—to take place. Arguably, political correctness is the reason as to why people of the Occident do not deal appropriately with issues including crime and immigration control, and so, political correctness fosters nothing more than anarchy, degeneracy, and collapse. Liberals and pseudo-conservatives often argue that immigration and crime cannot be controlled, and they believe this because they ignore history and lack the willpower to deal with the problems. For ps... Europe Shall Bleed, Once Again
Amil Imani - 5/25/2008
Me and my brother against my cousin; me, my brother, and my cousin against the other. This is an old Muslim saying and Muslims live by this motto. To be sure the people of the "religion of peace" find the world full of “other,” to oppress and kill, both within as well as without the Islamic Ummah. Why Europeans Should Support Israel
Fjordman - 4/22/2008
One of the most frustrating things to watch is the powerful anti-Israeli and sometimes outright anti-Semitic current that is prevalent in too much of Europe’s media. Bat Ye’or’s predictions about Arab anti-Semitism spreading in Europe as the continent’s Islamization and descent into Eurabia continues have so far proved depressingly accurate. This trend needs to be fought, vigorously, by all serious European anti-Jihadists. Not only because it is immoral and unfair to Israelis, which it is, but also because those who assist it are depriving Europeans of the opportunity to fully grasp the threat and understand the nature of the Jihad that is now targeting much of Europe as well. Condemning the central value of western society
Alamgir Hussain - 4/19/2008
One must wonder what would be the reaction of Muslims if a museum in Riyadh or Islamabad, or in any Muslim country, displays, for example, a Piss Muhammad photograph like the one of Jesus by American photographer Andres Serrano, which depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's urine. Western Civilization Rising
Kyle Bristow - 4/9/2008
It has been argued by concerned patriots that Western civilization is in decline and will eventually die. This has been a recurring theme in books such as Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West, James Burnham’s The Suicide of the West, and Patrick Buchanan’s The Death of the West. What these authors all have in common is that they believe that Western civilization is on the slippery slope to ruin. Creating a European Indigenous People’s Movement
Fjordman - 4/9/2008
An American friend of mine has proposed that native Europeans should create a European Indigenous People's Movement. I have hesitated with supporting this because it sounded a bit too extreme. However, in more and more European cities, the native population is being pushed out of their own neighborhoods by immigrant gangs. The natives receive little or no aid from their authorities, sometimes blatant hostility, when faced with immigrant violence. In an age where the global population increases with billions of people in a few decades, it is entirely plausible, indeed likely, that the West coul... West: The Fatherless Civilization
Fjordman - 11/15/2007
The decade from the first half of the 1960s to the first half of the 1970s was clearly a major watershed in Western history, with the start of non-Western mass immigration in the USA, the birth of Eurabia in Western Europe and the rise of Multiculturalism and radical Feminism. American columnist Diana West recently released her book The Death of the Grown-up, where she traces the decline of Western civilization to the permanent youth rebellions of the past two generations. The paradox is that the people who viciously attacked their own civiliza... Why Western Art is Unique, and Why Muslim Immigration Threatens It
Fjordman - 10/22/2007
I’d like to dwell on one aspect of Western culture that tends to be downplayed, but is quite important: We are the only culture in the history of mankind to develop realistic, faithful depictions of beings and matter in our paintings and sculptures, rather than merely stylized depictions. We are also the only culture to invent a way to depict three-dimensional subjects in a two-dimensional format. A similar perspective was lacking in all other types of early art, be that Chinese or Japanese, Indian, Mesoamerican, African or Middle Eastern. This could conceivably be because the Western man has ... The Rise of Glossocracy
Fjordman - 10/18/2007
Alexander Boot, a Russian by birth, left for the West in the 1970s, only to discover that the West he was seeking was no longer there. This led him to write the book How the West Was Lost. I disagree with his criticism of post-Enlightenment civilization in general. Still, he is articulate and original, which makes him worth reading.
Boot believes that democracy, or in the words of Abraham Lincoln, the government of ... How The West Was Lost
Fjordman - 10/15/2007
Is Islam compatible with democracy? This is a question I address elsewhere. We also have to ask ourselves, however, whether the conditions needed for a properly functioning democratic system are currently present even in the West. I’m not always sure about that. In a functioning democratic state, the state passes laws in accordance with the wishes of the people, and also strives to uphold these laws. In Western Europe in particular, the state does neither, as most laws are passed by unelected EU bureaucrats... Beheading Nations: The Islamization of Europe’s Cities
Fjordman - 10/12/2007
We have seen videos on TV of Muslim Jihadis beheading infidel hostages. Less attention has been paid to the fact that Muslims are beheading entire nation states. Although this is happening in slow motion, it is no less dramatic. Historically, the major cities have constituted a country’s “head,” the seat of most of its political institutions and the largest concentration of its cultural brainpower. What happens when this “head” is cut off from the rest of the body? AIDS - Europe's New Plague
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 10/11/2007
The region which brought you the Black Death, communism and all-pervasive kleptocracy now presents: AIDS. The process of enlargement to the east may, unwittingly, open the European Union's doors to the two scourges of inordinately brutal organized crime and exceptionally lethal disease. As Newsweek noted, the threat is greater and nearer than any hysterically conjured act of terrorism. Islam, the Greeks and the Scientific Revolution, part 3
Fjordman - 10/9/2007
The great British expert on Chinese science history Joseph Needham has written about how the "four great inventions of China," the compass, printing, papermaking and gunpowder, were exported to the rest of the world. Although Needham is good at writing about technology, he doesn't always provide sufficient evidence of transmission for these inventions. Only one of them, paper, can be said with absolute certainty to have reached the West as a fully developed product. According to Professor T.F. Carter, "Back of the invention of printing lies the use of paper, which is the most certain and the most complete of China's inventions." Islam, the Greeks and the Scientific Revolution, part 2
Fjordman - 10/7/2007
According to scholar Lynda Shaffer, "Francis Bacon (1561-1626), an early advocate of the empirical method, upon which the scientific revolution was based, attributed Western Europe's early modern take-off to three things in particular: printing, the compass, and gunpowder. Bacon had no idea where these things had come from, but historians now know that all three were invented in China. Since, unlike Europe, China did not take off onto a path leading from the scientific to the Industrial Revolution, some ... Islam, the Greeks and the Scientific Revolution, part 1
Fjordman - 10/5/2007
I have written a couple of essays regarding the Greek impact on the rise of modern science, and why the Scientific Revolution didn't happen in the Islamic world. I find this to be an interesting topic, especially since there are so many myths regarding this perpetrated by Muslims and their apologists today, so I will explore the subject in some detail. The Birth Dearth In The West
Baron Bodissey - 8/28/2007
A lot is written these days about declining birthrates in Western countries and Japan. The most frequent statistic cited is the number of live births per woman in a population: in order for the population to replace itself and remain stable, that number must be about 2.1.
Obviously there are many factors that could complicate the calculation of this “replacement number”. An increase in war and pestilence would tend to raise it, since more births would be necessary in order to make up for an increased death rate. In the opposite direction, improved medical care and decades of peace would... The West in the 21st Century — Developed or Developing Nations?
Fjordman - 8/21/2007
In the debate regarding how the relationship between the Old West, Europe, and the New West, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, will be in the 21st century, many observers seem to take for granted that much of Europe will fall to Islam, and that native Europeans will flee and resettle in the New West. There is, however, another scenario that is theoretically possible, but little discussed. What if the opposite happens? There are Europeans emigrating/fleeing to these nations already now, but I think they will discover once there that the problems they are fleeing from are alr... The West is Losing Because It Thinks Itself The Enemy
Prof. Barry Rubin - 6/19/2007
Why is the West losing the battle against radical Islamist and other forces in the Middle East? Simple, because it has people like Alvaro de Soto running things. De Soto, if you hadn’t notices, was a veteran UN official whose last job was as the organization’s top Middle East envoy. De Soto wrote a 52-page secret report on retiring and, duly leaked, it now explains to us that the fault for Hamas’s victory in the Gaza Strip—and no doubt just about everything else in the region—lies with the United States and Israel. It is people like de Soto--dare I say over-dressed, over-paid ignoramuses?—who had no idea what they are doing and no understanding of who they are dealing with. What is the Cause of Low Birth Rates?
Fjordman - 6/2/2007
What causes low birth rates? I have debated this issue at some length with blogger Conservative Swede. Among the reasons frequently cited are the welfare state, feminism and secularism. However, if you look closely at the statistics from various countries, the picture gets quite complex, and there doesn’t appear to be an automatic correlation between low birth rates and any one of these factors. Getting Our Minds Right: Multicultural Revolution For The West
Baron Bodissey - 5/17/2007
Fjordman has coined the term “Glossocracy” for the systematic alteration and debasement of language by the Marxist and Multicultural ideologues who control most of the public institutions in the West. When you make it difficult to describe the world except in terms that are ideologically pre-defined, you also make it difficult to think in any other way. Roadmaps to Peace or Signals of Trouble
Lorna Thomas - 4/15/2007
1. AMERICA AND BRITAIN DIVIDED AS EUROPE UNITES Ending The Retreat Of The West: Suggestions, Recoomendations, Solutions
Fjordman - 3/23/2007
I have been criticized for doing good analyses of the situation in the West, but not giving good enough answers to exactly what we should do about the situation. The following is my attempt to give real suggestions to stop the retreat of the West. Recommendations for the West
Fjordman - 3/22/2007
The West at the beginning of the 21st century suffers from a lack of cultural confidence, and is in some ways engaged in an internal struggle over the very meaning of Western civilization. This ideological “war within the West” has helped paved the way for the physical “war against the West” that is waged by Muslim Jihadists, who quite correctly view our creed of Multiculturalism and our acceptance of Muslim immigration as signs of weakness and that the West has lost contact with its civilizational roots. A Short History of the West
Antero Leitzinger - 3/2/2007
For almost 200 years the Western world, “the Free World”, has depended on the protection of one great power, which all freedom-loving nations have relied on. During the [imperial] restoration following the Vienna Congress and the “Holy Alliance” that great power was Britain, but after the World War II its former colony, the United States of America, took its place. When Winston Churchill in 1940s wrote the “History of Anglophone Peoples” [correct name of the book should be checked], he in fact traced the success story of Western idea of freedom, and its reincarnation in state form. It is true ... Austrian Banking - Interview with Wolfgang Christl
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 2/11/2006
In the second half of 2005, Erste Bank, Austria's second largest, took over yet another East and Central European financial institution: Romania's BCR (Romanian Commercial Bank). This acquisition threw into sharp relief the post-Communist Mittel-European strategy of Austrian banks, big and small. Cartoon Controversy and Respect of Islam
Badrul Islam - 2/9/2006
The political cartoons portraying Muhammad in a negative light originated from a well-meaning attempt to write a book about our Prophet Muhammad to promote religious toleration. The Author of the book couldn’t find any illustrators to draw the picture of the Prophet out of fear, remembering the fate of the Dutch film-maker, Theo Van Gogh killed by Islamic Militants for criticizing fundamentalism. Rose, Culture Editor of Jyllands-Posten Newspaper contacted 25 Danish newspaper Cartoonists challenging them to draw the picture of “Prophet as they see him”. In response 12 cartoonists submitted the ... Europe and the Spectrum of Auctions
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 1/17/2006
Months of procrastination and righteous protestations to the contrary led to the inevitable: the European Commission assented on September 2002 to a joint venture between Germany's T-mobile and Britain's mmO2 to share the mammoth costs of erecting third generation - 3G in the parlance - mobile phone networks in both countries. The two companies were among the accursed winners of a series of spectrum auctions in the late 1990's. Altogether telecom firms shelled well over $100 billion to secure 3G licences in markets as diverse as Germany, Italy, the UK, and the Netherlands. Europe's Theme Parks
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/13/2005
War - especially coupled with a globally sluggish economy - has a contradictory effect on the consumption of entertainment. Disposable incomes plummet curtailing the sales of medium to big ticket items such as cruises and resort vacations. But people - besieged by anxiety and bad news - also wish to be diverted. As the conflict rages, they stay indoors and tune in. Home entertainment booms. But once physical insecurity abates, consumers go out in full force mobbing movie theatres and theme parks, making up for lost time and frayed nerves. Switzerland's Cheesy Economy
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/15/2005
In a series of referenda in 2003-5, Swiss citizens transformed their country forever, economically aligning it with the European Union and opening it up to work migration. It was an uncharacteristic response to increasingly worrisome times. The Story of the Guillotine
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/13/2005
The guillotine was first put to lethal use on April 25, 1792, at 3:30 PM, in Paris at the Place de Greve on the Right Bank of the Seine. It separated highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier's head from the rest of his body. The Demise of the West?
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/8/2005
The edifice of the "international community" and the project of constructing a "world order" rely on the unity of liberal ideals at the core of the organizing principle of the transatlantic partnership, Western Civilization. Yet, the recent intercourse between its constituents - the Anglo-Saxons (USA and UK) versus the Continentals ("Old Europe" led by France and Germany) - revealed an uneasy and potentially destructive dialectic. Michael Moore: America-Bashing Reaches New Levels in Europe
James DeMeo, Ph.D. - 4/6/2005
When Michael Moore lampooned "Corporate America", it was at least an entertaining contribution to the social debate, but now he's moved on to more serious subject matter. Since making his millions by skewering capitalism, he's also plunged into the conspiracy swamp with a disinformation film "Fahrenheit 911"- financed with $3 million from Disney/Miramax. The movie blamed George W. Bush and the CIA (and Mossad?) for the 9-11 terror attacks. [1] Moore has shown himself to be expert in the use of "lies of omission" which most people won't know about unless they consult his critics. Apocalyptic Population Drops in the West: And Then There Were Too Many
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/22/2005
The latest census in Ukraine revealed an apocalyptic drop of 10% in its population - from 52.5 million a decade ago to a mere 47.5 million last year. Demographers predict a precipitous decline of one third in Russia's impoverished, inebriated, disillusioned, and ageing citizenry. Births in many countries in the rich, industrialized, West are below the replacement rate. These bastions of conspicuous affluence are shriveling. Will Europe Survive to 2012?
Antero Leitzinger - 3/21/2005
The "number of the beast" of the Book of Apocalypse, Nostradamus' prophecies, astrology and numerological magic have entertained people for centuries. Even if history was not predetermined and predictable, it might be useful to present some scenarios, based on historical comparisons, presuppositions of repeating cycles, and warning examples. European history has been traditionally approached from a Western point of view, where the central point would be situated somewhere around Switzerland. From the slopes of Sankt Gotthard, the great rivers flow to different directions, towards the North Sea... |
