Am I becoming Republican? GASP!
LOL. I knew I should have never started dating a republican... In any case, I'll just chalk it up to that quote by that guy who said to be liberal in your youth makes sense, but if you're not conservative by the time you get older you're just an idiot.. lol.. Yeah I rock.
Anyway, the more and more I think about it, the more that it scares me that many people in the U.S. want a more socialized state. And to be completely honest, I can see what the article below is talking about when I look at the African American community in the U.S. Democrats want to keep giving them welfare b/c they feel its "fare" because of all the history. Republicans would say, "time's up! get your shit together! we've helped you enough!" Well I'm not that extreme. I do feel that there should be some socialist organizations in this country to help people get on their feet. But I think we can take it too far if we let our sympathy rather than our cold-hearted logic get out of hand.
Anyway here is the article:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20070213-095004-8271r.htm
Reshaping America
By Paul BelienPublished February 14, 2007
Those who think that Europe is America's past, think again.Europe matters to America. It matters more than ever before. Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and the liberal special-interest groups that currently dominate Congress want to reshape America in Europe's image: socialist, secularist and multicultural.
Americans who want to know what their country will be like 20 years from now if it follows the path its politicians want it to take, need only look at Europe. There, one can see what the undermining of Judeo-Christian values, higher taxes, onerous regulations and big, intrusive government will lead to: the collapse of a civilization.
First there was the rise of the welfare state, which led to the steady emergence of highly taxed, slow-moving and maladaptive economies that must support growing and eventually unsupportable demands by the citizens.
Second, there was secularism. People who have the state taking care of them from the cradle to the grave no longer need God. The welfare state also intentionally undermined religion to crush the spirit of freedom among its subjects. And it undermined demographics, because people who do not believe in God do not believe in the future and see children as a burden.
Third, a wholly new danger emerged, namely that of welfare immigration -- the immigration of people, increasingly from cultures which have not been shaped by the basic forces of European civilization, who come purely for the purpose of claiming benefits.
Take Holland, for example, Europe's equivalent of San Francisco. This is Pelosi Land. The Dutch are pampered by an extensive welfare system. They were the first in Europe to legalize abortion, euthanasia and homosexual "marriage." Today, Islam is filling the void that was left when the Dutch created a religious vacuum in the heart of their culture. There are already 1 million Muslims in the Netherlands out of a total population of 16 million. Their number is rising fast because the Muslims are fecund while the secularist Dutch have hardly any offspring.
The native Dutch are moving out. Since 2004, more indigenous Dutchmen have emigrated each year than immigrants have moved in. People who have lost faith in God do not fight. They run. Since they do not believe in life after death, this life is the only thing they have to lose. One emigrant Dutchman, a homosexual author who lives in Brussels, writes: "I am not a warrior. I do not fight for freedom. I am only good at enjoying it." This mentality has affected the whole of Western Europe. A young German woman recently said that it is "better to let yourself be raped than risk injuries while resisting, better to avoid fighting than risk death." Europe has chosen the path of submission. Islamization is not the cause but the consequence of the collapse of Europe. The very word Islam means "submission." Many Europeans have submitted already. In that sense, they have already become Muslims. At the root of the collapse of Western Europe's civilization is the self-inflicted disease of welfarism. It saps people of the strength to take care of themselves, to stand up for their rights, to fight for their freedoms. And yet, while the European example is there for all to see, Mrs. Pelosi's Congress wants to introduce the same in America.
Today, the Europeans are creating a supranational welfare system, the European Union (EU). After having sacrificed their liberties for cradle-to-grave security, they are now sacrificing their centuries-old nation-states. Some Americans think that the EU is a kind of United States of Europe. They are wrong. While the U.S. Constitution protects the liberties of the people, the EU constitution abolishes them. While the U.S. Constitution recognizes that there is an authority higher than the state -- God -- the EU constitution deliberately refrains from mentioning God.
On Jan. 16, Europe's Nancy Pelosi -- the newly elected speaker of the European Parliament, a German Christian-Democrat called Hans-Gert Poettering -- announced that he will not press for a reference to God in the EU constitution because he wants to be a "fair and objective" speaker.
Europe's contemporary culture is one of "repudiation," a culture based on negatives for every aspect of the traditional European heritage (Christianity, monogamous marriage, national loyalty, monocultural identity and so on). This is the culture that Mrs. Pelosi wants to introduce in America. But look at what Europe has become. Its refusal to uphold the old forms of moral and civil order make it impossible to curb the welfare state, to control immigration, to maintain order in the cities. If America follows Mrs. Pelosi's lead, this is what it will get. Welcome to the future, look at Europe. Paul Belien is editor of the Brussels Journal and an adjunct fellow of the Hudson Institute.
Anyway, the more and more I think about it, the more that it scares me that many people in the U.S. want a more socialized state. And to be completely honest, I can see what the article below is talking about when I look at the African American community in the U.S. Democrats want to keep giving them welfare b/c they feel its "fare" because of all the history. Republicans would say, "time's up! get your shit together! we've helped you enough!" Well I'm not that extreme. I do feel that there should be some socialist organizations in this country to help people get on their feet. But I think we can take it too far if we let our sympathy rather than our cold-hearted logic get out of hand.
Anyway here is the article:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20070213-095004-8271r.htm
Reshaping America
By Paul BelienPublished February 14, 2007
Those who think that Europe is America's past, think again.Europe matters to America. It matters more than ever before. Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and the liberal special-interest groups that currently dominate Congress want to reshape America in Europe's image: socialist, secularist and multicultural.
Americans who want to know what their country will be like 20 years from now if it follows the path its politicians want it to take, need only look at Europe. There, one can see what the undermining of Judeo-Christian values, higher taxes, onerous regulations and big, intrusive government will lead to: the collapse of a civilization.
First there was the rise of the welfare state, which led to the steady emergence of highly taxed, slow-moving and maladaptive economies that must support growing and eventually unsupportable demands by the citizens.
Second, there was secularism. People who have the state taking care of them from the cradle to the grave no longer need God. The welfare state also intentionally undermined religion to crush the spirit of freedom among its subjects. And it undermined demographics, because people who do not believe in God do not believe in the future and see children as a burden.
Third, a wholly new danger emerged, namely that of welfare immigration -- the immigration of people, increasingly from cultures which have not been shaped by the basic forces of European civilization, who come purely for the purpose of claiming benefits.
Take Holland, for example, Europe's equivalent of San Francisco. This is Pelosi Land. The Dutch are pampered by an extensive welfare system. They were the first in Europe to legalize abortion, euthanasia and homosexual "marriage." Today, Islam is filling the void that was left when the Dutch created a religious vacuum in the heart of their culture. There are already 1 million Muslims in the Netherlands out of a total population of 16 million. Their number is rising fast because the Muslims are fecund while the secularist Dutch have hardly any offspring.
The native Dutch are moving out. Since 2004, more indigenous Dutchmen have emigrated each year than immigrants have moved in. People who have lost faith in God do not fight. They run. Since they do not believe in life after death, this life is the only thing they have to lose. One emigrant Dutchman, a homosexual author who lives in Brussels, writes: "I am not a warrior. I do not fight for freedom. I am only good at enjoying it." This mentality has affected the whole of Western Europe. A young German woman recently said that it is "better to let yourself be raped than risk injuries while resisting, better to avoid fighting than risk death." Europe has chosen the path of submission. Islamization is not the cause but the consequence of the collapse of Europe. The very word Islam means "submission." Many Europeans have submitted already. In that sense, they have already become Muslims. At the root of the collapse of Western Europe's civilization is the self-inflicted disease of welfarism. It saps people of the strength to take care of themselves, to stand up for their rights, to fight for their freedoms. And yet, while the European example is there for all to see, Mrs. Pelosi's Congress wants to introduce the same in America.
Today, the Europeans are creating a supranational welfare system, the European Union (EU). After having sacrificed their liberties for cradle-to-grave security, they are now sacrificing their centuries-old nation-states. Some Americans think that the EU is a kind of United States of Europe. They are wrong. While the U.S. Constitution protects the liberties of the people, the EU constitution abolishes them. While the U.S. Constitution recognizes that there is an authority higher than the state -- God -- the EU constitution deliberately refrains from mentioning God.
On Jan. 16, Europe's Nancy Pelosi -- the newly elected speaker of the European Parliament, a German Christian-Democrat called Hans-Gert Poettering -- announced that he will not press for a reference to God in the EU constitution because he wants to be a "fair and objective" speaker.
Europe's contemporary culture is one of "repudiation," a culture based on negatives for every aspect of the traditional European heritage (Christianity, monogamous marriage, national loyalty, monocultural identity and so on). This is the culture that Mrs. Pelosi wants to introduce in America. But look at what Europe has become. Its refusal to uphold the old forms of moral and civil order make it impossible to curb the welfare state, to control immigration, to maintain order in the cities. If America follows Mrs. Pelosi's lead, this is what it will get. Welcome to the future, look at Europe. Paul Belien is editor of the Brussels Journal and an adjunct fellow of the Hudson Institute.
Labels: op-ed, republican, socialism, welfare
posted by GyangBang | 1:38 AM
6 Comments:
Let me preface this by saying I definitely am for socialism, as much as it helps even the playing field for those who were born to less privileged families and circumstances.
But the thing is, I have a problem with the way these arguments are made in this article. This article says that welfare leads to secularism leads to immigration which leads to total and utter chaos, "the collapse of a civilization". WHAT? That doesn't even make sense.
"The welfare state... intentionally undermined religion to crush the spirit of freedom among its subjects." As far as I know, welfare programs are meant to support people financially. What's the relevance to religion? Does it discriminate against the religious? Does religion provide a substitute for welfare?
I am appalled by the whole paragraph on immigration. Here the author claims that ANY immigration of people seeking the benefits of living in a different country to be bad. I'm pretty sure that almost all immigration into any country is driven by the fact that the country provides better opportunities, hope, stability, or something else that cannot be found in one's home country. That is why my parents came here. That is why our "forefathers" came here. Besides, legal immigrants do end up paying for these welfare programs through taxes.
But then the author also puts an emphasis on the "immigration of people, increasingly from cultures which have not been shaped by the basic forces of European civilization" which is untrue and offensive. People from Asia and Africa probably have probably at some point in history lived under colonial European rule, if that's what he means by these "cultures". As an American, we are a nation of immigrants, from diverse cultures, and I believe we do pride ourselves on having this diversity define and shape our unique culture.
Then the author goes on his irrational rant against the Islamization of The Netherlands with a whole whopping 6% of their population Muslim. He uses anecdotal quotations and abuses the association of Islam with 'submission'. In the Islamic faith, it is about submission to Allah above all by the person. This has nothing to do with the 'submission' of Europe to having 6% of its population of a different (specifically, Muslim) faith.
Then the author goes on the criticize the separation of church and state. I'm not even going to tackle this one, as I think it is pretty evident from American history why we may actually support keeping it separate.
If it's welfare you want to talk about, just talk welfare. Immigration riots in Europe are based on the highly discriminatory culture, which we should try NOT to emulate. Immigration itself is not the culprit, but intolerance is.
Just my 2c.
Thanks for the thoughtful response :) Actually there was an abridged version of this article that someone had that took out a lot of the offensive stuff, but I thought it would be best to just post the whole thing. I think some of the points the author makes are valid but they do not logically follow from points that he makes. Like the religion/welfare state thing. In my recent visit to London I got a very odd feeling about the place. I'm not religious but man was I pissed off. Its like they are cowards! I understand separating church and state but not at the expense of putting down you're own religion. Its like the british have this sense of "oh we're just stupid christians" in an effort to placate the high muslin population. That kind of thinking is insane and the more a society does it, the more they lose who they are. And I think as much as people give America flack, it has a better balance than the UK. No we will not completely support your lazy ass but we will try to level the playing field. I'm all for that too. And the immigration thing? I guess the point the author was trying to make is not that immigration is bad in and of itself, but that when people don't care to hold on to their identity, they are easily replaced. The author is clearly not muslim as it does seem like he is threatened by their immigration.
In any case, I took what I wanted out of the article, although looking at it again its kind offensive. The gist I got was - don't support everyone because then you'll be left with lazy people.
Oh yeah and about the religious thing. I didn't buy his "the government takes care of everything so you dont need to believe in god" thing. But I did take away the point that declines in religious zeal can also mean decline in population growth. I'm not even sure the two are related but I'm gonna go with it until someone has a better explanation. :)
Here's a contradiction to your religious zeal-population growth thing: Korea and Japan. Japan definitely has not let go of its Shinto beliefs, and Korea has become more religious (Christian or Catholic, mostly). Yet their population growth is slowing (Korea) or actually negative (Japan).
I do agree, however with your other points. People shouldn't apologize for their religious beliefs (generally, unless they believe that everyone should die or something else quite extreme), and I also agree that welfare is only good up to the line where it promotes laziness.
God knows we don't need the government to help us be lazy - we're good enough at that as it is!
Interesting point about growth of religion in certain countries, yet still no babies.. Hm. Scratching my head.. I'm sure someone will figure out the underlying reasons. Wealth? I mean in this country the fastest growing part of the population are the poor right? But seriously babies are a burden! The only way I'd have one before I hit my late 20s is if it were an accident.. Great that just means I WILL have one by accident! :-P Come to think of it, I have plenty of religious friends who don't know whether or not they want babies..
There definitely is a correlation between having children at a later age or not having them at all and the level of education (and hence, income, etc) you have. And in this country, it is pretty evident how it works. I mean, if you're pursuing a professional degree, for example, and then trying to build on that career, you're probably working too much to be a parent until you ARE older. And at that point, you're not really going to want to have a litter of kids - just one or two. Compare that to those who, say, may or may not have a high school diploma. In this case, it's not that these people say, well, lemme just pop out more babies! But rather, a lot of time, they ARE having children earlier and that (having the children or wanting to have children early) hinders their career and educational plans.
The issue in the U.S. makes sense to me, I just thought that it was different everywhere else.. like other cultures would still push people to have big families. But I guess thats not the case really. Every industrialized nation is probably experiencing an increase in jobs that require more education than before..
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