The Sick Man of the World, Europe - part 1
In part one (1) of an undetermined series of blogs on Europe, I will examine the economic, social, and cultural undercurrents that is affecting and accelerating the decaying and possible demise of Europe. In the context of Europe, I will be referring to Germany and Western Europe. If the rest of central and Eastern Europe continue on their road of imitating these forementioned nations of Europe, they too will be lumped together as “Europe”. Even though many of these central and eastern European nations have been accepted or are on their way of being accepted into the European Union, they do not carry the same characteristics represented in what I call “Europe”.
So let us begin into my fascination on the blogs and articles emanating from Europe concerning the United States progression towards the "Middle Ages" because of the "Right-Wing" government that is currently in office. Interesting in that nearly all, if not all, Europeans view the United States as a regressive imperial power bent on world domination. They say we are without culture, morally bankrupt, gun-toting, free-market extremists who understand little of the machinations of current events outside our own backyards.
Let us put this in perspective.
Europe, the self-proclaimed great moralist and denouncers of evil has produced two World Wars, the Jewish genocide, and three totalitarian systems. The National Socialists, Nazi's, the Communists, and the Fascists. All of these systems were based on creating a government that serves the ‘greater good of man’, i.e., the greater good being the state. The state would be responsible for guaranteeing a job, social security in form of a welfare state, socialized medicine to preserve the health of man, and numerous other state funded enterprises that were "morally relative" to the betterment of mankind. These are all noble endeavors on face value. But you would think the Europeans would know better than to fall for this claptrap again.
With hindsight the Europeans should think twice about giving power to the state as opposed to the people. With foresight the Europeans should be able to project the ramifications of the many social programs they have in place. Neither of these options has the Europeans clearly pursued.
I am no sociological expert, but I do read reports, articles, journals, i.e., almost every imaginable current events periodical available. With this said, I can clearly say that two issues have risen that are indisputable in regards to Europe. One is the drop of European birth rates and two is that if these rates continue, the depopulation of Europe is certain. I will not go into the numbers, but it is safe to say that 18 European countries are experiencing birth replacement rates that are insufficient in sustaining the same population level. Meaning that their populations will decrease within the next 20 years. Taking into consideration immigration and other social factors that could avert this crisis, there is insufficient evidence to prove otherwise that Europe is facing a demographic time bomb.
There are many variables causing the decrease in population. Too many to state, but for now it is fact that many families are starting to have less and less children. Many people are putting off marriage, for whatever reasons, later in life. Sometimes to the detriment of having children because many of these women are starting late into their child bearing years which makes it dangerous to have children and limits how many children you want. Plus the costs involved in new technologies to induce pregnancies are affordable to the very few who go down this avenue. Notwithstanding that even when a couple decides to have a family early in life, they choose not to have more than one in most cases, two in very rare cases. Many couples even choose not get married in order to have children. Many couples choose not to have children, regardless if they are married or not. With increased economic affluence it is generally agreed upon that people tend to have smaller and smaller families.
What are the contributing factors towards this? With so many social programs available for those having children, you would think that there would be fewer reasons to not have more children.
Allow me to state the reasons why this is so.
With the now famous European panache for two month vacations from work, increased benefits for work related injuries, shortened work weeks, socialized healthcare, et al. Many Europeans are becoming more and more self-absorbed in satisfying their lust for leisure. I am not against leisure, but it is true that “too much of a good thing is too much”. Many Europeans have decided that they are not beholden to anyone, hence the self-absorption. Like the state hasn’t done enough for subsidizing a lazy lifestyle already.
Again, many people marvel and admire the social programs in most European countries to the point of holding it as infallible dogma that the state is the answer to all of man’s ills. Even many Americans hold to this view due to their proficient travels in Europe, studying everything and anything European to the point of self automated brainwashing that anything European is good and right and anything American that contradicts this is bad and wrong. I tend to call these people secular fundamentalists, other people call them Democrats or Liberals. To find a middle ground, let’s call them ‘secular humanists’ or ‘hedonists’ in layman’s terms.
Without going into details of the European single mindedness admiration of ‘hedonism’. I would theorize that ever since European man began to question his own existence and rejected the idea of being beholden to a higher power, i.e., God. European man began to experiment with the most deviant of ideas ever manifested in the history of humankind. This in direct correlation created the not so great calamities of the 20th century.
The French Revolution begot Robespierre and his ilk. "I think therefore I am". The famous quote by Descartes exemplifies this correctly. Europeans believing that they were created without the ominous direction of God, began to stray away from their Christian heritage and they began to question morality in general.
All of which began to bring the idea of relativism into the hearts and minds of Europeans. This has led them down the dark path of secular humanism. Which has produced some of the most monstrous ideas and leaders in human history from Karl Marx, Maximilien Robespierre, Adolph Hitler, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Joseph Stalin to name a few.
What does this have to do with depopulation? Well Europe has not experienced a depopulation of this magnitude ever. The next 20 years this depopulation will eclipse the Black Plague in scope and breadth.
Because of the Europeans fascination of a welfare state in conjunction to the embracing of moral relativism, simultaneously rejecting Christian values which has been replaced by the new religion of secular humanism. Social attitudes progressing from the sanctity of marriage to the sanctity of ‘if it feels good do it’ will destabilize the welfare state as it stands today.
This will occur. I repeat, this will occur because of the Europeans resistance to change, especially to their treasured social programs. As an example, everyone has witnessed French union workers protesting as recently as last week the elimination of one of their 17 holidays as well as changing the work week from 35 hours back to 40 hours. Almost all economists and government policy wonks understand that all social programs from social security to national healthcare require a tax base to pay for these programs. The more tax payers the better the benefits. Well, this tax base will be decreasing within the next 20 years and the graying of the European population, especially when the demographic population bubble called baby boomers reaches pension age, will strain the system.
The social programs will either have to be cut back dramatically or taxes will have to be raised much higher from a smaller tax base.
This is a recipe for disaster.
Anyone reading this column can safely surmise that at best there will be riots on the streets of Europe if any changes do occur. At worst we will see the collapse of governments and civil war due to this demographic time bomb.
In my next blog I will touch on the external forces inside Europe which will only exasperate the internal problems they already face.
So let us begin into my fascination on the blogs and articles emanating from Europe concerning the United States progression towards the "Middle Ages" because of the "Right-Wing" government that is currently in office. Interesting in that nearly all, if not all, Europeans view the United States as a regressive imperial power bent on world domination. They say we are without culture, morally bankrupt, gun-toting, free-market extremists who understand little of the machinations of current events outside our own backyards.
Let us put this in perspective.
Europe, the self-proclaimed great moralist and denouncers of evil has produced two World Wars, the Jewish genocide, and three totalitarian systems. The National Socialists, Nazi's, the Communists, and the Fascists. All of these systems were based on creating a government that serves the ‘greater good of man’, i.e., the greater good being the state. The state would be responsible for guaranteeing a job, social security in form of a welfare state, socialized medicine to preserve the health of man, and numerous other state funded enterprises that were "morally relative" to the betterment of mankind. These are all noble endeavors on face value. But you would think the Europeans would know better than to fall for this claptrap again.
With hindsight the Europeans should think twice about giving power to the state as opposed to the people. With foresight the Europeans should be able to project the ramifications of the many social programs they have in place. Neither of these options has the Europeans clearly pursued.
I am no sociological expert, but I do read reports, articles, journals, i.e., almost every imaginable current events periodical available. With this said, I can clearly say that two issues have risen that are indisputable in regards to Europe. One is the drop of European birth rates and two is that if these rates continue, the depopulation of Europe is certain. I will not go into the numbers, but it is safe to say that 18 European countries are experiencing birth replacement rates that are insufficient in sustaining the same population level. Meaning that their populations will decrease within the next 20 years. Taking into consideration immigration and other social factors that could avert this crisis, there is insufficient evidence to prove otherwise that Europe is facing a demographic time bomb.
There are many variables causing the decrease in population. Too many to state, but for now it is fact that many families are starting to have less and less children. Many people are putting off marriage, for whatever reasons, later in life. Sometimes to the detriment of having children because many of these women are starting late into their child bearing years which makes it dangerous to have children and limits how many children you want. Plus the costs involved in new technologies to induce pregnancies are affordable to the very few who go down this avenue. Notwithstanding that even when a couple decides to have a family early in life, they choose not to have more than one in most cases, two in very rare cases. Many couples even choose not get married in order to have children. Many couples choose not to have children, regardless if they are married or not. With increased economic affluence it is generally agreed upon that people tend to have smaller and smaller families.
What are the contributing factors towards this? With so many social programs available for those having children, you would think that there would be fewer reasons to not have more children.
Allow me to state the reasons why this is so.
With the now famous European panache for two month vacations from work, increased benefits for work related injuries, shortened work weeks, socialized healthcare, et al. Many Europeans are becoming more and more self-absorbed in satisfying their lust for leisure. I am not against leisure, but it is true that “too much of a good thing is too much”. Many Europeans have decided that they are not beholden to anyone, hence the self-absorption. Like the state hasn’t done enough for subsidizing a lazy lifestyle already.
Again, many people marvel and admire the social programs in most European countries to the point of holding it as infallible dogma that the state is the answer to all of man’s ills. Even many Americans hold to this view due to their proficient travels in Europe, studying everything and anything European to the point of self automated brainwashing that anything European is good and right and anything American that contradicts this is bad and wrong. I tend to call these people secular fundamentalists, other people call them Democrats or Liberals. To find a middle ground, let’s call them ‘secular humanists’ or ‘hedonists’ in layman’s terms.
Without going into details of the European single mindedness admiration of ‘hedonism’. I would theorize that ever since European man began to question his own existence and rejected the idea of being beholden to a higher power, i.e., God. European man began to experiment with the most deviant of ideas ever manifested in the history of humankind. This in direct correlation created the not so great calamities of the 20th century.
The French Revolution begot Robespierre and his ilk. "I think therefore I am". The famous quote by Descartes exemplifies this correctly. Europeans believing that they were created without the ominous direction of God, began to stray away from their Christian heritage and they began to question morality in general.
All of which began to bring the idea of relativism into the hearts and minds of Europeans. This has led them down the dark path of secular humanism. Which has produced some of the most monstrous ideas and leaders in human history from Karl Marx, Maximilien Robespierre, Adolph Hitler, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Joseph Stalin to name a few.
What does this have to do with depopulation? Well Europe has not experienced a depopulation of this magnitude ever. The next 20 years this depopulation will eclipse the Black Plague in scope and breadth.
Because of the Europeans fascination of a welfare state in conjunction to the embracing of moral relativism, simultaneously rejecting Christian values which has been replaced by the new religion of secular humanism. Social attitudes progressing from the sanctity of marriage to the sanctity of ‘if it feels good do it’ will destabilize the welfare state as it stands today.
This will occur. I repeat, this will occur because of the Europeans resistance to change, especially to their treasured social programs. As an example, everyone has witnessed French union workers protesting as recently as last week the elimination of one of their 17 holidays as well as changing the work week from 35 hours back to 40 hours. Almost all economists and government policy wonks understand that all social programs from social security to national healthcare require a tax base to pay for these programs. The more tax payers the better the benefits. Well, this tax base will be decreasing within the next 20 years and the graying of the European population, especially when the demographic population bubble called baby boomers reaches pension age, will strain the system.
The social programs will either have to be cut back dramatically or taxes will have to be raised much higher from a smaller tax base.
This is a recipe for disaster.
Anyone reading this column can safely surmise that at best there will be riots on the streets of Europe if any changes do occur. At worst we will see the collapse of governments and civil war due to this demographic time bomb.
In my next blog I will touch on the external forces inside Europe which will only exasperate the internal problems they already face.
posted by Anonymous at 5/19/2005 05:49:00 PM
3 Comments:
Very Short History of the Twentieth Century
1. WW I was caused by German/ British competition, after the Berlin Baghdad railway was completed German export to the ME increased by 1200 % in a few years time. India was the source of the wealth of the British empire. The line was to be extended to Basra, from Basra to India is just a short stretch. The Kiel North Sea canal carried just a little less freight a year as the Suez and the Panama canal. Incorporating Hamburg economically in the German empire in 1886 made it possible for German industry to compete with the British.
2. The USA entered WW I in the beginning of 1917 because the British would have to capitulate in November, no more food because of efficient submarine warfare. The USA in all probability did not like a Germany dominating the world, moreover, USA banks and private persons had lent huge amounts of money to Britain. Britain and France had bought huge amounts of weapons and food in the USA. USA profits soared. After a British capitulation it was questionable if they would get their money back. Baruch, a Wall Street speculator with White House connections, already in 1915 urged the USA to mobilise. Baruch later was director of war production. The Balfour declaration was a USA condition for entering the war. The diplomatic correspondence was found by the 1935 Nye Congressional investigation into the reasons fro the USA to enter the European war. Morgenthau sr, USA ambassador in the Ottoman empire, then already hated the Germans. He spread the word on the Armenian genocide, that, according to the Turks never was.
3. The victors, USA, France and Britain decided to put the blame on Germany. Impossible reparations payments were imposed on of what remained of the German empire. France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr for years. The 1929 Wall street crash was the final blow, that made a maniac like Hitler get to power legally in Jan 1933. USA President Hoover in 1931 had to end the reparations payments. Germany in fact had paid nothing; the ‘payment’ had been financed by foreign loans, mainly in the USA.
4. Roosevelt's and Churchil's 1933 correspondence still is classified; Morgenthau jr., on Roosevelt's request, since 1933 was in touch with the USSR. Historians speculate that the correspondence is classified because the two men then agreed to destroy Germany definitively. Baruch in 1933 also already wanted to destroy Germany.
5. Hitler had economic reasons for annexing Poland and Chechoslovakia. What remained of the German empire after Versailles had the highest density of population of any country at the time. E Prussia was severed from Germany by the Danzig corridor. German economic interests in Chechoslovakia (what had 70 % off the industries of the Habsburg empire) were ended, in changed in British and French interests. Roosevelt agreed to the 1938 Munich agreement, even wanted Germany to get back Danzig (Gdansk) and the Polish Corridor.
6. Churchill's intention to occupy neutral Norway caused Germany to occupy Norway, and Denmark, a few days before the British would have arrived.
7. In order to neutralise France, what with Britain had declared war on Germany, Hitler occupied also Belgium and the Netherlands. France was given generous peace terms. Hitler let the British Expeditionary Force escape, he did not want war with Britain. The war with Britain necessitated the German occupation of the Netherlands, German bombers and fighters could not operate above Britain from Germany; not enough range.
8. Churchill refused all German peace efforts, the last well known one was May 1941 when Hess flew to Scotland. The deal was peace, with both Hitler and Churchill removed. Churchill arrested Hess. The flight of Hitler’s deputy to Scotland was kept out of the USA and British media. My idea is that at all costs the image of Hitler as the one and only threat to western civilisation was kept upright. After Hitler attacked Russia in June 1941 Churchill the next day went on the air in a speech promising help to Russia. That Stalin had killed some 20 million of his own subjects in the thirties apparently was not important. Stalin became a supporter of civilisation. That Russia was preparing to attack Germany also was not important. Churchill’s speech was well received, both emotionally and by direct by radio, by the USA media. Two days later Roosevelt promised the USSR aid.
9. In mid 1941 Roosevelt's oil boycott of Japan began; in Sept the Dutch joined, Japan in vain asked in Batavia for oil. In the USA bogus negotiations continued between the USA and Japan. The bogus party was the USA.
10. When Japan attacked on Dec 7 1941 it had just oil left for three months. Because of a German- Japanese treaty Roosevelt got the war he wanted. Baruch again directed war production.
11. Stalin was preparing for war on Germany. So Hitler was in a hurry, Hess's offer was no charity.
12. The Wannsee Conference was about a month after Pearl Harbor. Eichmann in 1937 had travelled to Palestine to investigate deportation possibilities. The British refused his entry. The other deportation possibility was Madagaskar, the war becoming global in Dec 1941 made deportation oversee impossible. German law forbids to discuss or belittle the holocaust. This of course means that evidence for the holocaust is overwhelming.
13. Roosevelt was seen in Germany as a Jewish valet, Baruch and Morgenthau were Jews. There was a huge Jewish presence at the 1918 and later Versailles talks: Palestine and the USA war loans.
14. Morgenthau jr. succeeded in getting Roosevelt’s signature on a plan to convert Germany into one large farm. Churchill prevented this.
15. Jews in Palestine in 1939 decided to attack the British as soon as the war was over; the attack began in May 1945, in May 1948 the British left. Then most of Israel within its pre 1967 borders had been ethnically cleansed.
16. In 1953 Britain and the USA toppled the Iranian prime minister Mossadeq and replaced him by the USA puppet Shah. In 1979 the Iranians freed themselves from Big Satan.
17. The 1967 Liberty accident was planned in Washington three months before. The plan was to sink the Liberty with the complete crew, and describe it as a Russian attack. Then there would be a pretext for a USA nuclear attack on Cairo. Just the rigging by the crew of an emergency antennae made McNamara recall the bombers that already had started from ME USA carriers.
18. Since 1967 the USA unconditionally supports the Israeli colonial terror regime.
19. From 1979 until 1989 the ISI, Pakistani CIA, recruited and trained fundamental Muslims all over the world to fight the USSR in Afghanistan, financed by the CIA. After the victory the fighters were abandoned.
20. Because of Vietnam the USA was unable to fight Iran itself, after 1979, so Saddam was installed and financed, to fight Iran. The war lasted eight years, at least a million casualties. In 1983 Rumsfeld visited Saddam to prepare USA shipments of poison gas, for the Kurds.
21. In 1991 Saddam asked the USA ambassador April Glaspy for his prize, Kuwait. After Saddam had taken his prize the USA attacked.
22. Contrary to promises USA troops remained in Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden, who had fought for Uncle Sam in Afghanistan then decided to destroy the USA: the Sept 11 attacks.
23. The USA responded as was hoped, it occupied Afghanistan and Iraq. Reasons for occupying Iraq were: judeo-christian empire in the ME (Israel), oil (Israel now imports oil from the N Sea and S America), and upholding the dollar as international currency, Saddam in Nov 2002 announced he wanted euro's in stead of dollars for his oil. In both countries the USA now is in a quagmire. Moreover, the USA is seen as a warmongering country all over the world, the dollar lost a fifth of its value.
24. In May 2004 the USA House of Representatives empowered Bush to attack Iran. Israel trains the USA Iraqi forces in targeted assassinations. Israeli WMD’s are not important, Saddam’s mirage WMD’s were.
25. In Sept 2004 Israel bought bunker penetrating bombs in the USA. The USA and/or Israeli pre emptive strike on Iran seems near. Iran is reported to have missiles capable of reaching Europe, and may well have nuclear weapons already
I wonder if Tito the Norman thinks we are temporarily on this planet to make money.
Peter Luyckx,
from decadent Europe,
peter.luyckx@wxs.nl
BTW, I always pitied the USA citizens I met on my travels, they all were so old that they hardly could travel any more.
They also saw nothing, was my idea, protected from the alien environment they apparently hated from air conditioned buses.
I often in thoughts compare the present USA with China in the first half of the 19th century, the Peking court considered themselves the middle of the world, a world consisting of barbarians.
When I travelled through Iowa a few years ago I indeed got the idea that the Iowans, even few who had crossed the state, and even the federal borders, had no idea, like the present dictator of the USA, about the real world.
One more BTW, France's population has been stationary for centuries now, any idiot should be able to understand that continuous growth, whether in population numbers or economically, is impossible.
But USA education seems to be a farce, since decades.
Tito,........that`s an interestingly European name you have there.
Post a Comment
<< Home