Mark Steyn Lecture in Newton
I had the very good fortune to be able to attend a lecture last night by Mark Steyn, a very engaging and well known commentator. Being somewhat politically excitable myself, I love to hear important people speak on hot button issues, and in addition to being a wildly attractive man, Mark Steyn is a great speaker. Win-win!

In speaking on the "Islamification of the World" he made some very interesting points - things I did very much agree with. He is a libertarian from New Hampshire, by the way.


- With the persistant clamoring for national health care comes a complete lack of awareness for what exactly that will cost. Not cost in money, but cost in something less tangible. He argues that in the Western world, there is really one clear superpower - America. And that with the alliances that the western countries have, America is there to defend everyone. Subsequently, these other countries have been free to spend less money and energy on defense (knowing that they have alliances with the superpower USA) and channel their money into government healthcare. In essence, American taxpayers are what have enabled other countries to have the "wildly successful" national health care that they do - but if we go that way, who is left to enable us?

-The future. I feel heavily invested in this topic and I know lots of my friends run the othe way when I start to talk about childbearing and "family values", but Steyn made a great point last night - The future belongs to those of us that show up for it. Birth rates in several european countries are low, even below replacement rates - while it is estimated that within ten years one out of every 3 births on the planet will be muslim. They are the fastest growing group of people on the globe - multiplying well above replacement rates and keeping close knit family structures that propel the society along. Western countries have heavily denounced this notion, there are birth crises in several european countries, Italy and Germany among them. Anyone who wants any say in the future of the planet damm well better be helping produce the next generations. It's so simple and so true - the future will belong to those who are there for it. And obviously the future will not be belonging to Italians.

-Hard nations and soft nations. In his book America Alone Steyn examines the nations of the western world and divides them into categories - America is hard, and everyone else is soft. America has hard rules and is a place of working people, rather than those "sucking the government teat" for eons and eons. Many people now say that we should go like france - with it's cushy maternity leave and taxpayer childcare and healthcare and fancy unemployment and extended vacation times. What a simple solution - just be like France. But in ten years france will have its workers operating at a rate of 1:.56 - meaning that for every 1 individual working, .56% of his earnings will go to directly support someone else. Yee haw, that sounds great! America is operating at a rate of 1:.11 or something similar at the moment. By 2040 it is estimated that the rate will be 1:.25, and that is without the addition of government healthcare. The simple solution has a very simple unresolvable problem - that in countries where this has been implemented, there is a steady decline of working folk such that eventually there will not be enough workers to support the endless benefits that everyone receives. With social security alone America will be facing this problem, imagine the crisis if you tack on additional social benefits for everyone. Ye gods.

So when turning back to the hard and soft nations, France is a soft nation. Canada is a soft nation. Greece is a soft nation. When SARS came from China to Toronto, the first thing Canadians did was ship it on down to the CDC, knowing that some guy in America would stay overtime and work round the clock to figure this disease out. When stuff comes into America, no one is calling Canada for help - they are far to busy waiting in endless lines for their excellent free healthcare. Americas success has come from it's status as a hard nation, which is rapidly diminishing, and will only be worsened by those that seek to make it soft. Instead of having a nation that pays for men to become women, I'd rather have a nation that is built by men being men. I am so sexist/genderist/whatever.

-Islamification. So as we all go soft and take cushy vacations and use bazillions of tons of imported oil, the Islamists are doing what they do best - quietly multiplying. Some group that is on the FBI watch list is funding a huge mosque being built here in Boston - because in the name of ethnic diversity we can't tell them no. So in order not to hurt anyones feelings we allow groups on terrorist watch to fund large projects in our cities, something doesn't sound great about that. The Islamist groups have a strong identity and they channel people through determined and productive paths - while the rest of the western world flounders and spends time "finding themselves" and half of us barely start productive work by the time we're 30. This prolonged period of adolescence allows the Islamists to grow up twice as fast as we do and be doubly invested in the global future. By the time we produce one semi-productive, semi-confident 30 year old man, the Islamists have twice over produced a 15 year old boy ready to either die for his country or to marry and produce children. No wonder we can't catch up.

And in case anyone doubted my presence - here's a smashing photo of Mark Steyn himself with the HUB Republican Women.