Dawn of the New Dark Ages, Mark Steyn's "America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It"

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. So let me put it in a nutshell: It’s the end of the world! Head for the hills! No, wait. Don’t head for the hills—they’re full of Islamist terrorist camps. Let me put it in a bigger nutshell: much of what we loosely call the Western world will not survive the twenty-first century, and much of it will effectively disappear within our lifetimes, including many if not most European countries.”-Mark Steyn

This week we are taking a break from the epistemology of espionage, and instead briefly turning to the issue of the imminent downfall of the Western world, and what Mark Steyn calls “the dawn of the new Dark Ages”. What then is this monster which is striving to repress the principles of freedom and seize the whole world? According to Mark Steyn in his book America Alone, there exists no greater threat to the principles of freedom which our nation embodies than the growing and thriving threat of radical Islam.

Steyn recounts the impact of the reaching arms of radical Islam that have already engulfed Western Europe, perhaps even past the point of no return, and he warns that the United States may not be far behind. Mark Steyn points to September 11, not as “the day everything changed”, but rather merely as a revelation of how much had already changed. According to Steyn there are three underlying causes which are transforming Europe into “Eurabia” and threatening the future of America and the rest of the free world. These are demographics, the unsustainability of the advanced Western social-democratic state, and civilization exhaustion.

To understand the demographics of the situation, Steyn asks us to look no further than the average European family. Except, one would not really call it a family. Europe is at the lowest of low points for fertility, one from which no society has ever recovered. America is still demographically healthy, although the nation’s fertility rate is exactly the amount needed to maintain a population. Compare that to the baby boom among Muslim families. The median age in the Gaza Strip is 15.8 years and the most popular boy baby’s name in most European countries is (surprise, surprise): Mohammed.

On that note, perhaps it would be an appropriate time to discuss the impact of the Western social-democratic state on these proud families of the newborn Mohammeds and on the not so proud, but quickly aging, European families. The lack of youth in Europe plus the fast-aging population adds up to equal the death of social security. Steyn compares the age and welfare of Europe with the youth and will of Islam, and, unsurprisingly, concludes that disaster is fast approaching. The majority of these Islamic youths and their families are supported by the European governments’ welfare systems. It seems like a fair trade to me: we work to support you so you can have the time and energy to keep hating us, attacking us, and producing more killers that we can support in their jihadist endeavors.

Except that was extremely insensitive of me to point out. Which brings me to Mark Steyn’s third point, which is a world too mired in cultural relativism to understand that its freedom is at stake. In a world where political correctness is god, there is no room for judgmental people like me condemning a different culture, even if that culture demands the deaths of myself (and all infidels like me) and the downfall of the Great Satan (my country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty). Yet we refuse to denounce those who spew hatred against our nation, our families, and our friends. We have become spineless and weak while jihadists grow strong. We have sacrificed our liberty on the altar of political correctness, and now we must face the consequences of a world dominated by those who will not only insult, but will kill for the sake of Allah.

Although Mark Steyn utilizes an extremely funny and even sometimes sarcastic tone, his message is still sobering. The Western world is facing a dangerous and deadly foe, and Europe has all but fallen. The question remains: will the people of the United States stand up and fight for what they believe in, or will they lay down and die, culturally sensitive to the end? Steyn is unapologetic in his doomsday message and we would do well to heed his warning. Otherwise, we can say goodbye to freedom and hello to the burkas.