The biggest issue of our time

Why aren't more people talking about demographic collapse in Europe?

Marcus Roberts | Jul 21 2017 | comment

This week is all about Europe and demography at Mercatornet. On Monday Shannon wrote a postabout Europe's population decline and how, even with immigration, many countries in Europe are going to be smaller in the years ahead. Today Elliot Abrams reviewed Douglas Murray's new book, The Strange Death of Europe. As Abrams notes, Murray asks deeply important questions about Europe's future and whether there has been any real debate about where it is heading. Why aren't Europeans having more children? What happens when a state relies on large scale immigration to keep their populations stable (or at least not declining rapidly)?

I want to continue with the same theme by sharing a YouTube video made by commentator and author Mark Steyn. Steyn asks why what he calls "The Biggest Issue of our Time" is studiously ignored by those in power and by the media. That is, why isn't the demographic decline of Europe and its economic implications discussed more? Isn't the fact that so many of Europe's leaders are childless eeirly symbolic? Why isn't the future religious, cultural and ethnic makeup of Europe also discussed? What will happen when more cities in Europe are like Amsterdam where a majority of primary school aged children are Muslim?

Steyn of course has been beating this drum for a long time, ever since he published his book America Alone in 2006. In this video he points out the seriousness of Europe's demographic problem. Now, a few more commentators and writers are also asking similar questions (and of course, we've discussed Europe's future on a number of different occasions on this blog). But overall, the world is indifferent or unaware that Europe is stumbling off into a very different, uncertain and dangerous future. According to most of the media, whatever Trump has just tweeted is much more important...Go and watch the video, it's quite long but interesting. And, as always with Mark Steyn, very entertaining.

July 21, 2017

Can 200+-year-old novels about marriage teach us anything? As Carolyn Moynihan, our deputy editor, contends, Jane Austen is more needed than ever to teach young people that traditional marriage, with all of its ups and downs, is a high road to happiness.

The British are celebrating the bi-centenary of her death on July 18 with great gusto. The new £10 plastic note with her image is the first in Great Britain to feature a woman (other than Her Majesty). The Leader of the House of Commons was so transported with delight that she described Miss Austen as “one of our greatest living authors”, which, I suppose, in a sense, she is.

Her undiminished and ever-growing popularity is a cultural phenomenon. On the academic side Jane Austen is being interpreted as a feminist, as a social radical, as a social conservative, as an imperialist, and so on. On the cultural side, her novels have been transformed into Manga comics, Bollywood epics and Hollywood comedies. Just a bit of embellishment was needed to create Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

But what we overlook sometimes, Carolyn contends, is there in plain view: “it’s marriage that gives romantic love its full scope for happiness and its dividend for society”. Austen's prim portrait is replacing an image of Charles Darwin, whose influence upon marriage has been less than benign. Is this a message of hope for the future?