Intro

I’d like to look deeper at problems within western democracies, especially European ones.

What’s happening? Why? And what can be done about it?

I hope my mates here won't mind the focus on Europe, since (a) I’m in the European corner of our global quartet, (b) the tendrils of those problems are dragging Europe to the front, and (c) although problems are worst in Europe, they don’t end there.

They can be traced in every stable democracy: America, Australia, Canada, and even the newer democracies in Latin America and eastern Europe. Which makes it the more relevant to examine what they will lead to, by looking where they have the most devastating potential.

Those problems can be summed up as: welfare vs. economic survival; Islam vs. democracy; and statism vs. freedom.

Think of Europe as a field under a virulent weed.

Think of “Collectivism” as its poisonous philosophical root.

Think of the material circumstances which support and feed that root as the soil.

Think of the intellectual offshoots as the stinking flowers: dependence; inability to face threats to survival; anti-Americanism; general amorality.

Think of the political offshoots as the choking tendrils: economic decline; Islamic demographic surge; state reliance. The third is the worst and supports the others.

These offshoots are often condemned by those frustrated by European politics. But rarely tugged apart to reveal the root and soil beneath. Because, whilst the costs of inaction are gruesome, the apparent remedies are too unpalatable to discuss.

But the harshness of the outlook, and the lack of people doing it, makes the search for remedies more relevant.

I’d like to start with the philosophical root: Collectivism. What is it? How does it arise? And how does it lead to the baffling ineffectuality and amorality of modern European politics?

Then, perhaps, to dig into the soil beneath, and look for a solution that won’t kill it and might even grow something good.

Collectivism. Next time!