Multiculturalism Doubts

            Paris has been the scene of riots and demonstrations ignited by the announcement of a big fuel tax increase. French president Emmanuel Macron was quick to rescind the tax increase, but the riots have spread to many French cities and show no sign of abating. Why is that? Pundits opine that demonstrators are really protesting the financial burdens imposed on a struggling populace by the president’s climate-change agenda. But it may be more than that. Is it possible that we are seeing the beginning of a pushback against Western Europe’s love affair with multiculturalism? And why should that concern us here in the United States?

            There are Muslim-controlled “No-Go” zones in Paris where infidels are not welcome and even the police fear to tread. They are a direct result of France’s generous immigration policy toward Muslims. And France is not unique in that respect. Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands have all opened their doors to Middle Eastern migrants, only to realize that they are losing a power struggle with Muslim immigrants as a result. These immigrants for the most part have no intention of assimilating culturally or politically in their host societies. Worse, the most radical Islamists among them intend to conquer and rule.

            The Western European elites who sing the praises of multiculturalism have been very late in recognizing what is happening. But it’s the people struggling to make ends meet that have felt the effects of misguided policies. They have not only seen rising rents, high unemployment, and crushing taxes and regulations, they also wonder why they should bear the burden of sympathetic social policies toward immigrants they increasingly view as invaders.

            The flames on the Champs-Elysées have now spread to Belgium and the Netherlands. Who knows where else in the coming weeks and months? President Trump has been undisguised in his attempt to prevent Muslims from coming to this country, just as he is now insisting on a wall to prevent drug dealers, criminals, and gangs from overwhelming our southern border. The president may be ham-handed in executing his policies, but are his instincts correct? We may be insulated from European travails by an ocean. But how different is the left’s advocacy of open borders so different from European elites’ willful blindness?

           

           

Paris Is Burning - Again

            Cars burning on the Champs-Elysées, graffiti sprayed on the Arc de Triomphe, and smashed windows of high-end Parisian stores certainly qualify as attention-getters. But that shouldn’t be just for people of French ancestry like me, because these events demand that we focus on global warming and how to deal with it. Notice I did not say “climate change.” Climate change has been happening for billions of years and will continue to happen irrespective of humanity’s efforts to control it. Global warming, on the other hand, is caused by humans. At least, that’s what we’re led to believe by eco-fascists who tearfully predict that our addiction to fossil fuels will destroy the planet in 20 years.

            What the events in Paris are telling us is that ordinary people who struggle to make ends meet have it “up to here” with government leaders who impose outrageous taxes to finance their climate-control agenda. Of course, conditions in France hardly compare with those in America. France must rely heavily on oil and gas imports, one of the reasons gasoline costs over $7 a gallon at the pump; it also has extremely high taxes that squeeze wage-earners to fund very generous social programs; and it has one of highest unemployment rates in Europe, a sure sign of ineffective government economic policies. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the announcement by Emmanuel Macron of a 30-cent gas-tax hike would turn into the match that lit the conflagration in Paris. The flames tell us all we need to know about what ordinary Frenchmen think of the Paris climate accords and Macron’s priorities.

            We are nowhere near this point in this country. We are now the biggest producers—and net exporters—of gas and oil, we enjoy low gas prices at the pump, and we have economic policies that have given us, at least in the last two years, a booming economy and full employment. At the same time, we can point out to climate doomsayers that the United States has done far more to reduce noxious emissions than other countries. Should we be concerned with the long-term effects of climate change? Of course. But mass hysteria is not the answer. Rather, we should continue to support sensible measures that foster prosperity while protecting our environment. And we should take note of Paris and what could happen if we don’t.

           

A Modern Scourge

            I have just returned from Florida where I celebrated Thanksgiving with my son Marc and his family. There were eighteen of us enjoying the turkey with all the fixings. But the real focus of the celebration was family. My son is so blessed in that regard. All three of his children and their three children are within a short drive, as well as in-laws and their families. There was indeed much to be thankful for that day. But much to be concerned about as well.

            Upon returning to North Carolina I read in two daily papers about the continuing decline in life expectancy in the United States. The articles presented in gruesome detail the two main reasons for the decline: suicide and drug overdoses. One statistic is absolutely stunning: 70,237 deaths from overdoses last year, a number that has quadrupled since 1999. Over that period, deaths attributed to opioids had grown six-fold. The greatest factor by far in the increase of those deaths was fentanyl, which accounted for 28,466 deaths all by itself.

            Fentanyl has become our modern plague.  And it is easily available, because China floods our markets with it. The Chinese government knows where the illicit drug is being manufactured but refuses to do anything about it. Considering how many of our young people die from this poison, we could reasonably view China’s complicity as an act of war.

            How can we stop this scourge? I can think of at least three ways. One is to engage all means of communications, especially social media, to increase awareness among young people of the deadly nature of fentanyl. Another is to make stopping the importation of fentanyl a priority in our trade negotiations with China. The third is education, beginning in our families and reinforced in the classroom. Easier said than done, considering the growing incidence of broken families, especially those where the parents themselves are struggling with addiction. But this is a war, and it must be fought on all fronts. We must not tolerate the increasing death toll on this battlefield.

Is Nationalism Treason?

            In a November 11^th speech at the Armistice Day centennial observance in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron fired a blast at President Trump by declaring that “Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism…Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is treason.”  President Trump, an avowed nationalist, took it as an insult, and rightly so.

            Macron surely knows the history of nationalism in Europe. But was he justified in linking the German nationalism that gave rise to Hitler with Trump’s “America First” policy? Then he compounded the insult by proposing that Europe unite to form its own armed forces in opposition to Russia, China, and yes, the United States, leaving no doubt in anybody’s mind that he now views America as a foe. Considering that Trump is in the midst of trade negotiations with Europe and is also looking to Europe to bear a larger share of NATO’s costs, Macron’s speech was extraordinarily rash and provocative. President Trump retaliated with harsh words of his own, reminding President Macron that the United States had saved France’s butt in two world wars. Meanwhile, many Western European countries, echoing Mr. Macron’s obstreperousness, are refusing to go along with U.S. sanctions against Iran.

            I can’t help thinking of a similar struggle between American Catholic bishops and the Vatican. The bishops met earlier this month in Baltimore at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to deal with the church’s sexual abuse crisis. They were prepared to vote on standards for episcopal conduct and on the formation of a special commission to review complaints of violation of these standards. But the Vatican ordered the USCCB not to vote on these matters, telling the American bishops in effect that the Vatican would call the shots. Which makes me wonder about what the American bishops’ response to Rome’s authoritarianism will be. Will they conclude it is time to form an “America First” church independent of Vatican diktat? Can Rome really afford to alienate its largest national congregation and its biggest financial supporter? Could it be provoking a second Reformation? Interesting questions in a world debating the pros and cons of nationalism.

On Promises and Protests

            Hillary Clinton promised that civility would return to the political arena after Democrats regained power in Congress. Well, what happened? No sooner had Democrats learned that voters had given them control of the House of Representatives, their incoming committee chairmen Richard Neal, Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, and Maxine (“Impeach-Impeach-Impeach”) Waters declared all-out war on the president, his family, his administration, even Justice Kavanaugh. So much for Hillary’s promise of restored civility.

            Meanwhile, election results did not produce a Democrat-like response from Republicans: there were no tears, no predictions of Armageddon, no vows to move to Canada, no mob protests in the streets, or banging on Supreme Court doors. Oh, but there was a banging on a door, the front door of Fox News talk-show host Tucker Carlson’s home. A masked mob outside spry-painted an anarchy symbol on his driveway and shouted, “We will fight. We know where you sleep at night. Racist scumbag leave town. We are outside your home. Mail bomb.”

            This was not a peaceful gathering of protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. It was a threat to Carlson’s life and the life of his family. It was a criminal act. Police were called to the scene, but made no arrests, although authorities promised to investigate. A promise is not enough: if the protesters are identified, they should be arrested and prosecuted for what this was, a hate crime. And the guilty should carry this black mark on their record for the rest of their lives as an example for those who would terrorize people for their political beliefs.

            To their credit, most of the left-wing Trump haters in the media voiced their support for Carlson. Trump critic Stephen Colbert called the protest right: he called it “monstrous cowardice.” I did not see any report of comments from Maxine Waters.

           

Not Buying Anymore

            Not long ago I was price-gouged by a restaurant and vowed never to return. Just the other day I was repulsed by a TV program and vowed never to watch that series again. There is a parallel, I think, between being forced to pay for over-priced food and unexpectedly finding myself watching an offensive TV show. Both deserved the response, a miniature marketplace in action.

            The TV program I’m referring to, an episode of SWAT, featured a character, a regular on the series, who openly admitted to being bi-sexual. When she confided to a co-worker that she was intensely attracted to another woman, she was told essentially to “go for it,” in other words, go ahead and satisfy your sexual urges, even if the relationship would not meet traditional norms. Now, I don’t know how or why producers of this action show felt that this would add to the enjoyment of the program, and I’m not so much of a prude that I object to portrayals of different life-styles. But then a meeting with the two women turned into something more than an expression of interest: it became an invitation by the other woman to enter into a threesome called a “thruple” involving her fiancée. The next scene showed the boyfriend making a lascivious invitation to explore the proposed arrangement’s exciting aspects. The scene ended with the young lady seriously considering it. That’s when I pushed the OFF button on the TV remote.

            As someone with a former connection to the advertising business, I ask myself why an advertiser would want to support a show that asks viewers to empathize with a character who is considering joining a “thruple;” worse, to invite viewers to vicariously weigh the pros and cons of adopting a life-style that flouts traditional morality. This, I submit, is a perfect example of corrosive Hollywood values promoted to the public in prime time.

            I am only one person, but I am saying to those responsible, producers and advertisers alike, “I am not going to buy what you’re selling anymore.”  

Ignorance Is Not Bliss

            No matter how we view the results of the mid-term elections, we have to acknowledge a definite movement to the left in the Democratic Party’s natural constituency of minorities.  This move has been fed by the left’s incessant use of identity politics to promote victimhood, academia’s preaching of the anti-capitalist gospel, and the emergence of public figures like Bernie Sanders who worship at the altar of socialism. Indeed, masses of young people are singing the praises of an ideology that in their star-gazing imagination is the ultimate cure for poverty, inequality, and infectious disease. Unfortunately, the one infection it cannot cure is ignorance.

            First, the vast majority of socialism’s infantile cheerleaders don’t even know what socialism is. In a recent Gallup survey, only 17% correctly identified socialism with government ownership or control. The other 83% associated socialism vaguely with equality, enhanced benefits, and such nonsense as being social to people.

            Second, immature swallowers of socialist pap lack the knowledge necessary to recognize the fallacies in descriptions of socialist utopias. Bernie Sanders would have them believe that socialist economies in Scandinavia, for instance, are thriving, when the truth is that Norway, Sweden, and Denmark have high tax rates to support vast social safety nets, but also have thriving market economies dependent on the private sector. Advocates of single-payer health care systems also fail to mention that countries like Great Britain and Canada that have such a system deliver far worse health care than ours.

            Finally, it is an indictment of our educational system that the majority of our young people are totally ignorant of the history of the Soviet Union and China whose authoritarian regimes put socialism and communism into practice and exterminated tens of millions of people in the 20^th century. Our blissfully unsuspecting youngsters aren’t even aware of the misery brought on right now by the same kind of authoritarian regimes in North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela.

            Ignorance may be bliss, but not when it comes to the truth about socialism.