I have been engaged in a backchannel discussion with my fellow members of the Watcher’s Council on the appropriate response to the Charlie Hebdo murders. That was the topic of this week’s Council forum. Most of the members of the Council favor a much more, er, kinetic response than I do. As I’ve said before I think that France’s issues are different from ours and no generalized response is productive.
A good point of departure on this discussion might be George Friedman’s recent post at RealClearWorld. It’s lengthy and hard to summarize but this
The United States is different in this sense. It is an artificial regime, not a natural one. It was invented by our founders on certain principles and is open to anyone who embraces those principles. Europe’s nationalism is romantic, naturalistic. It depends on bonds that stretch back through time and cannot be easily broken. But the idea of shared principles other than their own is offensive to the religious everywhere, and at this moment in history, this aversion is most commonly present among Muslims. This is a truth that must be faced.
is very much the point I’ve been making.
Mr. Friedman’s post is full of interesting observations. For example:
The current crisis has its origins in the collapse of European hegemony over North Africa after World War II and the Europeans’ need for cheap labor. As a result of the way in which they ended their imperial relations, they were bound to allow the migration of Muslims into Europe, and the permeable borders of the European Union enabled them to settle where they chose. The Muslims, for their part, did not come to join in a cultural transformation. They came for work, and money, and for the simplest reasons. The Europeans’ appetite for cheap labor and the Muslims’ appetite for work combined to generate a massive movement of populations.
which is as good a summary of how France, Germany, Sweden, and other European countries arrived at the point they’re facing now.
So, what is to be done? Please persuade me.
The description of how Muslims came to Europe in numbers sounds much like how Central Americans, Mexicans in particular, came to the US. Does Europe have an organized crime problem with their Muslims, or is this terrorism thing the substitute for the cartels?
My impression is that they do. The reports that I’ve read suggest that the Kouachi brothers were career petty criminals.
Yeah, but you can be a career criminal and not have anything to do with organized crime.
I’ve read some suggestions that these guys were involved in some sort of smuggling ring.
I have got to hand it to anybody who can work in a reference to Sartre, but it is easy to identify his followers. They fear soap, and while their philosophy somewhat logical, it is still wrong. Luckily, the smoke tends to overpower the BO, and they are interesting to debate.
The solution is clear. The Europeans will go back to work and drive out the Muslims if the minimum wage is raised. Plus, the productivity at their In-N-Out franchisees will increase.
Next problem, please.
I think Friedman’s analysis is largely correct, I don’t have much to add.