I think that I can say what Roger Cohen took 845 words to say in his New York Times column about the results of the Italian elections in one short sentence. The “world is flat” globe that transnational progressives like Mr. Cohen strove to build is collapsing around their ears and it’s our fault.
It’s not our fault. The Europeans take their lead from the United States much less than Mr. Cohen supposes. What is actually happening is that people in Europe and at least some people in the United States are reacting in similar ways to similar challenges. For the last two centuries at least the countries of Europe have tried to mold themselves ever more completely into ethnic states. Each country with its own language. Each country with its own culture. Largely defined by historical affinities. Mass immigration poses a challenge to the ethnic states of Europe that is more grave than anything the U. S. has ever faced. If the immigrants have no intention of adopting the languages or cultures of their new homes, the situation is that much more precarious.
Second, the reaction reflected in the Italian elections were inevitable as soon as Germany was reunified in 1990. Germany’s wealth and size meant that it would dominate Europe. When Angela Merkel issued her invitation to immigration, although the other Europeans had no say in it, it had implications for all of Europe not just for Germany.
If Italy is not Italian what is it? European? What if the Italians or the French or the Swedes aren’t Europeans? What if they’re Africans? Or Asians? What if they’re Muslims?
These are questions the ethnic states of Europe must address. If being Italian means speaking Italian and having an Italian culture and being able to trace your ancestry back to Italy for a dozen or a hundred generations, what role can these new immigrants possibly play?
People are slowly coming to realize the progressive view of Europe is not quite accurate. They don’t realize, for example, how the ethnic cleansing during and immediately after WWII made Europe less diverse and fixed borders along ethnic and cultural lines.
You’re exactly right that this is a huge challenge for Europeans who don’t actually subscribe to multiculturalism as an inherent good. Eastern Europe is even more hardline.
With good reason. I doubt that 1 in 1,000 new immigrants speaks Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian, etc. Why would they? There is no value to it. At best they’ll speak a bit of German and, if they learn a European language at all, it will be German. The Hungarians believe their culture is distinctive and worth preserving. Unless they impose some restrictions in 50 years they’ll just be southeastern Germany.
For the Germans the situation is somewhat different. Their version of multi-culturalism is everybody just becoming more German. Just look at the situation with their Turkish “guestworkers”. In some cases their grandparents were born in Germany but they are still not German citizens and are considered foreigners.
“diversity is our strength”
People everywhere are not buying it. Jingoism. What’s behind this push for rebuilding the tower of Babble anyway?
Our strength really lies in personal property rights. I see every day people walking past each other speaking foreign languages without drawing a second look. They don’t assimilate culturally, but all agree that the pursuit of personal property is good. And all participate enthusiastically in that pursuit. All good as long as they keep it legal.
But I can’t imagine we’ll ever get to know these foreign tribes living among us. Or are we the foreign tribe living among them?