Pondering Europe, Fukuyama fears the one thing that could save it

VFR reader James Noble writes:

Mr. End of History had a WSJ op-ed today. It included this paragraph:

“The real challenge for democracy lies in Europe, where the problem is an internal one of integrating large numbers of angry young Muslims and doing so in a way that does not provoke an even angrier backlash from right-wing populists. Two things need to happen: First, countries like Holland and Britain need to reverse the counterproductive multiculturalist policies that sheltered radicalism, and crack down on extremists. But second, they also need to reformulate their definitions of national identity to be more accepting of people from non-Western backgrounds.”

Notice that he frames the “problem” as integrating angry young Muslims into Dutch society (rather than sending them home), and follows with the killer phrase “doing so in a way that does not provoke an even angrier backlash from right-wing populists.”

Many of the elitists still fear the “right-wing backlash” (whatever that means to them), rather than fearing what their societies will look like after “large numbers of angry young Muslims” are “integrated”.

Little do they understand that that right-wing backlash is their only hope of having a society worth living in.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 02, 2005 10:00 PM | Send