An unexpected benefit of the browning of America?

See Kathlene M.’s new comment in the entry, “Why the browning of America threatens the Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party.” She argues that if the worst happens and America does lose its white majority, there would nevertheless be a very large silver lining: the Democratic Party, and the white liberal agenda in general, would break up and lose its control over America. Since liberalism is a white phenomenon, if whites are no longer the dominant group in America, liberalism will cease to be the dominant ideology in America.

To which I reply: Perhaps. But the dark lining in Kathlene’s silver lining is that, just as liberalism is a white phenomenon, Western culture itself is a white phenomenon, and therefore if whites are no longer the dominant group in America, America will cease to be a Western country.

- end of initial entry -

Kathlene M. writes:

Yes, this is a problem. Perhaps there will be a continuing rebirth of western (white) values as we are seeing in the Tea Party movement. There are immigrants who have come here for those white western conservative values and would lose out if “America” disappeared. There are many Asian immigrants in my neighborhood. By chance an elderly Asian gentleman was chatting with me about the burglaries in the area and pointed out which ethnic groups were associated with them. He was very aware and very bothered by this realization while at the same time he was trying to be very politically correct in how he phrased his discontent. I’ve found that many of the Asian immigrants around here are culturally conservative. They may become allies with white conservatives who will still be a good portion of the population in the worst-case scenario.

Regardless of how all this plays out, it’s important that conservatives keep pushing for an immigration moratorium and stop the birthright citizenship misinterpretation of the 4th amendment. Our country as you’ve pointed out many times is at a crossroads. Conservative Americans are realizing just how serious the struggle is and are just getting started in their involvement.

November 24

Thomas Fink writes from Germany:

It is true that Western culture itself is a white phenomenon. As it is true that liberalism is a white phenomenon. And here is the problem in a nutshell. As liberalism, this secular offspring of gnosticism and messianism, is the enemy for someone who wants who to preserve Western culture, it is at the same time integral part of this Western culture. That whites do not really perceive themselves as belonging to a particular ethnic group is a result of an individualistic thread which is also a specific part of Western culture. So, in order to preserve Western culture, you have to sacrifice parts of Western culture. The turning point will be when the white fighters against “white privilege” come to realize the hard way that this will also be the end of their privilege. Will this really be a preservation of Western culture? Or do we have to learn from the Eastern churches how to make the Church and the people one body with respect to ethnic origin but with the possibility of true ecumenical co-operation?

Anyway, as you see I have a problem with your interpretation of gnosticism and liberalism. The roots of gnosticism and liberalism are already found in the foundations of the USA. There is no way in getting the past back. The past was contaminated also. Voegelin looked favorably upon the English and American revolution. He thought that because they happened so early they preserved many of the old ways. Looking at the Anglo Saxon societies today I think he would change his mind.

LA replies:

The problem is a real one and I have addressed it many times. The American traditionalist position is NOT simply to invoke our historic American tradition. Traditionalism (at least as I understand expound it) says that while there is much that is true in our historic tradition, there were also serious mistakes made in our tradition, mistakes that must be corrected by a conscious act of going back and saying, “This was a mistake, and that was a mistake. What the Founders should have said was this.”

Buck O. writes:

Kathlene wrote:

“Regardless of how all this plays out it’s important that conservatives keep pushing for an immigration moratorium and stop the birthright citizenship misinterpretation of the 4th amendment. Our country as you’ve pointed out many times is at a crossroads. Conservative Americans are realizing just how serious the struggle is and are just getting started in their involvement.”

No! What Kathlene should have said was:

“Before all this plays out, it’s necessary that conservatives push for an immigration moratorium and stop the birthright citizenship misinterpretation of the 4th amendment. Our country as you’ve pointed out many times is at a crossroads. Conservative Americans have not yet realized just how serious the struggle is and must get started in their involvement.”

I do like Kathlene’s optimism. I wish I could share in it, but, forgive me this, I would need to be blind. It matters little what we wish and hope for, if we cannot stop what is happening. The point, as Larry says, is about which group dominates America. As I said, principled politics will soon be less relevant to a former white majority/steadily shrinking minority with no place left to go. My old neighborhood might be safe and fairly maintained, but if it’s newly painted like a rainbow and animated by alien holidays, rituals, aromas and games—am I still living the Dream?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 23, 2010 01:30 PM | Send