November 7, 2004
THE NEW YORK TOTALITARIANS:
Deadly Hatreds in the Netherlands (NY Times, 11/5/04)
Something sad and terrible is happening to the Netherlands, long one of Europe's most tolerant, decent and multicultural societies. The latest warning sign is this week's brazen murder of Theo van Gogh, a daring filmmaker and columnist descended from the same family as Vincent van Gogh.
While bicycling on a public street, van Gogh was shot twice, and then as he begged for mercy, a notice explaining the murder was affixed to his chest by a knife which pierced his heart, after which his neck was sawed through the spinal cord.
The problem is not Muslim immigration, but a failure to plan for a smoother transition to a more diverse society.
The Times does not blame the killers, but the Dutch government, which did not have a plan for winning the peace. Clearly they need a Prime Minister Kerry.
Once again, the Times provides supporting evidence for my theory that the left regards people as the right regards animals, and government officials as the right regards people. Imagine a zookeeper who acquires lions for his zoo, but fails to properly segregate the new lions from the lambs. No one would blame the lions for murdering the lambs; they would simply be living out their nature. We would blame the zookeeper. The problem would not be lion immigration, but a failure to plan for a smoother transition to a more diverse zoo.
Amen.
Of course, the Dutch learned tolerance the hard way, didn't they? It might prove easier to unlearn it.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at November 7, 2004 2:06 PMGiven the right conditions, one can only assume (and hope) that the Dutch will at least learn to differentiate between those who are tolerable and those who aren't.
As for the NYT....
Posted by: Barry Meislin at November 7, 2004 2:33 PMI read last week that the Netherlands is now 6% Muslim. If that percentage doubles every 25 years they will have a majority before the end of the century.
Speaking of diversity, I wonder how many Muslims the Times has in its newsroom.
Posted by: George at November 7, 2004 2:38 PMGeorge - They're still planning for a smooth transition to a more diverse newsroom.
All of the Dutch I've ever known are wonderfully practical and pragmatic people. I hope for their sake and the sake of their nation that they can overcome the political correctness that has been so pervasive in Europe to resolve this problem before it is too late. I won't hold my breath waiting though.
Posted by: MB at November 7, 2004 2:57 PMMichael Moor should visit Europe moore.
Posted by: Perry at November 7, 2004 6:44 PMLet's suppose this story involved not Muslims, but conservative Christians. Hands up everybody who thinks the Times would be taking the same stance.
Posted by: GG at November 7, 2004 8:00 PMPaul, how does one plan a transition? Has any country ever done it? The first meeting would end in shambles. Probably at the moment someone mentioned separating the lions from the lambs.
Posted by: Tom Wall at November 7, 2004 8:57 PMA very thoughtful commenter on zachtei.nl wrote this:
... you need a compelling "national story" that the newcomers can buy into and feel that they have a stake in continuing. This is what you see in the successful westernised immigrant societies, such as America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand ...All the successful immigrant societies are "New World" societies for lack of a better term. People arrived, found a wilderness, displaced or assimilated the weakened native population, and re-ordered society based on social models that were brought from the homeland(s) modified with local customs and affected by the presence of a wilderness "frontier" experience. They were never ethnically-based societies without surplus land where you can park a lot of the newcomers while they assimilate.
This would seem to imply that efforts by the Netherlands -- and any other European country, for that matter -- to redefine themselves as "immigrant societies" are bound to face very large difficulties.
Of course, if you are Orrin Judd then you just laugh and say, "No worry they are going to hell anyway."
Posted by: Eugene S. at November 8, 2004 1:34 AMEugene, neither the commenter you quoted, nor what you said were thoughtful.
My ancestors were driven from Holland to Prussia. They later settled in the Ukraine at the request of the Empress. Finally, many were shipped off to Siberia and a few escaped to Canada.
They settled everywhere they found peace and established very successful towns. In Danzig, they didn't even take any land. They built dykes and windmills and made their own land.
Such were the people who settled North America.
And, today, the Dutch who emigrated from Holland to my B.C. town all seem to have at least six children. But your commenter likely wouldn't think of that as any kind of solution.
Posted by: Randall Voth at November 8, 2004 9:31 AMRandall,
http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs.pl?cty=NL&out=s&ymax=250
and
http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs.pl?cty=MO&out=s&ymax=250
I think of these population pyramids as supertankers. No way can they turn on a dime.
Posted by: Eugene S. at November 8, 2004 10:29 AMThe problem is not Muslim immigration, but a failure to plan for a smoother transition to a more diverse society.
See how Allah blinds the Infidel and prepares them for slaughter by the Faithful?
Posted by: Ken at November 8, 2004 12:37 PMEugene, what I was saying was that the immigrants that made Canada a success were different: they were successful people fleeing persecution. It was not just the situation that made them different, as you commenter from the Netherlands seems to suggest.
No need to expect the immigrant Moroccans to clear and till 40 acres in one year (like my grandfather did). How about demanding they speak Dutch fluently in a year, support their own families in lieu of welfare, and if they break a law in 5 years, send them back.
Europe has survived far worse problems in the past. They'll just increase their retirement age to 75 and import more citizens.
Posted by: Randall Voth at November 8, 2004 6:44 PM