From Library Journal
Everyone's favorite conservative argues that the decline in the West's birthrate will lead to a fatal decline in its power.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Maverick presidential candidate Buchanan decries the end of Western civilization portended by declining birth rates, out-of-control immigration, and loss of Christian and Jewish faith in Europe and non-Hispanic North America. Indeed, the UN estimates on which he bases his first contention, which project large declines in the indigenous populations of Germany, Britain, Italy, Russia, and westernized Japan, in particular, are alarming in terms of the social services required by burgeoning numbers of elderly. Unless trends change, immigration must fuel growth in workforces and, hence, tax bases. That's happening, so what's the problem? Well, those immigrants come from very different cultures at a time when Western elites discourage Western enculturation. Buchanan traces those elites' attitudes to "Four Who Made a Revolution," the Marxist theorists Lukacs, Gramsci, Adorno, and Marcuse, who directed a "long march through the institutions" (Gramsci's phrase) of the arts, education, the media, and even the churches. The Left's power has grown steadily since the 1930s, and now there is a leftist capitalism to go with leftist politics, hence the European Union and the many global free-trade schemes. At this point, Buchanan turns to the U.S and updates his familiar positions on schooling, the quarantining of religion, and the intimidation of opponents of the Left. In the end, he counsels specific tactics for another Gramscian long march, this time animated by the soul of the West. This is a cry from the heart that hopes not to become a cry from the grave. Ray Olson
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Review
Patrick J Buchanan's contentious premise in The Death of the West is that the United States is no longer a healthy melting pot, but instead a confused, tottering "conglomeration of peoples with almost nothing in common." Relying on United Nations population statistics, and citing such diverse sources as Yogi Berra and Rhett Butler, Buchanan sees for America four "clear and present dangers": declining birth rates; uncontrolled immigration of peoples of "different colours, creed and cultures"; a rise of "anti-Western" culture antithetical to established religious, cultural and moral norms; and a "defection of ruling elites" to the idea of world government. His solutions include higher wages and tax breaks for parents than for singles, a dramatic rollback of immigration quotas and a National History Bee. Buchanan's volatile, adamant book eschews any middle ground. Readers will either applaud his ideas or be repulsed by them. ----H O'Billovitch
At the risk of making too much use of a cliché, I have to say that this is a book that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE !, should read. If you have ever wondered what has happened to the sane world we used to live in, if you have ever had your doubts about political correctness, immigration, or multiculturalism. If you have ever wondered who is to blame for the mess we seem to be getting more mired in by the day, then you need to read this book. Pat Buchanan has incisively cut through the miasma of spin, half truths and outright lies to make plain where we have gone wrong. While this is essentially a book about America, it is also highly relevant to Europe and the United Kingdom, indeed in places Mr. Buchanan makes use of British Home Office statistics to make his point. Don't let the mention of statistics put you off. This is not a dry tome, it has been cleverly written and is hold the interest from page one, in fact I had difficulty putting it down. This is a book to wake America up, and Britain too. Buy this book. Read it through, then read it again. Then please, America, make Pat Buchanan your President and stop the rot before it's too late --By Capt I. McRae
As a former supporter of Pat Buchanan, I was mortified when he abandoned the GOP. With this incredibly important new book, Buchanan has redeemed himself in my eyes. Not only does Buchanan say the things that need to be said, he imparts information that I have until now been totally unaware of. The scenario Buchanan presents for the future should be a clarion call to the silent majority representing Western civilization to shake off their cowardice and stand up to defend their history and culture before it is irretrievably lost. While many groups and individuals will decry this book (most likely without even reading it), shout down the ideas presented, and typically castigate the author as a fascist, racist, homophobe, xenophobe, etc., the one thing they cannot do is disprove the facts that form the foundation of Buchanan's argument. To my horror, and to the delight of the multiculturalists, the West is indeed clearly dying as birth rates continue to decline; surrounded in a sea of poisons (primarily cultural revolutionaries and militant Islamicists), we in the West up to now have refused to recognize the very existence of the danger. Buchanan does an excellent job of explaining how the current predicament came about. Where communists failed, the multiculturalists, socialists, and liberals have succeeded in weakening our culture internally rather than attacking us externally. Buchanan argues that all hope is not yet gone, although he never seems overly positive at our chances for success. Above all, morality and the importance of family must be restored--without a significant increase in birth rates, no political solutions can change our fate. Political actions are needed, however, chief among them the reining in of a Supreme Court that is now violating the Constitution by legislating from the bench. Communities and states must regain the power to oversee how they and their children should live, the murder of viable fetuses simply must be stopped, our children as well as immigrants must be taught the true history of America because the truth of our accomplishments (including the abolition of slavery) is sure to inspire the patriotism that liberals have been working long and hard to rob our children of. Christians must become the zealous evangelicals of old, and the Republican party must shed its robes of cowardice and fight for the values that the silent majority still hold fast to, albeit it more silently than ever before. --By Daniel Jolley
About the Author
Patrick J. Buchanan, a senior advisor to three American presidents, ran twice for the Republican nomination for president in 1992 and 1996, and was the Reform Party's presidential candidate in 2000. The author of five other books, including the bestsellers, Right from the Beginning and A Republic, Not an Empire, he is a syndicated columnist and a founding member of three of America's foremost public affairs shows, NBC's The McLaughlin Group and CNN's The Capitol Gang, and Crossfire.
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