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Bruce S. Thornton

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Decline & Fall: Europe s Slow Motion Suicide Hardcover – November 13, 2007

by Bruce S. Thornton (Author)

3.7 26 ratings

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Once a colossus dominating the globe, Europe today is a doddering convalescent. Sluggish economic growth, high unemployment, an addiction to expensive social welfare entitlements, a dwindling birth-rate among native Europeans, and most important, an increasing Islamic immigrant population chronically underemployed yet demographically prolific--all point to a future in which Europe will be transformed beyond recognition, a shrinking museum culture riddled with ever-expanding Islamist enclaves. Decline and Fall tells the story of this decline by focusing on the larger cultural dysfunctions behind the statistics. The abandonment of the Christian tradition that created the West's most cherished ideals--a radical secularism evident in Europe's indifference to God and church--created a vacuum of belief into which many pseudo-religions have poured. Scientism, fascism, communism, environmentalism, multiculturalism, sheer hedonism-- all have attempted and failed, sometimes bloodily, to provide Europeans with an alternative to Christianity that can show them what is worth living and dying for. Meanwhile a resurgent Islam, feeding off the economic and cultural marginalization of European Muslims, knows all too well not just what is worth dying for, but what is worth killing for. Crippled by fashionable self-loathing and fantasies of multicultural inclusiveness, Europeans have met this threat with capitulation instead of strength, appeasement and apologies instead of the demand that immigrants assimilate. As Decline and Fall shows, Europe's solution to these ills--a larger and more powerful European Union--simply exacerbates the problems, for the EU cannot address the absence of a unifying belief that can spur Europe even to defend itself, let alone to recover its lost grandeur. As these problems worsen, Europe will face an unappetizing choice between two somber destinies: a violent nationalistic or nativist reaction, or, more likely, a long descent into cultural senescence and slow-motion suicide.

Print length

300 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Encounter Books
Publication date

November 13, 2007
Dimensions

6.4 x 0.76 x 9.18 inches
ISBN-10

1594032068
ISBN-13

978-1594032066
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Bruce Thornton's wisdom, nourished by deep reading in the classics, is on ample display in this trenchant analysis of contemporary Europe. From sclerotic economies unable to assimilate burgeoning Islamic populations to a strange fecklessness when it comes to providing for a common defense, Europe seems caught in a historic downward spiral. Thornton shows us why this is happening--and what it means for the United States and the world. -- Brian C. Anderson

In a number of important books and articles, Bruce Thornton has written passionately about Western culture, contemporary society and the current war against radical Islam. Now in Decline and Fall, he combines those literary and historical skills to analyze why Europe has turned its back on a once illustrious Western tradition. The result is not merely a postmortem on the failed European utopian experiment, but also a brilliant mediation itself on the human condition and our dangerous pursuit of heaven on earth. -- Victor Davis Hanson

About the Author

Bruce S. Thornton is the author of Plagues of the Mind: The New Epidemic of False Knowledge; Greek Ways: How the Greeks Invented Western Civilization, and other books. He teaches Classics and humanities at California State University in Fresno.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Encounter Books; First Edition (November 13, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1594032068
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1594032066
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 0.76 x 9.18 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,202,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #52,356 in European History (Books)

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3.7 26 ratings

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BC

Is Europe Kaput?

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2008

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Hi Bernard Chapin saying hi and here's a review of Bruce Thornton's new book.

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Ted Haoquan Chu

Europe has a problem, but it's not Marxism

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2008

This book is worth reading because it provides a profound analysis of Europe's capacity to grow and to play on the global political and economic stage. The author gets it right on many key issues, with the notable exception of its judgment of Marxism. (Hence only 4 stars.)
Forget going-down-the drain image on the cover, which Mr. Thornton himself does not feel comfortable. As an economist, I advise readers not to treat this book as a prophecy of Europe's economic future. Largely ignoring the fact Europe is a complex entity with a vibrant business sector that's exposed to the competitive global markets, the prediction of a permanent economic decline in absolute terms is most likely to be proven wrong. I believe Europe is destined to slowly lose its relative political and economic power while maintaining a comfortable, if increasingly anxiety-filled, standard of living.
That said, Mr. Thornton's central point is correct: the modern European civilization is intellectually and morally bankrupt. Post-war Europe has not found a unifying belief and transcendent value to fill the void left by an abandoned Christianity. Secular humanism offers an illusionary "EUtopia" in complete contrast to what made the West great. By committing to cultural relativism, social welfare entitlement, anti-religion, and anti-Americanism, the continent is committing a "slow motion" suicide. Economically, Europe is destined to increasing irrelevance because of its demographic crisis, social welfare system, and ethnic tensions associated with immigration.
Written largely for an American audience, Mr. Thornton's book is a frontal attack on the romantic notion that Europe represents a progressive future that all advanced nations should emulate. The liberal left, such as Jeremy Rifkin, have argued that the American Dream of individualism, cultural exceptionalism, materialistic growth, private property rights and political realism toward the rivals of the West should be replaced by an European Dream of collectivism, cultural relativism, "sustainable" development, leisure, "rights of nature," and political appeasement. As an expert in classics and humanities, Thornton makes a powerful case that this European vision is rooted in the bankrupt Enlightenment Romanticism and the socialist dream of human perfectibility. The European dolce vita lifestyle is not a more humane and fulfilling way to live compared to workaholic, money-grubbing Americans. Without a higher purpose, the ultimate future for Europe could be H.G. Wells's Eloi, a delicate, youthful, vegetarian species that seems to live in a paradise but actually represents the retrogression of the human race.
A staunch defender of religion, Mr. Thornton could have made a stronger case about the central human paradox: first, maximum human happiness and minimum pain are what we want, but we must transcend our own well-being; second, given human nature, our transcendence must be achieved through none other than pursuing our self-interests. In critiquing communist socialism that underpin the European social welfare system, he falls into the common trap of discrediting Marx's theory based on how much misery and how many deaths that the communists have caused. One could easily use his criterion to argue against his beloved Christianity. Furthermore, he seems to contradict himself by advocating religion on one hand, and discrediting Marxism as a mere pseudo religion on the other.
In fact, there is no need to throw the baby out with the bath water. As Thornton correctly pointed out, Marx's philosophical thought bears a deep imprint of Christianity, while the failure of USSR and other socialist countries is rooted in the Romantic notion of human perfectibility and the superiority of central planning over markets. Marx's idea that History is progressive, that it is up to us to find its direction, that we can make a difference in this universe is as powerful and attractive as ever. The failure of Marxism is the unfortunate result of its inability to adapt to changing economic, social, and cultural realities that falsified many of its precepts (ruthless persecution of the first "deviationist" to maintain Marxism's purity actually killed it), while the Christian theology managed to evolve (certainly beyond The Old Testament), discarding unworkable ideas such as the Utopian commune and adapting to new social environments. As Marx reacted to the French "Marxists" of the late 1870s, "All I know is that I am not a Marxist."
Due to its unique experience of suffering greatly in God's hand for centuries, many European people remain wary of organized religion and lofty ideologies. Rightly so. But it is also a mistake to discard higher purpose altogether. Like Thornton, I am pessimistic about Europe's future, but hold out hope that somehow it will respond to various geopolitical, demographic, economic and social pressures and rediscover its spiritual roots.

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Jas. Murphy

A Primer on European Decline

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2008

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In the recent spate of books dealing with the decline of Europe, this is a good primer of the issues that generally arise when discussing European decadence. Thornton synthesizes most of the mainstream arguments, which are none the less powerful for being well-rehearsed elsewhere.

For anyone that closely follows European affairs and is familiar with other books on this subject, the book offers little that is new. Lengthy discussions of Marxism, the death of God, and Eurabia add little to the discussion, have been throughly covered countless places, but still are well-presented here. Unfortunately, Thornton relies heavily on secondary literature, much of it polemical, most all of it in English, and takes his cited examples at face value.

Where this book, and others in this genre, comes up short is in the lack of exploration of Western ideals as embodied in the Enlightenment. The most important tools that can be used to fight the spread of radical Islam are those legal and political traditions stemming from Enlightenment rationalism. Yet it precisely the extension of Enlightenment rationalism that leads to cultural relativism, the disregard for religion, and favors for globalism and the permeability of borders. The US itself represents one strong strain of the Enlightenment, yet has managed immigration over decades rather well. However, much immigration came--and continues to come--from Catholic countries. Although Asian and to some degree Middle Eastern immigration is significant in the US, one wonders how the US would cope with a influx of Muslims on the scale of those pouring into Europe, and how changing demographics might influence this. Millions of Catholic Latin Americans living in the US will probably not be disposed to regard Muslim immigrants with the same equanimity as the Dutch government might.

The other post-Enlightenment country, as it were, France, enforces a strictly secular policy in matters like the wearing of headscarves, while in Turkey the headscarf has come to be viewed by the young as a symbol of identity. How can one hold fast in support of a secular Turkish state and reject an essentially religion-driven statement of identity? On the basis of Thornton's argument for the restoration of religious values, one would have to say Islam is in the ascendancy. While liberal Europeans cower before the onslaught of Islamic radicals, they resist admission of Turkey into the EU. If this is due to racism and fear of Islam, why do they keep their welfare systems open to encourage more Muslims coming to Europe? Since one can hardly point to the Turkish population of Germany (1 million strong) as a hotbed of religious radicalism and Islamic extremism, where is the support from Thornton and others for a country that has been a US partner since the 1830s?

One can't have it both ways and wish for a spiritual restoration via the same European traditions that contributed to Europe's decline. We don't get to pick the pre-Enlightenment strains of tradition we like, and ignore the historical developments that led to the attack on the clergy and on the church in Europe. Monotheism is monotheism, and if religious revivals are taking place in Syria, Koran, or Columbia one needs analytically to recognize this, and--really--forget about Europe, because these questions don't matter a whit anymore in Europe. It's like beating a dead horse. It's not going to change.

And in the end, so what? Is a decadent Europe somehow influencing other regions, peoples, countries to take the path of decline and decadence? Is the absence of European political and spiritual values contributing to the decline of Western values elsewhere? If so, they perhaps need shoring up in the form of US spiritual and political leadership drawing on strong North American traditions and not fretting about whether Aquinas is going to come back and bash Descartes and Marx. Let's stop whining about Europe and get on with dealing with the rest of the world, and encouraging, for example, Christianity in China and Korea where there seems to be interest. I think ignoring Europe in this respect would be salutary for everyone.

One wonders who exactly Thornton is addressing in this book. I can imagine a fine dinner party of like-minded Thorntonites banging on about all the reasons Europe is going down the toilet, and it would be an amusing and highly literate discussion indeed, and one to which I am sympathetic. Europe died in the slaughter of the 20th century, along with the Enlightenment. Nothing new there. What one looks for now in a post-Enlightenment era, when there is not likely to be a major recovery of Christianity nor religious fervor and values in the US or anywhere else outside of the Middle East, is not another post-mortem but an examination of how the US is filling the void left by Europe.

An obsession with the European past while fascinating, tells us little about how we should hope to shape the future. Thornton, and many others (including Nietzsche, still the most acute critic of European values), has established that Europe has no future, beyond perhaps the bleak one described by Houellebecq (and cited by Thornton): a consumerist paradise of materialism and angst. The focus should be not on lecturing Europe about its lost values, but about its arrogance in attempting to project those values through the regulatory superstate that is the EU (a fine example of post-colonialism), and how the US must wean itself from a region of rapidly diminishing importance and establish stronger relations with emerging regions and states. There is a wider world of countries not unsympathetic to the the US and its values--India, Japan, Chile, a few African countries, several countries in Eastern Europe, among others.

If the new world order is to be shaped by the US, and with the strategic issues we face with Russia and China, we should get about the business of talking about how that can happen, not indulging our knowledge of medicine while the patient lies dying and congratulating ourselves on how well we've diagnosed the symptoms.

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jonnybgude

Interesting and powerful little book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2014

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There is plenty to think about in this book- I hope things aren't quite as grim as the author believes but his critique of the politics of Europe and the descriptions of the new social movements and their origins are eye-opening. Certainly read the book but you should of course not believe everything or absorb the words uncritically. Nevertheless it is certainly a riveting read. You might just feel a little depressed after reading though ;)

One person found this helpful

M. McManus

European century? Or Europe's farewell?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2008

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This book details what the author sees as Europe's decline. He argues that this is happening for a variety of reasons. These reasons are slow acting rather than dramatic. In other words, Europe is dying a slow lingering death, rather similar to a car running on a flat tire until it finally gives up and stops.

The author argues that the key element in Europe's decline is the collapse in religious faith, and its replacement with radical socialist central planning and militant secularism. The author argues that with Christianity dethroned in Europe, the vacuum was filled with radical socialism, which taught that there was/is no absolute truth or absolute standards. This led to a collapse in cultural confidence. It also led to a decline in democracy and local initiatives, as all power was concentrated in a small number of "experts'" hands in Brussels.

The book also talks about how "Eurabia" is rising, thanks to this inability of Europeans to stand up for their culture assertively against Islamic mass immigration and radical Islam, and the refusal of their political "elites" to address their concerns, which they scoff at as "populism" and "racism". With demographic changes taking place in Europe, this problem will only get worse.

All in all the book is an excellent read for anyone concerned about Europe's future. It is also a useful alternative view point to the pro-EU rave reviews some authors are writing. It would be useful for the reader to compare this title to "Why Europe will run the 21st Century" by Mark Leonard, and then decide for themselves which is the more likely outcome - a New European century, or the final scene on the global stage for Western man before he cedes world leadership to someone else.

28 people found this helpful

Omar Farid

Decline of europe what a joke and deceptive title!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2010

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decline of europe!! what a shagging obscure terminology ! the term decline used here as if europe now is on the verge of declining due to invisible dark forces or circumstances that will cut europe into ribbons and what is this evil carnage that created a wrec havoc on europian society! the islamic terrorism! and according to the prophetic author it is defined or rather Circumstanced as the inabilty of the european governmentsand their unaccountabality to assimilate the muslims in their societies which is the contrary in their counterparts the americans wherein the muslims had been integrated successfully!!

Yeah right and omar abdulrahman the mastermind of world trade centre incident in 1993 is the ultimate prouve!!

the writer in his own word has admitted first that the decline of europe is associated with dechristianization of europe throught last centeries and espacially after the french revolution against the church and moarchies wich had dominated medieval europe and adopting instead a peudo religion called materialism. Paradoxically , the vacum created by abscence of religion factor in europe and replaced by conducting meterialism or even capitalism has created a demotivated society in which only 5% in certain countries are attending churches. Taking together, the only potential threat to europe decline in not an exteranl threat but internal one within the europe societies as drugs , suicide, rape, crime rates, are also considered a damaging factors and imploding as well for a potential decline.

the author's ultimate weakness here is that decline of europe will be affected more by an external factor wich is the dissimilation of mulsim and their hatred to the west will tear europe apart and had deliberatly synthesize it with europe's materialism and this is the most cunning deception the author has ever made espaiacially that the muslim presence in europe has been for a long time and Europe did not decline at all .

Also, the terroristes incidenst in europe can be solved by deporting those who constitue a menace or executing them and creating a terms of marshall laws in theory as a defensive scenario.

last but not least, the main ideologic external threat faced europe as admitted i this book is Communism and not islam espacally after the Cuban misslles incident where the whole world was on the verge on nuclear war .

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