The Death of the West

"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."—Ray Olson, Booklist