Sign in  |  Register

The New Criterion

Quite simply, the best cultural review in the world
- John O’Sullivan

Features

January 2006

It's the demography, stupid

by Mark Steyn

What do Europe's declining birthrates say about its chances of survival?

Most people reading this have strong stomachs, so let me lay it out as baldly as I can: Much of what we loosely call the western world will not survive this century, and much of it will effectively disappear within our lifetimes, including many if not most western European countries. There’ll probably still be a geographical area on the map marked as Italy or the Netherlands— probably—just as in Istanbul there’s still a building called St. Sophia’s Cathedral. But it’s not a cathedral; it’s merely a designation for a piece of real estate. Likewise, Italy and the Netherlands will merely be designations for real estate. The challenge for those who reckon western civilization is on balance better than the alternatives is to figure out a way to save at least some parts of the west.

One obstacle to doing that is the fact that, in the typical election campaign in your advanced ind ...

This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchase

Subscribe to TNC (Print and Online editions)

Subscribe to TNC (Online only)

Purchase article credit and clip this article

If you already have an account login first

Mark Steyn’s most recent book is America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It (Regnery).


more from this author

This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 24 January 2006, on page 10

Copyright © 2013 The New Criterion | www.newcriterion.com

http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/its-the-demography-1429

E-mail to friend


The New Criterion

By the author

Dependence Day

by Mark Steyn

On the erosion of personal liberty.

Live free or die

by Mark Steyn

On the loss of liberty in the West (from "The New Statism").

The state despotic

by Mark Steyn

On our gradual slide into servitude.

You might also enjoy

Ave atque vale

by Donald Kagan

Upon his retirement from Yale, Donald Kagan considers the future of liberal education in this farewell speech.

If you see something, say nothing

by Andrew C. McCarthy

Changes to the AP stylebook show that we’re blinding ourselves to the connections between Islamic extremism and terrorism.

Clearing London's fog

by Pat Rogers

The enthralling history of eighteenth-century London.

Most popular

view more >

Webcasts

Andrew C. McCarthy talks Islam
Andrew C. McCarthy covers Boston, the Blind Sheikh, the Arab Spring, and Turkey in his remarks at TNC's board dinner.


Poet George Green reads from his award-winning Lord Byron's Foot
George Green reads from Lord Byron's Foot, his collection of poetry that won the 2012 New Criterion Poetry Prize at a Friends & Young Friends event.


Celebration of the Life of Robert H. Bork, 1927–2012
From the memorial service for Robert H. Bork on April 9, 2013 at the Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC.