<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 11/1/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">spike</b> <<a href="mailto:spike66@comcast.net">spike66@comcast.net</a>> wrote:</span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Macleans reviews the book America Alone by Mark Steyn:<br><br><a href="http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20061023_134898_134">http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20061023_134898_134
</a><br>898<br></blockquote></div><br>Works better when the URL isn't munged by the mailer (:-|).<br><br><a href="http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20061023_134898_134898">http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20061023_134898_134898
</a><br><br>It is interesting given the pessimistic analysis of the demography of an Islamic population in Europe that there is a counterbalancing trend in the U.S. which is the continual immigration from Mexico and Latin America (Catholics vs. Islam).
<br><br>The open question remains whether we (the leading edge) will simply choose to emigrate (to the oceans, to the ocean floors, to Antarctica, to outer space)? Leave the planet to the believers -- just as we leave parts of Pennsylvania to the Amish, parts of Maine to the Shakers, etc. So the jihad takes over Europe -- its a small fraction of the planet.
<br><br>It is interesting that the concept is about one tribe controlling real estate or political systems or perhaps nuclear weapons -- rather than about energy or technology. If you take into account the land area of places like Russia, Canada and Australia (with relatively small Islamic population fractions and less than open arms immigration polices) then one perhaps sees over the next 30-50 years is shift of perhaps 10-20% of the land area being under Islamic control to something like 20-30%. The larger countries more distant from Mecca have sufficient energy resources (once they get off the oil addiction) that they can adopt a Japanese solution to the near term demographic crisis (avoiding the path the Europeans have chosen).
<br><br>The analysis also doesn't seem to appreciate how biotech and/or nanotech and/or robotics (or AI) completely change this analysis [1]. The only question might be what happens if we get Catholic or Islamic AIs?<br>
<br>R.<br><br>1. The European's don't need to allow the immigration they currently allow if biotechnology extends healthy lifespan and the elderly choose to return to work (rather than be a burden on the state) or if nanotechnology makes need for state support unnecessary or if robots replace the functions performed by immigrants (or some combination of these). The picture painted is *only* a done deal assuming societies remain organized as they currently are.
<br>