The argument Douglas Murray makes, which I found compelling, is that the people of Europe are tired. There's been a tremendous sense of guilt since WWII. We knew about the transportation of the Jews and did nothing to intervene, we willingly deported Russian soldiers back to the USSR where they were put into prison camps in their 10's of thousands, and nationalism has become such a filthy concept for obvious reasons that the overall effect is one of self-loathing, and a feeling by those in power that Europeans deserve to be replaced, as a punishment. This is masochism, of course, and what makes it so bad is that it is practiced by sadists.
There is a very strong feeling, even (perhaps particularly) amongst the educated, that there is nothing much to be proud about in our European culture any more, and that reinvigorating it is too complex and tiresome a task to undertake. Combined with this sense of obligation to the world's poor and downtrodden, the cumulative result is one where resurgent European nationalism, patriotism, and pride in our culture and history is in my view extremely unlikely to make a reappearance without very deliberate efforts to reintroduce it. Even then, given the numbers of people we're introducing every day, I suspect we are fast approaching the point at which this kind of organic reawakening and peaceful transition is unlikely to occur.
This wouldn't be so terrible were it not also for the fact that as a people we've lost nearly all our ambition and drive to be pioneers. It's like we're grateful for having been able to pass that mantle to the US. I've lost track of how many times I've been asked by smart, successful career focused friends of mine why I don't give up the struggle to build an innovative tech business, and just get the good, well paying job I could easily get. It's a sad state of affairs.
There is a very strong feeling, even (perhaps particularly) amongst the educated, that there is nothing much to be proud about in our European culture any more, and that reinvigorating it is too complex and tiresome a task to undertake. Combined with this sense of obligation to the world's poor and downtrodden, the cumulative result is one where resurgent European nationalism, patriotism, and pride in our culture and history is in my view extremely unlikely to make a reappearance without very deliberate efforts to reintroduce it. Even then, given the numbers of people we're introducing every day, I suspect we are fast approaching the point at which this kind of organic reawakening and peaceful transition is unlikely to occur.
This wouldn't be so terrible were it not also for the fact that as a people we've lost nearly all our ambition and drive to be pioneers. It's like we're grateful for having been able to pass that mantle to the US. I've lost track of how many times I've been asked by smart, successful career focused friends of mine why I don't give up the struggle to build an innovative tech business, and just get the good, well paying job I could easily get. It's a sad state of affairs.