Although I do not disagree with what you say, I think the preamble is incorrect. "Historically, Western Civilization has existed as a unity. From the Greek alliance against the Persians, to Rome, to the Crusades, the West has found its highest expression when it fights as one."
The Greek alliance fighting the Persians cannot be considered the supreme representative (certainly not at that time, even if accepted chronology is correct) of "Western Civilization." The term itself is a new invention and cannot be projected back into history. The Crusades also include the genocidal campaigns against the Cathars, which in itself proves that "Western Civilization" was far from being a unity. Then there are Wars of Religion in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Europe has always been a violent little continent and the recent rise in violent crime as a result of the mass invasion of enemies from hellholes abroad only serves to underline that violence is a main feature of "Western CIvilization." Europe has for centuries been a net exporter of violence.
The last person really trying to save Europe was an Austrian painter. For whatever reason, England and Russia disliked him and organized a war to destroy him and most of Europe.
Basically, Europe has never ben united. That may actually be the essence of it, that it just cannot be united. Just look at the disaster that is the EU.
I would hardly say we have a civil war, but rather civil confusion - governments fail to provide the leadership needed, but at the same time block and obstruct genuine voices from the bottom. Add to it the Cronos-like grip on the economy and we have growing impotence of the continent in face of ever-more drastic changes in the world. Europe needs to chart a fresh course for itself, shedding any and all obligations and declarations that chain it to the old Atlantic order.
Iryna ... Not Chicago. Charlotte, North Carolina.
Although I do not disagree with what you say, I think the preamble is incorrect. "Historically, Western Civilization has existed as a unity. From the Greek alliance against the Persians, to Rome, to the Crusades, the West has found its highest expression when it fights as one."
The Greek alliance fighting the Persians cannot be considered the supreme representative (certainly not at that time, even if accepted chronology is correct) of "Western Civilization." The term itself is a new invention and cannot be projected back into history. The Crusades also include the genocidal campaigns against the Cathars, which in itself proves that "Western Civilization" was far from being a unity. Then there are Wars of Religion in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Europe has always been a violent little continent and the recent rise in violent crime as a result of the mass invasion of enemies from hellholes abroad only serves to underline that violence is a main feature of "Western CIvilization." Europe has for centuries been a net exporter of violence.
The last person really trying to save Europe was an Austrian painter. For whatever reason, England and Russia disliked him and organized a war to destroy him and most of Europe.
Basically, Europe has never ben united. That may actually be the essence of it, that it just cannot be united. Just look at the disaster that is the EU.
I would hardly say we have a civil war, but rather civil confusion - governments fail to provide the leadership needed, but at the same time block and obstruct genuine voices from the bottom. Add to it the Cronos-like grip on the economy and we have growing impotence of the continent in face of ever-more drastic changes in the world. Europe needs to chart a fresh course for itself, shedding any and all obligations and declarations that chain it to the old Atlantic order.