We’re tying two not very disparate themes together tonight: The potential demise of decadent Western civilization and hatred of the United States of America.
Darcey at Dust my Broom brought up the first question a few days ago, The Other Club commented on that and today, Kate McMillan linked to a piece in The American Thinker by Vasko Kohlmayer – a defector from Communist Czechoslovakia at the age of 19.
You should read the whole thing, but here’s an excerpt from: The Suicidal Left: Civilizations and their Death Drives:
For a long time now, the political Left has been a source of widespread puzzlement. Many people instinctively suspect its insidiousness, but are uncertain of its precise nature. The confusion is further compounded by the apparent incongruence between the Left’s flowery rhetoric and the detrimental effects of its actions. Unable to grasp its nature, many have followed with uneasy apprehension its growth into a powerful force whose seemingly inescapable influence has been increasingly felt in virtually every sector of our society.
Duplicitous by disposition, the Left indeed does not lend itself to easy analysis. Although its corrosiveness has been intuited by many, the reasons for the misgivings are usually not so easily articulable. Yet the Left cannot be effectively contended with until we are able to grasp its essence. Effective action requires knowledge.
[…]
Hating America
Since we are already at it, we may as well explain the real basis of the Left’s virulent anti-Americanism. As almost everyone is aware, America is a thorn in the eye and the favorite whipping child of both the American and worldwide Left.America is a country that every leftist worth his salt loves to hate. Many have been startled by this, especially given the fact that America seems to be good to all the groups and things that the Left claims to care deeply about. Its poor are the richest in the world, and on the whole better off than the middle classes of most nations. America’s environment is among the cleanest on this earth. Its minorities enjoy more opportunities, earn more and achieve higher positions than minorities elsewhere, even in their own countries (which is why so many are eager to immigrate to the U.S.).
American working women are better paid and enjoy more access to power than their counterparts anywhere else. And we could go on. Needless to say – in the light of all this – America should be loved and applauded by the Left. So why this seemingly irrational hatred? Let’s turn to our theory for a clue.
Even though western civilization was not born in America, today she stands as the undisputed bearer of its torch. Being the most capitalistic of all western countries and having the least intrusive government (domestically speaking), it best embodies the ideals of classical liberalism. It is also by far the most Christian among western nations.
In addition, during the last 60 years or so America has invariably spearheaded the West’s efforts against its enemies – it led the fight against German fascism, Soviet communism and now against Islamic fundamentalism. In short, America is the foremost practitioner of the West’s values, the guardian of its legacy, and the guarantor of its survival.
In the light of our thesis, can you now see why the Left hates America so? Being intransigently anti-western, its raging hatred of America is an expression of its implacable hostility toward the West.
This is a long essay, but worthy of a bit of time.