The Death of the West

The Death of the West
AuthorPatrick J. Buchanan
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
PublisherSt. Martin's Griffin
Publication date
2001
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback)
Pages320

The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Country and Civilization is a 2001 book by paleoconservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan. In the book, Buchanan argues that Western culture is under threat and may soon be in decline.

Summary

The book's title references Oswald Spengler's Decline of the West. Buchanan claims that the culture that created western civilization is in danger in the United States. He predicts that by 2050, the United States will no longer be a western country.[1] He uses United Nations population statistics to analyze trends, noting declines in European populations and growth in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Buchanan describes the United States as having a "nation within a nation," with 30 million foreign-born people, including 11 million undocumented immigrants, which he says is larger than the populations of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut combined.

He criticizes the "counterculture" of the 1960s, claiming it has become dominant and aims to rewrite American history and dismantle traditional heritage. Buchanan argues this culture is hostile to western civilization, asserting that a new generation sees the cultural revolution as normal and seeks to impose political correctness.[2]

Buchanan writes that since the 1960s, an "adversary culture" has tried to damage America's history and its heroes. He claims that through media support, the counterculture has left few institutions and figures untouched, while Americans fail to resist this influence.[3]

He devotes a chapter to Columbus, arguing that the discovery of America, once celebrated, is now criticized as the beginning of slavery, racism, and genocide. Buchanan notes that the UN canceled Columbus Day celebrations and some institutions replaced it with Indigenous Peoples Day.[4]

Buchanan also criticizes new history textbooks for omitting traditional achievements like the Wright brothers and the moon landing and instead highlighting African and pre-Columbian civilizations. He disputes the portrayal of European colonizers as purely genocidal, noting that indigenous peoples practiced practices like cannibalism and lacked technologies like the wheel.[5]

Regarding slavery, Buchanan argues that European involvement ended African rulers' slave trade: "Had it not been for the West, African rulers would still be trafficking in the flesh of their kinsmen."[6]

Buchanan claims the "war on America's past" and the "dumbing down of American children" has succeeded, undermining defenders of western history while promoting those who criticize it.[7]

He references critics like John H. Wallace, who attacked Huckleberry Finn, and Susan Sontag, who he quotes as calling the "white race the cancer of human history."[8][9]

Buchanan also links the decline of Christianity in the West to low birth rates, hopelessness, and political utopianism. He argues that secularism and anti-Christian sentiment have caused Western culture to lose traditional values, leaving people searching for meaning.[10]

Reception

Kirkus Reviews described the book as "[s]hameless, embarrassing rantings" and criticized Buchanan's historical claims, such as his statement on African slavery, as dishonest.[11]

Jonah Goldberg of the National Review commented that Buchanan "brilliantly manages to do with one language what Yassir Arafat does with two," appealing to extremists while keeping plausible deniability.[12]

Historians like Niall Ferguson have retrospectively linked the book's premise to the concept of Eurabia.[13][14] Buchanan's follow-up book State of Emergency explicitly linked his ideas to the Eurabia concept.[15]

  • America Alone
  • Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War
  • Criticism of multiculturalism
  • Eurabia
  • Frankfurt School
  • Germany Abolishes Itself (2010)
  • Great Replacement
  • Le Suicide français (2014)
  • Opposition to immigration
  • We Are Doomed
  • White genocide conspiracy theory

References

  1. ↑ "Death) of the West - Pat Buchanan". [www.stewartsynopsis.com. Archived from [the original on 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2016-05-07. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help))
  2. ↑ Buchanan (2001), p. 214
  3. ↑ Buchanan Patrick J. (2001). The Death of the West, New York: St. Martin's Griffin, p 149, (https://archive.org/details/deathofwesthowdy00buch_0/page/148/mode/2up?view=theater)
  4. ↑ Buchanan Patrick J. (2001). The Death of the West, p 150, 153-154, (https://archive.org/details/deathofwesthowdy00buch_0/page/150/mode/2up?view=theater)
  5. ↑ Buchanan Patrick J. (2001). The Death of the West, p 154, (https://archive.org/details/deathofwesthowdy00buch_0/page/154/mode/2up?view=theater)
  6. ↑ Buchanan Patrick J. (2001). The Death of the West, p 58, 220, (https://archive.org/details/deathofwesthowdy00buch_0/page/58/mode/2up?view=theater)
  7. ↑ Buchanan Patrick J. (2001). The Death of the West, p 152, 174, (https://archive.org/details/deathofwesthowdy00buch_0/page/152/mode/2up?view=theater)
  8. ↑ Buchanan Patrick J. (2001). The Death of the West, p 217, (https://archive.org/details/deathofwesthowdy00buch_0/page/216/mode/2up?view=theater)
  9. ↑ Sontag, Susan (1967). "What's Happening to America? (A Symposium)". Partisan Review. 34 (1): 57–58, (https://www.bu.edu/partisanreview/books/PR1967V34N1/HTML/files/assets/basic-html/index.html#13)
  10. ↑ Buchanan (2001), p. 9
  11. ↑ ["The Death of the West by Patrick J. Buchanan". Kirkus Reviews. November) 15, 2001. Retrieved October 27, 2012. {{cite magazine}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ↑ Goldberg, Jonah (February 25, 2002). ["Goldberg File". The National Review. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/205150/killing-whitey-jonah-goldberg}})
  13. ↑ Ferguson, Niall (April) 4, 2004). ["Eurabia?". The New York Times Magazine. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ↑ ["From) Europe to Eurabia?". Voice of America. October 27, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  15. ↑ ["Pat) Buchanan: Mexico recapturing U.S. lands?". Today. August 21, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)

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