Western Civilization Large as Life and Twice as Ugly

The 2011 riots in England have brought us back to the talks about crisis of multiculturalism in Europe. Few people understand what does it mean. But many swaggeringly take on to speak up. Their speculations lead mostly to a primitive conclusion: people with different colors of skin cannot live together. They are so different that are incapable to understand each other.

Indeed, they put it this way: the riots are caused by the fact that black immigrants have congested England, expatriates from Pakistan and Arab countries established their own city blocks, the white dwellers are escaping to special areas… Native Europeans cannot stand it any more… The mosques are everywhere… Pork sales are banned… In short, this is a nightmare, a crisis of European civilization.

And they call such nonsense a ‘situational analysis’.

Let’s start with a simple idea. Those who insist that the color of skin was a reason for raging behavior of the arsonists of British suburbs, would have never met with the herd of white English or Irish hooligans. Until recently they were thunderbolts of stadiums and neighboring pubs throughout Europe. The question is: what is their principal distinction from the gangs crushing London?

The standard reply is that these pogroms were triggered by police task force who had assassinated a Caribbean gangster. It is well known that all these Haitian, Jamaican etc criminal groups are closely interlaced with each other and are easily mobilized. We do not know exactly who was Mark Duggan, a 29-years-old resident of Tottenham being suspect in arms smuggling and shot down when attempting to resist the police. But neither he nor the revenging youngsters have any touch with Islam or Islamic immigration to Britain. Their culture is the integral part of modern Western, British and American liberal world.

The dirty avalanche of rap, hip-hop and all other teenager styles promoted by MTV with its subculture of brutal sexuality, gaudy ‘stars’ sitting in limousines with heroin-touched gloomy snoots and wearing enormous golden chains, Beavis and Butt-head stylistics – are they from another civilization?

The reality of British riots is that Muslims were gathering in self-defense teams to protect their mosques, cultural centers, shops, kinder gardens targeted by assaulters. Meanwhile we should keep in mind that the majority of Arab radical organizations like Muslim Brotherhood banned in the countries of origin are enjoying asylum in London and it is at least illogical to suspect them in incitements against British authorities.

Evidently, the young multicolor mobs on the smoked London streets are homunculus nurtured by the very Western liberal consumerist society rejecting strict religious ethics and inculcating them by the only idea: ‘The most important thing in life is to HAVE!’

This liberal hedonism induces the creation of powerful police apparatus in Britain, heavily armed and strengthened. Indeed, if to HAVE is the sense of life, what barrier but police force can stop me?

So, the madding mobs on streets are not another civilization. This is a modern Western civilization. Large as life and twice as ugly. The bombs falling on Afghanistan, Palestine, Libya are Western ones. The media propagating lewdness and cult of the mammon worldwide are Western as well.

Hopefully, the rest of the civilized world will cope with this unexpected challenge.

Maxim SHEVCHENKO (Russia) – renowned Russian TV-presenter, journalist, member of the Public Chamber of Russia.

Original publication: VZ.RU (in Russian)

Translated by ORIENTAL REVIEW