Welcome to Part Ten in our new audio adaptation of a favourite book among SteynOnline readers: America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, in the run-up to its twentieth anniversary.
As our American readers will be aware, for some reason Kevin Roberts, the head honcho of the Heritage Foundation, decided that Nick Fuentes was the hill to die on. Donors and staff objected, so Mr Roberts has spent the ensuing days blaming and firing his speechwriter and attempting to finesse his original position - whether successfully or not is as yet unclear.
Think-tank world is not my world, especially when I am thousands of miles away and under heavy medication. But I had a vague memory of having once spoken at the Heritage Foundation, which, upon investigation, proved to be correct. Here I am in Washington DC in January 2007:
I think that is correct: we don't really need an enemy because we're losing to ourselves. That's been true for two decades but the chickens are coming home to crow: see Tuesday's election night.
We shall talk more about this in the days ahead, but, on this weekend's episode of America Alone, I have some thoughts from twenty years ago on the reductive nature of what was then spoken of as "globalisation" - which boiled down to a reductive cheeseburger imperium:
Which globalization is shaping the world? The movies or the madrassahs? Burger King or Burqa King? Big Macs or Big Mo..?
I think we all know the answer to that. As I continued:
At the dawn of the 21st century, Marshall McLuhan's global village is finally within reach: the Yanks run the diner, the Chinese the health clinic and the Saudis the church. From America's point of view, that doesn't seem the best deal.
A decade-and-a-half after I wrote those words, we all got a lesson in what Chinese control of public health means for core liberties.
Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read Part Ten of America Alone simply by clicking here and logging-in. Earlier episodes can be found here.
~If you prefer more fictional fancies of a weekend, we have a new Tale for Our Time - from the day before yesterday in a lost Europe: Agatha Christie's Murder on the Links. Not in the mood for Hercule Poirot? Well, there are spy thrillers, comedy classics, tales of horror and historical romance and much more, all over at our Tales for Our Time home page. If you've a friend who might be partial to our six-dozen-plus cracking capers, we have a special Gift Membership that, aside from audio capers, also includes video poetry, live music and more. And I'll be doing a live-performance Tale for Our Time at sea on the next Mark Steyn Cruise - sailing aboard the Queen Mary 2.
To become a member of The Mark Steyn Club, please click here - and don't forget that special Gift Membership. As soon as you join, you'll get access not only to America Alone but to over seventy audio adventures in Tales for Our Time. Please join me next weekend for Part Eleven of America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It.
