Live Around the Planet: Tuesday December 18th

On December 18, 2018 at 4:00 pm, Michael Seth wrote:

Mark - Now that we deplorables face a federal government unconstrained by the Constitution (or even common decency) and we know that any future federal elections will only be respected if the approved outcome is the result, what the hell are we supposed to do now? I no longer feel like a citizen of this once great country and I'm not even sure I want to be one anymore. Plus I look awful in a yellow vest. Please help! Cheers! Mike Seth, Deep-End-Of-The-Swamp, NJ

On December 18, 2018 at 4:03 pm, Beth wrote:

Last week, the United Nations somehow decided that it takes a 2/3 vote to condemn Hamas terrorists, while it takes a majority to pass just about anything else. Naturally, with a 61-member block of Muslim countries, the resolution did not pass. Isn't it time for Israel (at the very least) and other western countries, including the United States, to pull out of this travesty of an organization and either form an Organization of Democratic Countries or just go their own way?

On December 18, 2018 at 4:04 pm, Toby Pilling wrote:

Remainiacs in the UK demand a second referendum to overturn Brexit - a 'People's Vote'. But what does that make the initial referendum - a Penguin's vote?

On December 18, 2018 at 4:05 pm, Scott Schertzer wrote:

Dear Mark:

Do you think that any Republican can be elected president in the next 25 years? It seems to me that the only reason Trump was elected is because he was as nontraditional a Republican as possible. The rest of the party seems about as out of touch as ever.

Sincerely,

Scott Schertzer
Miami Beach

On December 18, 2018 at 4:06 pm, George Pereira wrote:

Government "Shutdown?"

At best, about 15% non-essential agencies shut down. And that only if the shutdown of the non-essential agency cost more than keeping it open.

Besides the Government largely shuts down every weekend and Holiday.
And the Republic some how survives.

On December 18, 2018 at 4:06 pm, Nicola Timmerman wrote:

Wondering how the Yellow Vests movement in Canada can avoid being co-opted by the leftists and anarchists as in France? Any suggestions for a leader? So far former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall is mentioned a lot but not sure if he is available.Trudeau in Edmonton tomorrow - should be fun...

On December 18, 2018 at 4:09 pm, AB43 wrote:

Reaffirmation his guilty plea of Flynn reminds me of the show trials during the reign of terror of Stalin in which decorated Generals broken by the NKVD admitted act of treason that they did not commit using evidence that was supplied by the Nazis. Flynn reached the breaking point bankrupt sold his house what he needed is not Tweet of Trump but assurance that he will be made whole if he is ready to fight on. I am repeating the question about the allegiance of the lawyer of Flynn was he honestly defending Flynn to clear his name or just getting over it as quickly and cheaply and justice be damned.
I want to add that instead of wasting time in the house with investigating the slippery snake Comey Trey Gowdy would achieve much more by declaring that he will defend pro Bono General Flynn if he wants to withdraw his guilty plea

On December 18, 2018 at 4:09 pm, Timothy McDonnell wrote:

Will Nigel Farage break up the Conservatives now that he has left UKIP?

On December 18, 2018 at 4:13 pm, Matthew McWilliams wrote:

Hi Mark,

I've been listening to you and reading your books and columns for about a decade now and I'm well familiar with your views on the decline of the West in general and the corruption of Western political institutions. I tend to agree with you on the vast majority of your thinking.

But at bottom, isn't the decline of the West and its institutions really a story about the decline of the West's people? In countries with universal or near universal suffrage you would think that an engaged people would be able to elect on a least a fairly regular basis responsive representatives, who would clean up things like the U.S. Department of Justice. Yet, most western governments seem to be completely unresponsive to their populations with one glaring exception; welfare programs.

Western governments offer a plethora of welfare benefits and protections to their populations and these programs seem to be the only legislation that regularly garners support from all parties. Cuts in these programs seem to be the only thing that motivates large populations to mass demonstrations and violence. For example, see the recent demonstrations in France.

So perhaps Western governments are responsive to the one thing they know will motivate the people against them. Given that an insufficient number of voters in the West seem able to get similarly exercised about defending their borders or protecting their cultural inheritance from those who would demolish it, isn't this really an indictment of the people, or at least most of them?

I've also read Douglas Murray's fine, if depressing book on Europe. Have the majority of Westerners become unworthy of their cultural inheritance? If so, I'm not sure that is fixable. Your thoughts.

On December 18, 2018 at 4:13 pm, Richard Byrne wrote:

We "little people" have seen the China threat for years. How come the feckless Western leaders have not?

On December 18, 2018 at 4:15 pm, Nathan Rockabrand wrote:

Hey Mark,

Mega Founding-Member-Dittos! I keep hearing in the news about an impending recession in the US economy. Do you believe it's something we should worry over (as China seems to be struggling), or do you think it's mostly the media trying to kindle a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom for the Trump administration? My money is on the latter - literally.

- Nathan in Snoqualmie

On December 18, 2018 at 4:19 pm, David Elstrom wrote:

Do you think Trump as anything except a last desperate attempt by Normal Americans to salvage some semblance of traditional America from the Blue vandals? Demography is against normal, and the Blues are engaging in a mopping up operation to wipe any vestiges of opposing thought from the web via deplatforming and shadow banning. As you say, the future belongs to those who show up, and judging from the media, culture, and universities the ones showing up are leftist drones or their power grubbing "leaders."

On December 18, 2018 at 4:24 pm, AB43 wrote:

I was listening to tonight Tucker Carlson show in which you also participated in the discussion was about the measures the China is taking to follow without shame a policy of nationalism or what Tucker called ethno-state. This is the complete opposite of the latest fad of governance of western "democracies" that declare diversity is their strength. China views diversity as weakness and it suppresses it. China exists over 2000 years and never had a Democratic government and it's not about to introduce one now, even if the talking heads of Fox news including Tucker Carlson, Steve Hilton and others demand it. Seeing what the result is of the so-called democracy in the USA and rest of the western "Democratic" Countries and reading the quotes of John Adams that said "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." China under its current leadership does not want to commit suicide. One of the reasons for the longevity of China besides its nondemocratic governance, is that it incorporated and assimilated all the minorities that were part of China and they intend to do that with the Uyghurs as well.

On December 18, 2018 at 4:25 pm, Tom wrote:

Mark, for a couple of years, my son was going to an elementary school that was mostly black and Hispanic. I noticed that the lessons in history were heavy on Civil Rights heroes and such, not a lot of George Washington. My son was one of two white children. It was all OK for a while, but then the black boys began to make fun of my son's hair. His very fine hair could not be cut like theirs, and they began to tease him, saying that white people were "boring." Do you think this is somehow the result of the educational priorities on race history, or do majorities just push around minorities naturally in all places and times? FYI, I moved my son to a different school where he isn't a minority, but they ban boys from pointing their fingers at it other and going "pew! pew!" There seems to be no refuge from this madness and I live in Texas!

On December 18, 2018 at 4:26 pm, Scot A wrote:

Once Trump is destroyed; where do we go from there? The elites are surrendering us to China, the third world, and Islam.
Do we all just take a generation off for "self-care"? Or will there be a revolution?
Do you have any comments about how the SJW fascists have taken over geek culture? I believe it is a canary in the coal mine situation. The SJWs have silenced creators and deplatformed them. Even when some of these creators try to publish their own works, they find the SJWs work on the publishers. The publishers won't publish anything that doesn't the SJW world view.

On December 18, 2018 at 4:28 pm, Laura Rosen Cohen wrote:

Hi Mark, did you see that Yair Netanyahu (son of...) was banned from Facebook for 24 hours for writing something to the effect of 'guess why there are no terrorist attacks in Japan and Poland"-something like that. So he was off to FaceGulag! Along the same lines, the Patreon platform has been banning people with mucho gusto. Do you think there's any hope that the Trump administration will take a swing at breaking up these tech monopolies? The financial platforms seem quite lucrative, any thoughts as to why these have no appeal thus far to more libertarian or conservative entrepreneurs?

On December 18, 2018 at 4:33 pm, Midwestern Tim wrote:

Dennis Miller mentioned your name on the Jimmy Fallon show last week, think Jimmy will come to one of the Miller/Steyn shows? Think you'll get invited on his show to sing cat songs with the Roots?

On December 18, 2018 at 4:37 pm, Lisa Carson wrote:

Wondering whether you watched the Munk debate with Steve Bannon and David Frum, and if so what you thought of it.

On December 18, 2018 at 4:37 pm, Marie wrote:

The dailymail has been carrying daily stories about the Duchess of Sussex and her problems joining the Royal Family. What are your thought and should the Royal Family slim down and have them live privately like Princess Madeline of Sweden and her husband do in Florida?

On December 18, 2018 at 4:53 pm, Paul Nachman wrote:

My friend and fellow club member Dave Gorak prepared this question (and pasted it at Steynonline a couple of entries ago) and was going to submit it but is apparently unavailable, so I'll serve it up for him:

Dave Gorak • Dec 17, 2018 at 15:31
Q&A item?

Mark:

The Left's threat to America's constitutional republic is very real, but I never hear those warning of that danger condemning the apathy of the American people who have allowed so-called progressivism to make the inroads that it has. Americans in general have no appreciation or respect for this country, thanks to an education system that has been corrupted by the Left and produced a generation of journalists who willingly serve as its thugs charged with demonizing rule of law advocates.

I am among those who believe that many, if not most, Americans are unworthy of this nation that was bequeathed to us and for which more than 1 million Americans have died defending throughout our history. I wore the uniform many years ago, but if I were of military age today I wouldn't risk my neck protecting a federal government whose immigration policy is nothing more than a surrender of our sovereignty that includes sacrificing American workers on the altar of cheap foreign labor that feeds corporate greed.

Americans who agree with us privately but lack the spine to say so publicly are truly worthy of the descriptor "deplorable" because many of them hypocritically get weepy-eyed on Memorial Day, wave the flag on July Fourth, and thank veterans for their service on Nov. 11 but never stir themselves to help ensure the republic's survival.

The choice before these "Americans" is simple: Either save their country or surrender it to the advocates of lawlessness and corporate greed.

I'm so disgusted that if one day mass deportations do occur, I think they should begin with the roundup of these "Americans" who deserve nothing more than a one-way plane ticket out of here.

Your thoughts?

On December 18, 2018 at 4:59 pm, Cory A. wrote:

Mark,

What one work of history do you recommend above all others?

What one work of fiction do you recommend above all others?

What one work of American film do you recommend above all others?

On December 18, 2018 at 4:59 pm, Ingrid, Windsor ON wrote:

Mark, will anyone remember Sara Anne Widholm? She died at age 76 on the weekend after being brutally attacked by 21 year old Habibullah Ahmadi on a nature trail here in Windsor. I never saw any coverage of how Mr. Ahmadi got to Canada, or if he is a home-grown misogynist. Is he a Trudeau migrant? This is a terribly sad story which I fear will repeat and repeat.

On December 18, 2018 at 4:59 pm, W.B, Bradford wrote:

Good evening Mark. I've just received an article from a friend from the BBC titled "Did my children die because I married my cousin?" (spoiler alert-yes). How do we deal this kissing cousin issue, with 63% of mums here married to their first cousins, determined to continue to have disabled children because apparently Allah wants it that way. I do not recognize my town, and my country anymore.

On December 18, 2018 at 5:00 pm, Jason Cawley wrote:

I would love your comments on the wave of deplatformings since the American election and especially in December. We now have secondary subscription sites like Patreon summarily banning users for off site behavior not covered by their terms of service, PayPal cutting payments processing for SubscribeStar simply because some who left Patreon started using it, and similar secondary processor boycotts and unpersoning attempts.It all seems more Trust collusive than anything JP Morgan ever dreamed of, torteous interference in others' contracts and business relations, and blatantly tyrannical. But there seems to be not only no enforcement about it, but scarcely even any awareness it is even happening, outside of online activist circles. "Intellectual Dark Web" types want to do something about it, but even otherwise informed conservatives I know, if from an older Fox News generation, didn't even know it was happening.

It seems to me a narrow set of "geeks" are becoming tyrannical rulers of the modern world simply because they are sitting next to a few routers in San Francisco. It doesn't seem plausible to me that such things can last. But I'd like to hear Mr Steyn's take on it.