A matter of inclusion, not a clash of civilizations

[htpcl]

Hey ma'fellow indifferent armchair-dwellers reasonable folks who care about freedom and peace almost as much as I do! Now that a week has passed since the act of barbarism in Paris which was instantly branded by some smartheads (and politicians) "a clash of civilizations", perhaps it's time to sit back a little and assess things a bit more soberly

Comments

[luvdovz]

Best piece I've read on the matter thus far. And I don't throw praise too lightly. ;)

[peamasii]

Excellent post. I think part of the problem is that a) Muslim elites are not part of Western oligarchies and b) radical Islamist groups are competing for the void of leadership by resorting to extreme violence against the West

[mahnmut]

I found much I agree with in this splendid write-up. Including, unfortunately, the following...

But, as the European experience shows, this requires a lot of time, and probably going through tons of wars and blood - so things will have to get much worse before they start to get better, I'm afraid. And the recent signs that things are even going in an opposite direction, are not helping make us optimistic about it at all.

Definitely recommended.

[nairiporter]

Yes, a very good article.

[johnny9fingers]

This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking essay.

If I have one slight quibble it is in the timeline for change. You state that "This is why I suspect this will be a century of ethnicity and religious identity.". In the West, what took a century now takes a decade. Whereas in some parts of the world, a century still takes all of seven decades, if you catch my drift. Part of the problem is of different cultural inertias. Moving from a mediæval culture to a late industrial one requires some sort of equivalent to the Trotskyist idea of "perpetual revolution", which I fear to be a wrong tack