Category: Europe

Europe’s March Toward Nihilism

George Noga
Europe is like a dissolute doyenne, blithely sipping absinthe at a cafe, who has traded a few more decades of decadence in exchange for her eventual suicide.
Europe’s March Toward Nihilism
By: George Noga – June 9, 2019

            Europe’s passage to nihilism is nearly complete. For more and more phlegmatic Europeans, life has no intrinsic meaning or value; nothing is morally right or wrong; they are like pigs eating whatever life drops into their trough. A meaningless life is a terrible ordeal no matter how comfortable it is (Nietzsche). Europeans refuse to defend themselves, outsourcing that to America. In the ultimate form of nihilism, they refuse to reproduce, outsourcing that task to immigrants who deride and disdain them.

          Rigor mortis is beginning to descend on Europe as it is experiencing entropy politically, demographically, culturally, morally and spiritually; the lassitude of its people – physically and intellectually – precludes any possible antidote. Just as the absinthe-sipping doyenne, Europe has made a Faustian Bargain and is grasping for time until its eventual demise – a fate it has tacitly accepted. We conclude this post with the plaintive story of Mario, who personifies Europe’s steady march to Gomorrah.

Europe no longer produces the values necessary for its survival.

        The EU as a political construct is in terminal dissolution because it places the state above the individual. It has never won an election in any EU member state; remember Brexit. Nor will the Euro last much longer. Italy is near bankrupt as are Spain, Portugal and some others. The ECB is keeping the ship afloat but monetary policy cannot overcome all the deeply embedded government barriers to growth.

          Europe is flailing economically with GDP growth hovering near 1%, persistently high unemployment, continued quantitative easing and negative interest rates despite many years without recession. Creativity and innovation are dead; when was the last time Europe produced a new technology? Of the top 50 global tech companies, only four are in Europe, but they are washed up vestiges of the past. The specter of decline is stalking Europe; it even outsources its popular culture to America.

        If demographics is destiny, Europe is headed for oblivion. Germany faces the worst demographic crisis extant, except for Japan. The ethnic European fertility rate is around 1.25 and its population will nearly halve every generation. A child without parents is an orphan, but a nation without children is an orphan people. The elites of Europe have embraced diversity but they are committing suicide by diversity. It is but a matter of time until Sweden becomes Western Europe’s first muslim nation.

The True Story of Mario Puts a Face on Europe’s Nihilism

         The last time we were in Paris, my wife and I took a hotel shuttle to the airport; we were the only two passengers and struck up a conversation with our driver. Mario was 33, trilingual, educated and personable. He was from Italy but moved to France because there were no jobs in Italy. His job (driving the shuttle) had no chance for advancement and he expected to remain in the same menial job his entire working life. He lived with a girlfriend but had no intention to marry and was adamant about never having children. He already was thinking about his pension 30 years in the future.

        Mario left his native country and family for a low paying, dead-end job in another country where he would never fully belong. He had already driven the van for 14 years and was facing another 29 years, or 60,000 more trips to the airport. He would subsist on the fringes of society, eschewing wife and children. Nevertheless, Mario’s calculus was that this bleak, hardscrabble existence was better than the life he left behind.

        Multiply Mario by tens of millions and you understand the zombie-like demeanor and look of quiet desperation we witnessed on the faces of Europe’s young people. Those countenances of hopelessness personify Europe’s march toward nihilism. Let’s hope we never see such hollow-eyed expressions on the faces of young Americans.

Coming June 16th – Suggestions for how elite youths can spend this summer
More Liberty Less Government  –  mllg@mllg.us  –  www.mllg.us

Lives of Quiet Desperation

George Noga

By: George Noga – February 15, 2013

      You could see it in their faces; the look was unmistakable. I noticed it throughout our trip but it was confirmed by Mario on our final day in Europe. My wife and I were staying in Paris and took a hotel shuttle to the airport. We were the only 2 passengers on the shuttle van for the 30 minute ride and immediately struck up a conversation with Mario, our driver.

     Mario, age 33, was trilingual and personable. We soon learned he was from Italy where he  had completed his schooling but moved to France because there were no jobs in Italy. His job driving the shuttle van had zero possibility for upward mobility and he expected to remain in the same menial, monotonous position his entire working life. He was living with his girlfriend but stated he had no intention ever to marry; he was adamant about never having children. He had already begun to think about his pension which was at least a quarter century in the future.

     Contemplate Mario’s situation. He left his native country and family for a low paying, dead end job in another country where he never would totally belong. He already had driven the van for 14 years and was facing another 29 years – a total of 60,000 hotel/airport round trips. He would subsist perpetually on the economic fringe of society, eschewing wife and children. Yet, according to his calculus, this hardscrabble existence was better than the life he left behind in Italy. Multiply Mario by tens of millions of others in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and elsewhere and you will begin to understand the magnitude of the quiet desperation I witnessed.

“We are a lost generation for sure.”

    Take Carlos from Madrid, who was quoted in a recent Bloomberg report. He graduated from university but faced Spain’s 52% unemployment rate for those under age 25. He now washes and chops vegetables for a salad bar in London. Of the 17 employees, 13 are from Spain, including 3 from Carlos’s university. “We are a lost generation for sure“, Carlos stated.

     As bad as the situation is currently, it is certain to get far worse as governments and central banks impose anti-growth policies including massive tax hikes and pile on ever more onerous regulations. Even the courts add to the perdition. The European Court of Justice just ruled workers who don’t feel well during vacations are entitled to a paid makeup vacation day for every day they were ill. Meanwhile, thanks to many millions like Mario and Carlos, Europe’s demographics are imploding. Unfortunately, Europe’s problems have reached the USA.

America is Becoming More Like Europe

    More and more Americans are working part time and in low wage jobs. Our unemployment rate is 15% when including involuntary part-time workers. Unemployment for those under age 25 is higher at 16% and that number is set to soar as ObamaCare kicks in and the cost of insuring full time workers skyrockets. America gradually is descending into a low wage, part-time economy with stagnant growth accompanied by decreasing social mobility.

     Obama’s policies fix these trends in place for at least the next 5 years – 4 more years of Obama and at least one year to change course. The high rate of government spending, massive debt, huge deficits and higher taxes are certain to result in tepid economic growth. We will be  lucky to average 2% growth per year and to avoid recession and/or an  existential debt crisis.

     In short, the youth (and increasingly the middle class) of America are becoming more like Mario and Carlos. They will be part of a lost generation and it is just a matter of time until we will begin to see the unmistakable looks of quiet desperation in our children’s faces.