Saturday, June 24, 2006

Eurabia shurabia - be happy!

Hey, I just wanted to post the picture, but though I love The Economist - this is poor thought. The Fwench must love this.
...and don't think someone isn't saying "That is a great idea.."
Is Eurabia really something to worry about? The concept includes a string of myths and a couple of hard truths. Most of the myths have to do with the potency of Islam in Europe. The European Union is home to no more than 20m Muslims, or 4% of the union's inhabitants. That figure would soar closer to 17% if Turkey were to join the EU—but that
Just a note: like how they just brush by a 4% to 17% increase. With a generation of differential childbirth rates, you will have dozens of Kosovos.
, alas, is something that Europeans are far less keen on than Americans are. Even taking into account Christian and agnostic Europe's lousy breeding record, Muslims will account for no more than a tenth of west Europe's population by 2025.

Second, the future of Europe's Muslims, no less than that of America's Latinos, lies with the young. For every depressing statistic about integration—France's prisons hold nine times more young men with North African fathers than ones with French fathers—there are several reassuring ones: a quarter of young Muslim Frenchwomen are married to non-Muslim men; Muslims are flocking to British universities and even popping up in white bastions like the Tory party. In 50 years' time, Americans may be praising this generation of European Muslims for leading the enlightenment that Islam needed.

Europe's Islamic experience will be different from America's: geography and history have seen to that already. Integration will be hard work for all concerned. But for the moment at least, the prospect of Eurabia looks like scaremongering.
Nice try - and there is a fair bit of hyperbole out there...but there is a huge hole here in their argument - you cannot compare American Latino immigrants to Europe's Muslims. Latino immigrants are Catholic and Western. With the exception of some minor pockets, inside 1 generation and you have trouble telling a Gonzalez from an O'Mally or Rhinehardt. Go into a Mexican restaurant in New York, and most of the people in the seats are not of Latin extraction. Go into a Morrocan restaurant in Eindhoven...and well...not a lot of Dutchmen there.

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