WAKE UP CALL IN EUROPE
As we go to press, Muslims are staging violent protests against cartoon caricatures of their Prophet Mohammad recently published in European newspapers. Having read The Koran myself, and being familiar with the history of Islam's centuries-long war against the West, I can only hope that members of the elite and chattering classes are re-thinking their embrace of multiculturalism, "diversity," and non-Western immigration. These events follow on last fall's Muslim riots in France. The Washington Post and other papers published in the United States went out of their way to describe the rioters as "youths." But this is clearly misleading. A number of commentators around the world have drawn attention to Jean Raspail's futuristic novel, The Camp of the Saints, that foretold an emasculated French leadership surrendering their country to hordes of Third World "refugees." The Social Contract Press has reprinted this modern-day classic and copies have been flying off our shelves in recent weeks. You can order a copy for yourself or others at the www.thesocialcontract.com web site, visiting the "bookstore" to order on line, or calling 1-800-352-4843.
Birthright Citizenship
It is good to see that some Members of Congress are considering ending birthright citizenship. The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." The problem is, as the framers of that amendment made clear, not all persons in the United States are subject to its jurisdiction. Is it reasonable to argue that the authors of the 14th Amendment were making special allowances for any woman who sneaks across our border and delivers her newborn in the United States? Can we really assume that people who defy the laws of the U.S. by entering illegally are entitled to the constitutional right to confer citizenship on their children? We are pleased to include two articles by Constitutional scholar Charles Wood that help clarify this issue.
DECLINE AND FALL
In recent years we have published articles by Walter Youngquist, the late John Attarian, and others dealing with the impact of population growth on declining sources of readily available energy. We draw your attention to the essay by Richard Duncan, "The Olduvai Theory," which discusses the probable life expectancy of industrial civilization in terms of energy supply. This article was posted on our web site before the rest of this winter issue went to the printer. I am pleased to report that it has already received attention from across the globe with links to Dr. Duncan's article being added to quite a few web sites, such as www.oilcrisis.com.
As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions for topics to discuss in this journal in the future.
Wayne Lutton, Ph.D.
Editor