1. Jonah Goldberg on The Suicide of the West
EconTalk Episode with Jonah Goldberg
Hosted by Russ Roberts
2. Off the Shelf: The Bastard Son of Versailles
Book review.
It’s hard to overstate the way that Polish feelings about the great wars are almost inverted from the common ones in the United Kingdom and the United States. For Western powers, the common perception is that the First World War is at best a fratricidal slaughter, conducted for ambiguous reasons. At worst it was the suicide of Western civilization. For Poland, that war was the resurrection of their nation from the dead. For Western powers the Second World War is a moment of sharp moral clarity, in which the victorious powers defeated a truly wicked regime, and rebuilt Western Europe on surer foundations. For Poland, it is an unrelenting nightmare. Technically, the war was launched because the United Kingdom intended to vindicate her sovereignty. In the end the West threw Poland to Stalin like a bone to chew on, while investing millions to swiftly rebuild West Germany.
Is all of modern European civilization a kind of macabre plot against Poland? How many absurdities must one people live through, in so short a time, from such a diverse set of sources? Every time Poland makes an ally, said ally becomes unreliable, deceptive, and cowardly. Every time a country becomes Poland’s enemy, its capacity for heartlessness and ferocity seems redoubled.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/poland-world-war-ii-halik-kochanski-eagle-unbowed-review/
The reviewed book:
3. “May Allah Destroy Your Houses and Burn You All!”
The terrifying lives of Christians under Islam.
The rest of October’s roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes, but is not limited to, the following: