A re-posting of my review of Herb Meyer's The Siege of Western Civilization

By Aussiegirl

In light of Vasko Kohlmayer's review of Herb Meyer's The Siege of Western Civilization that I posted just below, I have decided to re-post my own review from last year of this excellent analysis of the dangers facing our civilization and what we can do about them.

Ultima Thule: Herb Meyer's "The Siege of Western Civilization"

Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Herb Meyer's "The Siege of Western Civilization"

By Aussiegirl

If you are wondering what to buy dad for Father's Day this year, you need look no further than the excellent DVD by Herb Meyer entitled "The Siege of Western Civilization". If you want to pat the old man on the back and say -- "Thanks for being you, dad. Thanks for working hard and keeping our family together. Thanks for fighting for our country so we can all live free. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being a good father and raising me." If you want to say all these things to dad, then here's your gift, because it is precisely all these things that you are grateful for in the person of your father, that Herb Meyer is talking about in this thought-provoking and illuminating essay. It is precisely in your family life that the fruits of Western Civilization currently reside, not in some ivory tower or library. They are real values that affect your life on a daily basis. This is perhaps the most startling revelation in this thought-provoking and accessible DVD.

So, you say, what has Western Civilization got to do with my father? Let me explain.

Speaking directly into the camera, a genial and engaging Herb Meyer lays out carefully and thoroughly the basis of our Western Civilization. How did it come about? What are its roots? And, most importantly, why it is Western Civilization, which began with the Greeks and truly flowered in the 14th and 15th centuries, that has given the world the impressive progress that humans have witnessed in the centuries since -- not only in the marvelous outpouring of artistic, scientific and technological achievements -- but in the improvement we have seen in how the average person lives, in the rule of law and the rights of man.

The flowering of civilization in Europe led to the American experiment -- that revolutionary concept which finally overthrew the idea that God gave his power to the King, who then dispensed it at his whim to the people. The Founding Fathers, in a great leap forward, building on the philosophies of European thinkers, made the bold declaration that God gave sovereign rights directly to men -- all men. And so began the greatest experiment in human history, the American experiment, the experiment that we currently enjoy and benefit from, the one that you and your father and your family are heir to, and the one that you are responsible for passing on to your own children.

But, Meyer says, our very way of life, our very civilization, the very foundations on which our country has been built, are currently under siege, from within and from without. This is the crux of his argument.

He lays out the many forces at play in the modern world which are leading to the distinct possibility that our civilization may crumble, and if it does, what evil may follow. We have only to look at all the ideologies that have attempted to supplant the ideas of Western Civilization to shake in our boots -- the ideologies of communism, fascism and all the other isms which have led to the deaths and torture and oppression of countless millions of human beings in the 20th century alone.

And now we face a renewed threat from radical Islam, which Meyer tells us is in desperate need of a reformation, a reconciliation with the 21st century and the modern world, but which currently seeks to destroy our very civilization and to supplant it with its murderous version of a 7th century religion.

But there are dangers from within as well, Meyer explains -- dangers from a culture which has stopped teaching the very values and foundations on which our country was built, but instead teaches about "dead white males" and slavery, the oppression of women, the degradation of the environment and the shocking lack of recycling as the fruits of our great experiment.

He discusses the crisis of demographics in Europe and Japan, which face a dropping birthrate that threatens the growth of their economies and future prosperity. The only way to replace the shrinking workforce in Europe has been to import workers from other countries, and this immigration has been primarily Muslim, Muslims who are not integrating into European society and who do not share Western values.

But perhaps the most interesting of Meyer's postulations is the danger to the family posed by modern cultural changes, because it is the family which has traditionally raised and nurtured children, not the state. In order to sustain our culture we must sustain our population, because -- let's face it -- you need junior, or preferably several juniors, to work and pay their taxes so grandpa can have a comfy retirement. Of course there's more to it than that, but Meyer points out that we would not even have a Social Security crisis if the population were replacing itself. Children are a blessing, but they are also a necessity for the future continuation and prosperity of our culture.

And so, we return to dear old dad -- if you are lucky enough to still have him around to hug this year. Dear old dad, with all his quirks and faults, is nonetheless the hero of our story -- the product of our great cultural heritage, a man who learned the values taught to him by his forebears and who worked hard and tried to pass them on to his children. Meyer warns that our very way of life is in danger, from within and from without, and he proposes a number of solutions to the problem. Of course it's only a start -- but what a welcome one!

Come to think of it, dads -- buy it for your kids -- because they are in even greater need of this DVD than you are, because it is they who are bombarded daily with the anti-Western dogmas of our time. They need to know what you learned in school -- they need to know the truth before it is too late.

Once you view this DVD your mind will travel far and wide and begin making all sorts of new connections -- and isn't that what a great lecture is all about? Isn't that what you loved in a great teacher, that he would inspire you to make new connections? I'm still thinking about how all this fits into the current news of the day, and I thank Herb Meyer for producing this excellent teaching tool that should be required viewing for young and old alike.


You can purchase your own VHS or DVD copy of "The Siege of Western Civilization" for only $19.95 from this website, or by calling 1-800-393-1266. You can also find links there to Herb Meyer's essays and articles and the many books he has written.

During the Reagan administration Herbert Meyer was the Special Assistant to the Director of Intelligence and Vice-Chairman of the CIA's National Intelligence Council and is widely credited as the first intelligence official to forecast the fall of the Soviet Union, former editor of Fortune Magazine and noted author and lecturer. He was awarded The National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Intelligence Community's highest honor.