The War Against the West, Douglas Murray, author and narrator
If one can ignore the bias and the hypocrisy that is so prevalent today, as the time honored history of the Western world is daily redefined and questioned, and if one can keep an absolutely open mind, this book will be an enlightening experience that will clarify, explain and deconstruct many of the issues and conflicts being raised, as the different demographic groups compete for space in the world order. This book will expose the approach by certain entities to smear and dishonor all things we have achieved in the past that do not agree with their current ideas about race, in order to rewrite history to satisfy their possibly distorted beliefs. These groups operate on the premise that in the successful, free, Western world, whiteness is inherently evil and is an embedded character trait, as well as a lack of color, in some human beings. These groups believe that the lack of achievement in demographic groups of color, is not due to a lack of skill, education or training, but rather to the idea that white supremacy controlled their ability to advance and achieve. These groups believe that whiteness can never be altered or erased, and is a flaw that can never be repaired or forgiven. It is at the root of all the evils in the Western world, and they also believe that those who are white must still seek to be less white, even though that attempt is futile.
If the achievements of the Caucasians are, at their core, contemptible, because they are simply the unfair and corrupt result of white privilege and white power, in a world of many colors, then that influence must be unwritten and removed from memory. Some actually believe that the Western world is one in which white people are responsible for the failures of all non-whites that have been unable to compete. To correct this travesty of justice, the rules have to be changed and redesigned to advantage those others, in order to make the playing field level, even when and if the rules make little sense, even if the history and records are changed to suit those demands, ultimately altering reality. The aim of the book is to illuminate and expose the effort of these groups and individuals that have attained prominence and power, who have managed to gain control of the message, as they try to alter the history of the Western world, to make it look guilty of unforgiveable racist behavior which is evidenced by the obvious exclusion of persons of other colors from the Western melting pot of glory and achievement. The supposedly anti-racist groups believe that systemic racism and white supremacy are at the core of the creation and success of the Western world, and that this same world, because of white privilege, has ignored the achievements of those who actually built the Western world, those people who were not white. The fact that more white people have been successful is deemed not to be the result of qualifications, but to be due to the color of their skin and the disregard of the talent of others, by those white people, and to the effort of those same white people to prevent others from climbing their ladder of success. It is, therefore, not the result of their ability or hard work, but the result of their white rage. Murray very ably exposes the flaws in the reasoning of these groups as he exposes their lack of knowledge and dismantles their convoluted pattern of thought as they seek to blame their failures, elsewhere, basically on the whiteness of the Western world.
As Murray provides examples of every area these groups have infiltrated from music and art to science and actual history, with their anger and complaints, he analyses the fraudulent and uninformed reasoning that is behind each of their issues. The very idea that math, gardening, literature, language, statues and every other area of human life is inherently racist, is overturned with brilliant examples of the hypocrisy being promoted as their war is waged on Western success. No effort is made, by these groups to dismantle the areas in which people of color dominate, however, even though they are, in some areas, in far greater proportions than their total numbers. That is not their concern. While they rightly believe that economic and academic success must be an equal opportunity, they do not want that opportunity to be based on ability, because in the past, they believe that only one skin color has been able to dominate, supposedly preventing the success of all others who are not white. Taking it further, if two plus two cannot be mastered as equaling four in a particular demographic, it must be shown that two plus two can also equal five! If some people are unable to add, and cannot master mathematics, then mathematics must be racist according to the groups that wage war on the Western way of life. If the world can be rebuilt on the basis of false facts created to fit a particular narrative for people who feel they have been left out of the process, nothing can be counted on as truth.
Alternatively, Murray uses whiteness as a concept, not an identifier. He illustrates that law and order, rules and regulations are not racist, but constructs that are necessary in societies if they are not to descend into chaos. In order for functioning, free societies to thrive, the most skilled, the most highly qualified and responsible, and the hardest working, generally rise to the top and improve conditions for all, not just a particular race. While diversity is admirable, in order for the society to work well, the best and the brightest need to be chosen to do any job. If there is not a representation of people of color, is their absence racist, or is it because there are not yet enough who are well qualified or well educated? In a blind search, when candidates of color did not get chosen, was it racist or their inability to compete? Should rules be changed, as now they are changing, to lower the standards to be more inclusive, or should they be kept high to encourage those that compete to try harder so they will next be chosen for the positions they seek. If great achievement is deemed to be racist, these groups basically insist that we must dumb down society to correct it. However, that will just lower the standards of great achievement, instead, preventing the gains a successful society needs to maintain to thrive. As Murray continues to exposes the often ridiculous examples of bias and hate being fostered by the likes of Robin DiAngelo, Ibram Kendi, Nicole Hannah Jones, Ta-Nehisi Coates and others, he shows the ignorance of their attacks on our system as they insist that those who have no power cannot be racist. Those demanding and making the changes in our society, encouraging Critical Race Theory, cancel culture and a woke society, indeed have already achieved great power, and so surely, they can be racist too, according to their definition. The idea of Elie Wiesel and Ibram Kendi sharing the same award, when one is promoting anger toward the white race and the other actually experienced the anger and violence aimed at annihilating his people (people of the Jewish faith), often incorrectly described as a race, is exposed as contradictory. In a chaotic environment in which false premises are supported, like up is down, down is up, men are women and women are men, math is racist and Churchill is besmirched, Shakespeare’s achievements are denigrated and statues are torn down, composers and artists supposedly have ulterior racist motives, what is the real truth and what is the real falsehood? Where is the justice for the accused?
Douglas Murray marries details with broad concepts and exposes the contradictions that are obvious and or subtle, in so many of the racist accusations against white Westerners who are actually responsible for the many discoveries and advances made to improve all of our lives and the lives of others, everywhere, not just in the Western world. The actual history of slavery, of which America is accused of, as a major player, is being ignored by the accusers. In the Arab world, slavery was promoted and carried on for centuries, but there are no descendants to prove it because the slaves were castrated. This prevented the production of descendants so there are none to demand reparations, none to point fingers at innocent people for something that occurred years before their birth. Can this simply be erased from world history because it does not fit the narrative being promoted?
Enormous in-depth research has gone into this book, and the author’s extensive knowledge and gifted language skills coupled with his excellent oral reading skill, as he offers the multitude of examples he gives to provide the reader with a more accurate picture of the history of the West, exposes the falsehoods these anti-racist groups are promoting, and points out that this country will suffer if it continues in this fashion. No country can survive as a free country if lies are truth, good is bad, and definitions no longer matter. Words have meaning, rules need consistency, and some universal truths must endure. If the least qualified are chosen to run everything and educate everyone, and are allowed to deny what is in fact reality, we will all be living in a failing alternate universe. If rules are changed to satisfy the whim of a group, or a particular moment in time, rather than because of a need based on reality, if the achievements of the Western world that are gifts to the entire world are ignored, if there is no gratitude for them, can we continue to prosper and grow? Murray believes we should all be grateful for the past achievements of great men and women, regardless of their skin color, that we should appreciate their effort as we show gratitude for their success and our ability to enjoy the fruits of their labor. That will enable us to flourish once again as we stop looking for issues to complain about, and instead, search for and appreciate the things for which we can be grateful, the things that improve all of our lives.