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Day of Reckoning Raises Penetrating Questions
Sawraj Singh
 Patrick J. Buchanan’s book, Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology
and Greed are Tearing America Apart, has just arrived in the
bookstores. This book has already caught the attention of the media.
The book raises many important and penetrating questions. I was very
surprised to see the book because the analysis of the crisis faced
by America is very similar to my analysis. Patrick J. Buchanan is a
very well known rightist and conservative; however, many times he
reaches the same conclusions that I have reached. It is not
surprising that he recommends very different solutions than I have
suggested.
The book has eight chapters. The first chapter is “The end of Pax
Americana” and the second chapter is the “End of a Unipolar World”.
He suggests that arrogance, dogmatism, and greed are destroying
America. He feels that the end of American domination in the world
is near.
Russia, China, and India are challenging America for world hegemony.
Buchanan sees America torn apart by the struggle between the
different cultures and has begun to balkanize and break down along
class, cultural, ethnic, and racial lines.
He feels that free trade, loss of manufacturing jobs, and
outsourcing of jobs are destroying the dollar and are weakening the
American economy. He is very concerned about the immigration of the
people of the third world. He feels that the third world invasion
through Mexico is a graver threat to US survival than anything
happening in Afghanistan or Iraq.
He is also very concerned about the declining white population in
the US as well as in Western Europe. In the sixties, whites made
about 89% of the US population, but now they have become about 66%
of the population. The low fertility of the white people in Europe
is also reducing their population. Buchanan feels that if the
present trends continue, then one day the white population of
France, Germany, and Italy may disappear.
Buchanan thinks that by trying to enforce its democratic values on
the other countries, America is antagonizing them. He feels that
this phenomenon is responsible for Russia turning against us.
America’s becoming a policeman of the world has done great damage to
America.
A very large portion of the book deals with criticism of President
Bush’s policy. Buchanan feels that President Bush’s policies have
really hurt America. He feels that Bush’s ideological zeal has been
counter productive. Under President Bush, one in six manufacturing
jobs has been lost. Buchanan’s criticism of Bush is very significant
because it is the first time that Bush has faced such a severe
criticism from the right.
I differ with the solutions suggested by Buchanan in the book. His
main emphasis is on reducing immigration and rejecting
multiculturalism. He also seems to be advocating protectionism and
is against free trade. He suggests that we should impose 20% duties
on the imports. We feel that America’s future lies in tolerating and
accepting diversity rather than rejecting it. True unity is achieved
by accepting diversity. Trying to impose uniformity will only
aggravate the cultural conflict and push America further into
turmoil and instability. We also feel that diversity is America’s
greatest asset rather than a liability. A new American culture can
be synthesized from the healthy elements of the different cultures.
He is promoting consumerist capitalism that has been rejected by
historical experience. What America needs is to try to modify it and
give a chance to the utilitarian capitalism that has some elements
of humanism. The book, however, raises many important and
penetrating questions and stimulates us to find solutions to these
problems.
19 December, 2007
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