Disappointment of the diaspora

Reflections on ‘Reflections on the Revolution in Europe’, Part Six

Part One: Europe’s absent-minded revolution
Part Two: Welcoming the stranger
Part Three: Leaving behind the history written in blood
Part Four: On French assimilation and British multiculturalism
Part Five: Team Islam and Team France

Immigration on a large scale was initially undertaken for economic reasons, with migrants as the ‘deus ex machina of European luxury’. Things didn’t turn out as expected, and not only did migration not support the system – quite the opposite – but the very welfare system which immigration was supposed to fund only aggravated Europe’s integration problems.

Whereas America’s relative market freedom encouraged assimilation, Europe’s cradle-to-grave system of welfare helped cement feelings of resentment - not among those paying the bills, but for those benefitting from its generosity. (It also helped attract a different type of migrant.)