I couldn't help but nod agreement to this observation: The survival of the West...

I couldn't help but nod agreement to this observation: The survival of the West depends on Americans reaffirming their Western identity and Westerners accepting their civilization as unique not universal and uniting to renew and preserve it against challenges from non-Western societies. Of course, he lost me on the very next sentence. Avoidance of a global war of civilizations depends on world leaders accepting and cooperating to maintain the multicivilizational character of global politics. "What crap." I felt like I was speaking directly to him. "Avoid a global war my ass. We're in a fucking global war, you moron." I kept reading, fascinated someone so smart could understand so clearly that hate, envy, and mistrust dominate not just the lives of people but of civilizations as well, and yet avoid the obvious conclusion that survival demands getting rid of those people who hate, envy, and mistrust you. Academics really do live in ivory towers. If this Huntington guy had spent just a few days in my world, he'd have come to more sensible conclusions. By sunset, I'd struggled through about a third of the book. That and finding a secluded bush where I could piss after drinking a whole thermos of coffee was all I accomplished. The only other park visitors that day were women with baby strollers. I watched them all anyway. Maybe Rebecca Goldstein was smart enough to pass herself off as a mom walking her kid. But none of them headed down the path toward the footbridge. Finally I caught the bus back to my apartment, fixed myself a sandwich and drank a beer before hitting the

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