Europe's Death Throes: A Continent in Freefall, as Seen from Across the Atlantic, By Charles Taylor (Florida)

If Donald Trump sounds the alarm on Europe's demise, it's not bluster; it's bulletin from the front lines of a civilisational unravelling. In his latest broadside, Trump didn't mince words: The European Union was cooked up to "screw the United States," saddling America with defence bills while the continent squanders its inheritance on socialist pipe dreams and open borders. He's echoing a chorus that's grown deafening: Europe isn't just stumbling; it's in the terminal phase of self-inflicted decay. Demographic suicide via cratering birth rates, economic sclerosis from regulatory strangulation, cultural erasure through unchecked migration, and a slide into authoritarian speech controls — the symptoms are terminal. As J.B. Shurk warns in American Thinker (link below), "Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less." Trump's National Security Strategy lays it bare: Europe's GDP share has shrunk from 25% in 1990 to 14% today, not just from red tape but from a "stark prospect of civilizational erasure." This isn't hyperbole; it's demography meeting delusion. From the frozen birth cradles of Italy to the migrant-flooded streets of Malmö, the Old World is aging out, and importing its replacement.

The Baby Bust: Europe's Slow-Motion Extinction Event

Picture a continent where the laughter of children fades to echoes in empty playgrounds. Europe's fertility crisis isn't a blip; it's a black hole sucking in the future. Eurostat's 2025 Demography of Europe report clocks the EU's total fertility rate at a dismal 1.38 live births per woman, down from 1.44 in 2003 and miles below the 2.1 replacement level needed for stability. Southern Europe is ground zero: Malta (1.06), Spain (1.12), Italy (1.18), Greece (projected 10% population drop by 2070). Northern and Western Europe, sub-replacement since the 1960s, are finally feeling the pinch, Germany at 1.35, Finland at 1.25, both record lows. Eastern Europe? A "triple threat": Ukraine (1.0), Bulgaria (1.81, but still below par), with net emigration bleeding youth.

The maths is merciless. UN projections: EU population peaks at 453 million in 2026, then slides 7% by 2100; 37% drops in Latvia and Lithuania, 29% in Greece. Italy's already under 60 million, with births at a 1945 low (6 per 1,000 vs. 11 deaths). Why? Aging mothers (Spain: +8.5% over-40 births in a decade), economic insecurity, and cultural nihilism, family mocked, masculinity vilified, parenthood a penalty. As X user @IterIntellectus laments: "> be europe > fertility collapse > import millions of foreigners > tell native families to 'prepare to lose your kids' in stupid wars they didn't choose." Policies like France's family supports or Hungary's incentives nudge rates up slightly (1.66 and 1.55), but nowhere near salvation. Result? A shrinking workforce drags per capita growth — IMF pegs low fertility as a "significant" economic anchor.

Migration: The "Solution" That's the Symptom

Enter the great replacement — Europe's desperate demographic Band-Aid. Post-WWII, immigration masked the bust: EU grew 1.7% from 2013-2023 via net inflows. Sweden's fertility-adjusted replacement dips to 1.23 thanks to migrants; Germany credits inflows for any growth. But as Shurk notes, tens of millions have flooded in for cheap labour, eroding cultures without assimilation. Trump's verdict: "This immigration is killing Europe." X echoes it — @TheBritishIntel: "Europe is being overwhelmed... leaders refuse to act."

The toll? Strife in migrant-heavy zones, welfare strain, identity loss. Italy's Meloni cracks down, but zero-migration models show her population halving by 2100. Eastern Europe's "brain drain" worsens it — emigration triples returns in Italy. As @ScrollTroll2023 warns: "In 25 years majority of European citizens hate European culture & history, that industry [tourism] will be gone." Immigration delays aging by minor amounts, but accelerates "civilizational erasure," per the U.S. strategy.

Economic and Security Suicide: From Boom to Bust

Post-Marshall Plan, Europe blew its windfall on welfare bloat and green fantasies, forsaking energy independence and innovation. Now? Debt mountains, pension craters, labour shortages: IMF: Fertility drags income growth; JRC: Workforce shrinks 11% by 2070 without reforms. Security? NATO's a U.S. crutch; Andersson calls it "not inviolable," ripe for evolution under Trump's push for "new European leaders." Europe's militaries? Atrophied, as @ds_314159 notes: "Near zero innovation. Massive non-assimilating immigration."

The Tyranny of the Tender-Hearted: Censorship as Last Gasp

As vitality wanes, the clampdown begins. Shurk's Exhibit A: UK mom Elizabeth Kinney raided by 11 cops for a slur-text, facing 10 years. Prosecutors: "The greatest harm because it had moderate impact." Macron's "ministry of truth," Starmer's anti-Musk ops, EU's $140M X fine, totalitarianism's tell, per Shurk: "Censoring dissent is a sign of political weakness." @Phil0fax: "Clamping down on free speech and jailing people for hurty words." It's the death rattle: Societies too frail for words can't withstand worlds.

Trump's Warning: A Lifeline or Last Rites?

Andersson backs Trump: EU's "fatal conceit" (Hayek's shade) breeds dependence; time for independence. Rubio's vow: "The days of censoring Americans online are over." X's verdict? @EuroDale: "Crime surges, welfare buckles... in two decades several major NATO countries could have non-European majorities." Europe's not fading; it's being erased, as @thebeaconsignal poeticises: "This isn't a decline. It's a severance from the source."

The fix? Borders, babies, boldness; ditch the delusion, reclaim the cradle. Trump's right: Let Europe save itself, or watch the lights dim on the Enlightenment's heir. America stands ready to ally, not subsidise the racial/civilisational suicide.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/12/europe_is_dying.html

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/12/trump_is_right_about_europe.html