Thursday, January 21, 2010

Quote of the Day

. . . As it's happening, incremental decline is extremely seductive. Great powers aren't Chad or Rwanda, where you're sliding from the Dump category to the Even Crummier Dump category. Take a city like Vienna. Once upon a time it was an imperial capital. The empire busted up, but the capital still had magnificent architecture, handsome palaces, treasure houses of great art, a world-class orchestra, fabulous restaurants . . . who wouldn't enjoy such "decline"? You benefit from all the accumulated capital of the past without being troubled by any of the tedious responsibilities. Have another coffee and a piece of strudel and watch the world go by.

- Mark Steyn

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