A Prophet without Honor: The Pat Buchanan Interview

The following is an interview with Patrick J. Buchanan, the Editor of the American Conservative and the host of “Buchanan and Press” on MSNBC. He also writes a nationally syndicated column. He has served as an advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan and has run for president three times. In the 1990s, Buchanan became an outspoken apologist for the Old Right, calling for a return to an “America First” foreign policy, a revival of economic nationalism, and restriction of immigration. He has written six books, including Right from the Beginning, The Great Betrayal, A Republic, Not an Empire, and most recently, The Death of the West.

Beale: Your latest book, The Death of the West, was a national best-seller, could you summarize your thesis?

Buchanan: The West is dying in every possible way. Not a single Western nation has a birth rate able to sustain its population. Many have maxed out—many have already begun to die. Russia is losing one million people a year. I see no turn around. If Western nations include New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, their percentage of the world population was 30 percent in 1950, 20 percent in 1960, 16 percent today, and 10 percent in 2050. The median age will be 51, which is ten years older than today. The question is—what are the reasons for it and the consequences of it. The principle reason is the loss of faith. It is dead in Europe; it is dying in the United States. Alexander Solzhenitzyn said that when faith dies, the nation dies.

Beale: Is The Death of the West inevitable? Can it be avoided?

Buchanan: Can it be averted? It is going to continue. It has been going on for twenty years. Birth rates have been falling below replacement levels. The question is—what replaces it? In Europe it is an Islamic immigrant population to sustain pension levels. The United States is going to be a country of minorities. It is hard to see how these trends can be averted.

Beale: Regarding current events, what is your opinion of the recent Supreme Court decision on the Texas sodomy law?

Buchanan: My view on this issue is that the Supreme Court is usurping powers that do not belong to it. There is no Constitutional right to sodomy. It has always been a state issue. It’s an example of the Supreme Court imposing a sexual revolution on the country.

Beale: In his dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas strongly disagreed with the majority’s opinion; however, he also said that he thought the Texas law was silly. If the sodomy law was on the state ballot, and you lived in Texas, would you vote for it?

Buchanan: Well, the Justice has a good point. The state should take a stand against homosexuality, saying that it is wrong, but the idea of police going into people’s homes is just not going to work. Bath houses should be shut down for public health reasons, but I agree with Justice Thomas that police have more important things to do.