In this speech at the Capitalism & Morality seminar in Vancouver, Canada, on July 30, 2016, I discuss democracy, welfare, migration, and how these forces are pushing the West toward self-destruction.

I examine how democratic incentives expand dependency, how welfare systems weaken personal responsibility, and how mass migration changes the cultural foundations on which Western civilization depends. The West’s decline is not merely economic or political; it is moral and civilizational.

Watch the full presentation below:

Key Takeaways

• Why democracy creates incentives for politicians to buy votes through welfare and redistribution.
• How welfare weakens responsibility, discipline, and the moral foundations of a free society.
• Why mass migration cannot be understood merely as an economic issue.
• How cultural cohesion is essential for liberty, trust, and social order.
• Why the West’s crisis is rooted in moral and civilizational decay, not just bad policy.
• Why freedom cannot survive when the cultural foundations that support it are destroyed.