| New York, may 21.- I write these lines sitting | | | | have achieved as a Jew-Christian culture, of all |
| among the quietness of Bryant Park, just a few | | | | that still needs to be done and the factors that lie |
| blocks away from Times Square, thinking of the | | | | behind the crisis in which we live in. |
| never-ending light rain of the publicity hanging | | | | Being here I just can say that New York City is |
| down the walls of its iconic buildings, while on the | | | | simply awesome, but its beauty may be that of |
| street thousands of hurried drivers and walkers | | | | the last rays of light before the night, before the |
| come and go by these avenues who are | | | | decline of the west. |
| amongst the most important in the world. | | | | In our present times, the western civilization and |
| It's really difficult not to fall in love with this city, | | | | New York, its capital, face their greatest challenge |
| not to admire its huge and impressive | | | | in 5 hundred years. Since 1571, year in which the |
| skyscrapers and its mixture of races that keeps, | | | | armada commanded by Juan de Austria defeated |
| however, the unique American spirit that gave it | | | | the Muslims in the battle of Lepanto, the west has |
| birth and has shaped it over the years. The | | | | lead the world, but this period of domination could |
| beauty and spell of New York are simply | | | | be reaching to its end, and it's our own fault. |
| undeniable: while walking on its streets I feel that | | | | American historian Will Durant once wrote about |
| I'd like to stay here forever and, when I turn | | | | Rome's fall in these terms: "A great civilization is |
| around and see the expression on the other | | | | not conquered from without until it has destroyed |
| tourist's faces, I confirm that we all think the | | | | itself within. The essential causes of Rome's |
| same way. | | | | decline lay in her people, her morals, her class |
| New York is the uncontested capital of the world, | | | | struggle, her failing trade..." and this words can be |
| beholder of a truly unique magic, from the | | | | exactly applied to our XXI century. |
| Broadway musicals (with overpriced souvenirs | | | | How to answer before this reality? How to face |
| included) and the breathtaking sights from the | | | | the external threats when we do nothing to fight |
| 102th floor of the Empire State Building, to the | | | | our internal vices? How to defend ourselves of |
| peaceful rhythm of the Hudson River, the strong | | | | the expansion of different cultures when we've |
| serenity of Lady Liberty, and to the nostalgia that | | | | lost the values of our own? How to keep our |
| still endures in the so called "ground zero" where | | | | identity when we've forgotten in which it consists? |
| the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center | | | | These are the big questions that our generation |
| once stood, proudly dominating the city's skyline. | | | | must face and the shape of the future will |
| Considering all this, turns out quite clear why the | | | | depend of the answers we give. Nearly 500 years |
| Al Qaeda terrorists chose this city as their main | | | | ago, the armies of Spain, the Papal States & |
| objective. Because here, in a mere few square | | | | Venice, under the command of Juan de Austria, |
| miles is represented the best & the worst of | | | | had on their hands the defense of our culture, |
| our western civilization. The city that never sleeps | | | | now the responsibility is ours, and so are the |
| is the ultimate symbol of everything that we | | | | consequences. |