The decline of a civilization is, at its core, nothing more than a change in the customs that define everyday life. That may not sound especially alarming at first. But imagine our own habits and assumptions being replaced by those that prevail today in gang-controlled neighborhoods on the outskirts of Chicago. Or by the social norms common in Afghanistan or Somalia. Or by the customs once practiced among cannibal tribes in Papua New Guinea.
It also follows that the decline of a civilization need not come as a single catastrophic event. It can unfold over the course of a generation or more. Small enclaves governed by radically different norms appear, they are tolerated, and over time those norms become the new standard. In that sense, one might argue that multiculturalism amounts to an effort to dissolve the civilization that gave rise to it (although, in most cases, multiculturalists themselves have little interest in any genuine coexistence of cultures—more on that elsewhere).
What does any of this have to do with ethnic or racial conflict? Only indirectly. Several different outcomes are possible.
The first is that demographic change and civilizational change occur together. Where blond Olaf and Helga are now debating whether their daughter should be allowed to spend the night at a classmate’s house, a few years later dark-haired Mohamed and Zaida may be discussing Mohamed’s uncle’s fourth wife back in Syria.
The second is that the civilization changes while the population remains largely the same. In that case, blond Mohamed tells red-haired Zaida that their wayward daughter must be killed because family honor demands it—and that she must have inherited her moral failings from her great-grandmother Gertha, who was still an unbeliever.
The third is that the population changes while the civilization endures. Slant-eyed Honzík thanks his slant-eyed wife Anička for making an excellent serving of svíčková, and the two of them decide to spend the evening watching The Proud Princess.
Or nothing of consequence changes at all. Blond Hans and Greta continue living much as their parents and grandparents did.
These possibilities also explain why opposition to today’s developments in Europe tends to fall into two distinct camps. Some are primarily concerned with demographic replacement. Others are chiefly concerned with civilizational replacement.