The Unz Review By Peter Bradley
Written in 1973, The Camp of the Saints describes the end of the white world through mass Third World invasion. The book was controversial when published, but rereading it today is even more jarring. The dire things author Jean Raspail portrays are coming true and can be seen every day throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and nearly every corner of the West.
The Camp of the Saints tracks the fictional journey of a million Indians from the slums of Calcutta to France aboard leaky, old boats. The West must decide how to respond. The novel is mostly about whites. The invaders are the backstory of how all elements of white society seem to have lost the ability to defend themselves despite having more than enough power to do so.
The title is taken from a Bible verse depicting the apocalypse:
“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them. . . .” (English Standard Version, Rev. 20:7-10)
The invasion starts when the Belgian consulate in Calcutta informs a crowd that they are not accepting any more Indian babies for adoption in Europe. Seemingly driven by an innate force, mobs of poor Indians storm old rustbuckets sitting idle in the port. The India Star and Calcutta Star are the two main vessels, but there are many others. Soon, there are a million Indians sailing toward Europe — with a handful of white leftists and religious leaders onboard to assist them.
They are met with only token opposition by European officials in India, but there are still many deaths as the mob tramples helpless victims, and numerous corpses are left floating in the water. Their complete indifference to human life and suffering — including of their own people — is a theme that Raspail returns to throughout the book.
In France and throughout the white world, the “Last Chance Armada,” as it is called by the press, is almost universally celebrated. Slogans and virtue signaling in favor of the invaders are combined with ritual denunciations of any whites who dare to speak out against them.
Raspail describes a popular magazine series on Indian culture written in support of the armada. “Considering all the wonders that the Ganges had bestowed on us already — sacred music, theater, dance, yoga, mysticism, arts and crafts, jewelry, new style in dress — the burning question, by the end of the issue, was how we could manage to do without these folk any longer!”
Celebrities write songs such as “The Ballad of Man’s Last Chance” and hold art exhibits with the theme “Our Guests from the Ganges.” The winning entry in a contest to raise funds for the armada is the following slogan: “There are no more Hindus, no more Frenchmen. Only Man, and that’s all that matters!” Banners announce, “WE’RE ALL FROM THE GANGES NOW!” Graffiti proclaims, “WORKERS, GANGES REFUGEES UNITED FOR FREEDOM!”
The Pope (a Brazilian) uses his Good Friday address to inform listeners that they should “open their hearts, souls, and worldly wealth to all these poor unfortunates whom God has sent knocking at our doors.” He also announces that he will sell all objects of value in the Vatican and give the proceeds to the invaders.
Non-white nations react in quite a different way. When the armada tries to pass through the Suez Canal, the Egyptian military threatens to fire on the ships. Confronted by men who mean business, the armada makes a detour toward the Cape of Good Hope. But this only buys the West some time.
There is opposition to the invasion, but it is sporadic and unorganized. The right-wing editor of a small-circulation newspaper warns whites about what is in store if the refugees are allowed to land. A Belgian official shoots some of them as they storm the ships in Calcutta before he is trampled to death. A retired French literature professor unloads his shotgun on an obnoxious leftist who has journeyed to the coast to welcome the invaders. When an armada ship sinks, the captain of a Greek vessel plows through the drowning survivors rather than rescue them.
As the landing draws nearer, many French — including the ones who voiced the most support for the armada — simply flee the country. With no one in charge, chaos ensues, and criminals are freed from prisons. White leftists start gathering near the coast. They drink, take drugs, and lounge in now-empty houses and loot from abandoned stores. All the institutions of French society are shown to be weak, hypocritical, and hollow.
The president of France, despite his public pronouncements, is scared of the armada. As it approaches, he prepares a speech that will order the military to turn back the ships. Yet his will breaks during the address and he simply orders every man to follow his conscience.
Church leadership comes off the worst of all French institutions. Raspail, who remained a Catholic his entire life, portrays them as non-believers who preach a distorted “social gospel” version of Christianity. The Pope and other church leaders actively support the invaders. Priests deliver sermons instructing their parishes to accept and welcome them. Many suffer gruesome endings — including a bishop who accompanies the armada and is simply left behind to drown when they land.
The military is shown as cowardly. Some units do deploy along the coast, but most soldiers flee rather than fire on the armada. A handful remain true to France, especially an old-school paratrooper who battles against both the invaders and their leftist fellow travelers.
The media, unions, academics, students, and celebrities are shown as corrupt and trendy, though ready to direct intense hatred at anyone who defends France.
The business class is represented by a manager at a pork processing plant. Looking to take advantage of cheap labor, he is slaughtered like a pig by African workers and turned into a can of pate…
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE…(unz.com)
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