In November of 2010, bestselling author and radio personality Mark Steyn gave a speech in London, Ontario, Canada entitled "Head for the Hills: Why everything in your world is doomed." While comical, Steyn put forth a very negative outlook for the West that addressed a lot of the major demographic challenges facing Western nations. Steyn, is his new book, After America: Get ready for Armageddon (Regnery Publishing) the much anticipated sequel to America Alone: The End of the world as we know it, focuses almost exclusively on the United States. The country that once shone as the beacon of wealth and freedom to the world lost its way, and Steyn doesn't pretend that patriotism and belief in American exceptionalism alone can fix the problems plaguing the nation. At one point in After America Steyn recounts a speech from Dennis Prager in which Prager dispelled myths that America's biggest threat was Barack Obama. Prager said that if Obama were to drop dead, nothing would change. Rather, the threat was that "we have not passed on what it means to be American to this generation." That's what Steyn sets out to change in his newest book. Mark Steyn brings to light the fact that the 111th Congress (2009-2010) spent more than Congresses 1-100 (1789-2009)...combined, that in just a few years, the U.S. will be spending more money on debt service than on its military, and the money spent on interest payments will be enough to fund the entire Chinese military, and many other shocking facts, accompanied by an in depth analysis of why people need to care. Drawing from some of the greatest thinkers of the past and present in his book, Steyn brings home lessons that people should have learned through history, particularly the recent history of Europe's economic and cultural crash, as well as many anecdotes and chapters in ancient history. Most shocking was Steyn's use of classic novels to illustrate his points. The shock comes not from an author using fiction to make his case for the decline of America, but that what's happening in the present day is so unprecedented, plot lines previously thought of as bizarre fantasy have become reality. Make no mistake: in the author's eyes, the United States is not facing a decline -- the decline is already happening, and has been since mid century. What's next for America is a fall, a plummet, and the result is not pretty. In addressing how the U.S. got to this point, Steyn seems to suggest that over-education (the word "education" requires a very loose interpretation when discussing North American universities) and ever-increasing focus on feelings over pragmatism is one of the primary catalysts for the disaster that lies ahead. The average American is twice as old when they finish school as they were in 1940, and that was the generation that won a war and created more innovation for the United States than any generation prior. Steyn's After America is more than a summary of current events; it's a textbook for common sense that every patriot needs.