The lesson that technocrats took from the horrors of the Second World War was that nationalism, not imperialism, was the cause of it. They subsequently spent the next six decades dismantling nations, and removing their capacity to operate independently in the belief that our forced interdependence would make war a thing of the past. That, fundamentally, was the logic behind the European Coal and Steel Community - the proto-EU.
But in muting national democracy they grew ever more remote, aloof, and hubristic, imposing elite liberal values on the people's of Europe without their consent, to the extent of abolishing national borders, and liberalising trade to the extent of deindustrialising whole swathes of Europe.
They believed that by destroying the nation state we would become a greater European community and we would be content to live as economic units under a faceless corporate identity, counter to all we know about human instinct, just so long as we have convenient travel and cheap consumables.
The consequence is a Europe of sclerotic, over-regulated economies, with national governments that no longer respond to democratic inputs, as elites flush what's left of their industries down the toilet in the name of saving the planet.
Further doubling down on neoliberal ideology, ruling elites turned to the spreadsheet sociopaths in the "expert class" to solve labour shortages by importing millions of low skill, low IQ third worlders, transforming the homelands of Europe into post-industrial flophouses.
Not content with dismantling the democratic nations of Europe, they turned their hubristic eye eastward with a view to expanding the neoliberal empire, against all warnings, and now we see a return to war in Europe.
The rising rising populism and "far right" is the inevitable consequence of dismantling European democracies. It is the vow to "take back control" from a feral elite which has long outstayed its welcome.
Today we mark D-Day as the beginning of Europe's liberation from imperialist tyrants, but soon we'll have to do it all over again; to reclaim Europe from the very people who believed national democracy was the enemy, and that technocratic dictatorship was the solution.
Only this time, the battles won't be between opposing armies. There will be no landing craft or air assaults. The battles will be between the peoples of Europe and their tyrannical elites who will use every measure at their disposal to clamp down on our freedoms just to stay inpower.
Ultimately, the vote was the means of bloodless revolution, but in rendering our votes meaningless, they've paved the war for the next major European conflict, which may yet consume us all in fire.
Ironically, we go to the polls on the Fourth of July, known to the Americans as Independence Day, but there is no independence day for us, or even a D-Day. No matter how we vote, the regime still wins. Thus, we are on a countdown to unavoidable conflict.
The regime knows this. Every European political establishment knows it is living on borrowed time. This is why they're ramping up the war rhetoric with Russia. Only if they can manufacture an external enemy can they cling on to power. It works every time, and we keep falling for it. Don't let them do it again. They spit on your democracy, your identity, and your nation, then expect you to die for them while they replace you by the back door.
As they line up on this day in remembrance of the fallen at Normandy, mouthing the platitudes of freedom and democracy, they dishonour the dead and speak with forked tongue. They've co-opted remembrance as an opportunity to gaslight us - remembering the invasion of eighty years ago, while turning their backs, and closing their eyes to the modern day Channel invasion - with a sly glint in their eyes. Every invader that lands at Dover further weakens our identity and devalues our votes. And that's exactly how they want it. You must learn to hate the elites as much as they hate you.
Great blog. Stumbled upon it by accident. Will definitely return.
"You must learn to hate the elites as much as they hate you."
Oh, I do. With a visceral burning hatred
> This is why they're ramping up the war rhetoric with Russia. Only if they can manufacture an external enemy can they cling on to power.
I agree with most of what you say, but this smacks too much of conspiracy theory. Are you saying Russia is not a potential enemy? Are you saying the war is not a big deal?
Now that Russia is fully geared up for a war economy, its modern equivalent of the retreat and consolidation behind the Urals of WWII, we should take Putin very seriously indeed. We did respond pretty well to his attempted blitzkrieg in Ukraine. He gambled on the post-lockdown, post-BLM, rainbow-painted West not acting at all in February 2022, and we should take heart that we did start to come together in the face of an actual real external threat as a good sign that all is not lost. Largely this was driven by a hawkish Poland, Scandinavia and Baltic states, rightfully fearing what would come next, but ultimately this is what NATO and Europe are actually *for*.
The major worry is a simple strategic one. Now we've used up all our stockpiles of weapons by throwing them at the frontline of this proxy war, we're left wide open on the flanks and rear. As you rightly point out, we've flushed our manufacturing industries down the toilet, and we're busy capping the wells in the North Sea and closing down our remaining blast furnaces, so we have nowhere but America left to turn to if things hot up. And if the yanks - whether under a senile idiot or a philandering aresehole - are suddenly too busy protecting TMSC from Xi, then we'll be royally screwed.
My worry is that comment like yours (and from others on the subject) are playing with fire. Just because we have multiple enemies, we should not start playing them off against each other and siding with Putin. Intellectual, domestic enemies are one thing. A Russo-China axis is another.
Because however much I loathe our political class right now, I'd definitely take anti-racist struggle sessions over Putin's basements any day.