Although everyone watching has been convinced that Europe’s disastrous economy and related debt crisis would be the spark to unravel the European Union project, it appears history has its own plans.
While EU technocrats have demonstrated an uncanny ability to scheme, threaten, kick the can and lie their way around the debt crisis, the migrant crisis will prove to be a much graver threat to the project. Strikingly, all it took was a few weeks of unrelenting migrants crossing into EU borders to put an end what is essentially the only achievement of the European Union — the Schengen system of borderless travel.
Without that, what is the EU really? A collection of nation-states forced by bureaucrats to pretend they are part of an artificial fantasy superstate called Europe? An amalgamation of debt serfs and technocratic overlords? See what I’m getting at?
– From the post: Does the Migrant Crisis Represent the End of the European Union?
Before I get into the heart of this post, I want to make something perfectly clear. I am not cheering on any of what I see coming to the European continent. It will most likely be ugly, divisive, reactionary and potentially violent.
I am no more happy about what may become of Europe as I am happy about the destruction of the middle class in America. Or the decimation of civil liberties in the post-9/11 surveillance state. I could have echoed happy thoughts of solidarity and hope for the past five years of Central Bank, Wall Street and government theft as opposed to exposing oligarch crimes, but that wouldn’t have saved the American middle class either. Likewise, happy thoughts and positive thinking will not help Europe.
Actions have consequences, and people can only be pushed so far before they snap. I believe the Paris terror attacks will be a major catalyst that will ultimately usher in nationalist type governments in many parts of Europe, culminating in an end of the EU as we know it and a return to true nation-states. Although I think a return to regional government and democracy is what Europeans need and deserve, the way in which it will come about, and the types of governments we could see emerge, are unlikely to be particularly enlightened or democratic after the dust has settled.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims of these horrific events, but the Paris attacks didn’t happen in a vacuum. The people of Europe have already become increasingly resentful against the EU, something which is not debatable at this point. This accurate perception of an undemocratic, technocratic Brussels-led EU dictatorship was further solidified earlier this year after the Greek people went to the polls and voted for one thing, only to be instructed that their vote doesn’t actually matter. Here’s what I wrote in the post: Greeks Flock to Grassroots Alternative Currencies in Affront to Euro Debt Slavery:
Hundreds of millions of people throughout the Western world are being forced to admit an obvious, yet uncomfortable reality. Democracy is dead. Your vote and your voice doesn’t matter. Not at all.
No group of people understand this as intimately as the Greeks. They voted for one thing, got something else, and in the process were unceremoniously reminded of their political irrelevance.
The key point I’m trying to get across here is that an increasing amount of people across Europe feel voiceless and alienated from their governments. Governments have in turn done absolutely nothing to address these concerns. Indeed, similar to in the U.S., the ruling EU power structure cares about only one thing; a further consolidation of money and power within the ranks of the entrenched status quo. People get this, and are becoming increasingly angry about it.
So what does growing anti-EU sentiment have to do with terrorist attacks? A lot, particularly with the current refugee crisis still underway. For example, the refugee crisis has only exacerbated this feeling of hopelessness, despair and chaos on the part of an increasing number of Europeans. They feel like they have already lost control of their democracies, and now they are losing control of their towns and villages. This feeling of helplessness will manifest in a desire to restore order to a world they no longer understand. It will manifest in a push to elect a “strongman” or “strongwoman” who can flip the bird to EU bureaucrats and give a voice to their anger. So while nationalist movements have been gaining momentum across Europe, they have up until now been contained by the status quo. I believe that the Paris attacks will be the catalyst to further fuel many of these nationalist movements, and ultimately bring some of them to power across the continent in the years ahead.
Of course, none of the above is inevitable. If status quo politicians in Europe make some big changes, such as restore democracy and come up with a sane refugee policy that the people can accept, the trend toward anger-feueled nationalism can be avoided. As someone accurately noted to me on Twitter last evening:
@LibertyBlitz Only because in Europe we are not allowed a true Centre-Right space. It will force people further Right.
— Vikram Parekh (@vikpar1) November 13, 2015
Bingo. This is so important it must be said again and again. It is also why hate speech laws lead to more hate. The way you really fight hate and ignorance at the root level is by allowing hateful ignoramuses to say whatever they want. This allows rational, thoughtful people to debate them publicly and expose their views for the nonsense that they are. Banning hate speech breeds more hate because you don’t provide an outlet. You stifle speech, make hateful people even more hateful, and prevent decent people from having the chance to publicly debate them into oblivion.
You can’t legislate morality and you can’t legislate positive thinking. Similarly, if EU bureaucrats are constantly doing everything they can to stifle democracy and alternative views, then the ultimate explosion against the status quo will be that much more vicious, hateful and ugly. This is precisely what I see coming to Europe unless status quo politicians change course.
So what would a change of course entail? As I mentioned earlier, it would entail a restoration of actual democracy and a sane refugee policy. Will this happen? I doubt it. In fact, I expect more of the same. I expect the same tired rhetoric and further moves to deprive innocent citizens of their civil liberties as the pointless and ineffective solution. So in other words, not only will they will not placate the seething anger, they will further enrage the populations of Europe. This will create that political vacuum that must be, and will be, filled.
The key variable here, whether people want to admit it or not, is the refugee crisis. People are already pissed off about it, and today I saw the following headline from the Guardian: Syrian Passport Found on Paris Attacker’s Body Belonged to Refugee Who Passed Through Greece. Here’s the story:
The holder of a Syrian passport found near the body of one of the gunmen who died in Friday night’s attacks in Paris passed though Greece in October, a Greek minister told Reuters.
“The holder of the passport passed through the island of Leros on 3 October 2015, where he was identified according to EU rules,” said Nikos Toscas, Greece’s deputy minister in charge of policing.
While this heavily implies that one of the gunman came into Europe along with refugees, Syrian passports are known to be valuable currency amongst those trying to enter Europe, and it is not yet confirmed whether the holder of the passport is indeed the perpetrator.
So the real question is, how will the status quo react? Will it hear the concerns of the people and change course, or will it stubbornly proceed with a failed strategy? Personally, I think the following tweet represents how the status quo will respond.
#BREAKING Don’t link Paris attacks to migrant crisis: German interior minister
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) November 14, 2015
Now I am not saying that people should link the attack to the migrant crisis, I am saying that they will. Because they will, there needs to be a political response. If no political response is forthcoming, the people will demand new leadership. The longer their concerns are left unmet, the more radical this leadership will be. Poland’s new government provides a perfect example of what I expect to eventually see throughout the continent.
From Bloomberg:
Poland’s new government won’t accept migrant quotas imposed by the European Union, as the terror attacks in France have exposed the weakness in the bloc, the nation’s future minister for European affairs said.
“In the wake of the tragic events in Paris, Poland doesn’t see the political possibilities to implement a decision on the relocation of refugees,” Konrad Szymanski was quoted as saying on Wpolityce.pl website on Saturday. “The attacks mean there’s a need for an even deeper revision of the European policy regarding the migrant crisis.”
Szymanski’s rejection of the EU quotas hours after Paris was rocked by terrorist attacks underscore the divide among governments in the bloc over the influx of Middle Eastern migrants. His Law & Justice party will take power in Poland this week after winning last month’s general election on a campaign that tapped into concerns among the country’s conservative Catholic base that too many Muslims are arriving in Europe.
I want to emphasize that it is still early days, and I hope the report about one of the attackers being a refugee turns out to be false. Because if not, the backlash against Muslims generally, and refugees specifically, is likely to be sustained and unjustifiably harsh. Which is truly a shame, because it is the EU politicians and Brussels technocrats who are mostly to blame for everything happening. While they are likely to be ejected from power in a coming nationalist wave, this wave will unfortunately likely be fueled by stereotyping Muslims and extreme hatred.
I really hope I am wrong about everything I wrote. I hope those advocating for positive statements and solidarity will win the day. I hope EU politicians change course before it’s too late. I hope all of those things, but hope is not going to save Europe.
For related articles, see:
Does the Migrant Crisis Represent the End of the European Union?
Yanis Varoufakis on “Europe’s Vindictive Privatization Plan for Greece”
A Political Earthquake Hits France: Is a European Union Referendum Next?
Greeks Flock to Grassroots Alternative Currencies in Affront to Euro Debt Slavery
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
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“Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who writes the laws.” Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812), founder of the House of Rothschild.
“The putative “father of the Euro”, economist Robert Mundell is reported to have explained to one of his university of Chicago students, Greg Palast: “the Euro is the easy way in which Congresses and Parliaments can be stripped of all power over monetary and fiscal policy. Bothersome democracy is removed from the economic system”
“Killing the Host” by Michael Hudson
While ISIS (America’s CIA + British MI6 + Israel’s Mossad + France’s DGSE) was very busy carrying out the false flag operation in Paris on 11/13, the same day the IMF ─International Monetary Fund and not “Impossible Missions Force,” since the gullible and ignorant masses in America are totally unaware about the existence of this institution─ announced that the fund’s executive board will decide on November 30th whether to add the Chinese currency (the Renminbi, commonly known as the Yuan) to the Special Drawing Rights basket.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf4FAGU6p5k
IMF head Christine Lagarde said that she personally supported that move. Yuan joining basket of currencies comprising IMF’s lending instrument likely to boost demand for Chinese assets and the effects will be felt in the pockets of ordinary Americans (the loss of purchasing power using US Dollars).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pH46_PVpqnk – Nigel Farage has been warning EU members over and over again this would happen….
Another NWO Gruber day in Bankster hell ?
If European Nation states expelled Napoleon, what makes the EU think they are going to have a different outcome of the same experiment? It is laughable.
The greatest threat to humanity today is the insanity of those who try to retain power by inciting hatred of Muslims for Jews for Christians for Hindus, etc., etc.
The inhabitants of planet Earth will hang together or die separately.
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/paris_solidarity/?blZnHcb&v=68045
Hi Mike,
Second time I read you stating that Schengen is EU’s only real achievement. Schengen originated in 1985 and is NOT an achievement of the European Union which only became a political entity in 2007 (Treaty of Lisbon). Schengen is an achievement of independent sovereign European nation-states.
“Without that, what is the EU really? A collection of nation-states forced by bureaucrats to pretend they are part of an artificial fantasy superstate called Europe? An amalgamation of debt serfs and technocratic overlords?”
Yes pretty much.
Leaves one question: What are Eu’s achievements?
Well they have bankrupted Greece and privatized everything. Same is happening in many other European country. They are effectively killing whatever democracy we had to begin with, and with the known TISA, TTIP etc coming up probably soon there will not be anything left to salvage.
Attacks like this most likely put a little pressure on Brussels but they will only use it as an excuse for more “EU’. They still need to get their European army, streamline their European secret services, they still need more economical and political power. Plenty of goals and they will keep working towards them. At the moment there is not a lot of resistance against EU. Yes nationalism anti-EU sentiment are on the rise. But apart from some political party’s, the anti-EU movements are just on the fringe.
The EU project is perceived to be in crisis by everybody, but I sincerely believe they are wrong. There is no massive public outcry against it. There are few rally’s to be found. And when you find them they are relatively small or don’t last. Much like our American counterparts most of us have gotten too comfortable and forgotten to fight for our freedom.
I suppose this is what I was referring to:
Prior to 1999, the Schengen treaties and the rules adopted under them operated independently from the European Union; however, the Amsterdam Treaty incorporated them into European Union law, while providing opt-outs for the only two EU member states which had remained outside the Area: Ireland and the United Kingdom. Schengen is now a core part of EU law and all EU member states without an opt-out which have not already joined the Schengen Area are legally obliged to do so when technical requirements have been met. Several non-EU countries are also included in the area.
Thank you for your comment and insights on the region.
The people have been told there is no money for the current welfare bill and cuts have to be made. The disabled, poor and elderly of our own nation will have to go without benefits they once received.
We have been told the rich will not pay any more tax and will flee abroad if taxes are raised
Refugees will increase the welfare bill and lead to further welfare cuts, the people can do the simple arithmetic required. They know our disabled, poor and elderly will have to suffer more if we take in refugees.
Why are the rich so greedy today?
They have turned the majority against the refugees.
The manipulation of the people to accept welfare cuts has now backfired big time with the refugees.
What you’ve missed I think, is that we’re walking into a massive power grab. The EU is not a democratic organisation at any level and it’s very difficult to see that they’ll give up at the first hurdle. Much of British infrastructure now is owned by foreigners. Think ports and airports just for starters. We’re no more secure than a medieval castle. And then there is our power supplies. And it doesn’t stop there. It’s like a fishing net.
I’ve thought it funny that the western political classes can both fight a war on terrorism (which decades of empirical western foreign policy caused in the first place) and accept migrants from the nations that they terrorize and think there won’t be any consequences. Are they really that foolish or is it all by design, thats the trouble today isn’t it, what is fact and what is fiction. Its getting harder for me to believe in anything.
The European Union will be expelled from Europe. For thousands of years Emperors, Empires, and Egomaniacs have attempted to control all of Europe. Sooner or later they are expelled. Because it is now a banking cabal in control, it is evil at its best. Nation by Nation will rise up against the bankster mobsters. The nation states will return. Just a matter of time. I have faith in the people…I have lived there…I believe in humanity!
Globalisation always goes in phases of expansion and retrenchment into nationalism.
We have seen how the current globalisation works.
In the good times, prior to 2008, all we hear about is the wealth creators. How they are responsible for the boom and how they deserve to keep their rewards.
In the bad times, after 2008, the easy profits have gone and so have the wealth creators. It is up to national tax payers and national institutions (Governments and Central Banks) to sort out the mess.
The profits are privatised and the losses are socialised.
A breeding ground for retrenchment into nationalism.
1920s/2000s – high inequality, high banker pay, low regulation, low taxes for the wealthy, robber barons (CEOs), reckless bankers, globalisation phase
1929/2008 – Wall Street crash
1930s/2010s – Global recession, currency wars, rising nationalism and extremism
1940s/? – Global war
We are nearly there with the Middle East on fire and the two nuclear super-powers at each other’s throats.
Nuclear weapons kept the Cold War “cold” for decades and so we may be able to miss out on the global war phase as the nuclear super powers guarantee only MAD (mutually assured destruction).
Horror grows and takes on a life of its own.
There are atrocities in all wars, once peaceful Yugoslavia descended into unimaginable horror as acts of violence were responded to with further acts of violence with ever increasing intensity.
We see the smart bombs on the news descending to their targets, we don’t see the people at the other end getting ripped apart by red hot shrapnel and the people near them that see their friends and colleagues suffer in excruciating agony. The desire for revenge is a human instinct and a very powerful one.
Horror grows and when you are dealing with people that don’t really care about dying, the escalation of horror with retaliation is not a good a solution. The bombing raids brutalise the recipients even further leaving them ready to commit even worse atrocities
The US fought a guerrilla war in Vietnam and came home with its tail between its legs. When ISIS state has gone the fighters will still be around, as Al Qaeda existed without a nation state.
The Middle East has artificial nation states imposed on them from the outside; we removed the dictators that held them together. Tito held Yugoslavia together and when he died it fell apart, centuries old ethnic divisions came to the fore.
The solution in Yugoslavia was to put the like minded people together in new nation states and allow them to move away from war and death to a better life, some people cannot live together without very strong leaders to hold artificial nations together.
Bombing brutalises and horror grows.
When people are offered sensible solutions that recognise their differences and offer a better life in peace and prosperity, the killing stops.
Those differences and history are not going to be forgotten in a long, long time.
The countries of former Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland are still powder kegs that could re-ignite at any time and this must be avoided at all costs.
With the waves of mass migration in recent years the fighting, killing and animosity are no longer even contained within geographic regions and problems abroad become problems at home.
A fool said “It was the end of history” when the Berlin Wall fell as the only division he recognised was between Capitalism and Communism.
There are many divisions that will take centuries to heal. It will require peace between the various factions during that period for that process to complete.
We know how to stop it and just need the will to do it.
“and prevent decent people from having the chance to publicly debate them into oblivion.”
But these “decent people” do not debate, they have only name-calling and repeating the lies of the statue quo.