https://www.globalresearch.ca/eu-controlled-demolition/5791320
European Union: Controlled Demolition, Energy and Food Crisis. Economic Suicide
As I read through the multitude of daily news articles about Russia, Ukraine, NATO and EU, it’s getting ever harder to escape the idea that there is a controlled demolition of the continent happening. And that neither its “leaders”, and certainly not its people, have any say in this. All we get from those “leaders” are NATO or World Economic Forum talking points. The only independent voice is Victor Orban. Who is either silenced in western media or painted as fully insane.
But Orban’s Hungarians won’t freeze this coming winter. He just signed a new gas deal with Russia. The main reason that is provided for all the others not doing that is of course Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine. Which is as insane as Orban is, and “totally unprovoked”, say the western media. Noam Chomsky summarized that best: “Of course it was provoked. Otherwise they wouldn’t refer to it all the time as an unprovoked invasion.”
And no, it wasn’t just Russia/Ukraine, way before that Europe had already screwed up its economies beyond recognition -if you cared to look under the hood. But why make it worse? I get a very strong feeling that those EU “leaders” have alienated themselves far too much from the people they purport to serve, and they’ll regret it. For now it’s obvious among farmers, for instance, but when people start freezing, they will want to know why. And if no answer is forthcoming that is both honest and satisfactory, many “leaders” will have it coming for them.
The entire energy and food crisis is being sold as “inevitable”, but it is nothing of the kind. They are the result of choices being made in Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam etc., about which nobody has asked your opinion. Something I jotted down a few days ago:
Is the west using Ukraine as an excuse to commit mass economic suicide? And, you know, fulfill some WEF-related goals? Why else would they cut off all economic ties to Moscow, at a time when it’s obvious they have no alternative sources for much of what they import from Russia? Moreover, why does a country like Holland aim to close 10,000 of its farms when it’s crystal clear that that will exacerbate the coming global food crises?
If you don’t like Putin, that’s fine, but why should your own people suffer from what you like or not? And of course you can ask whether it’s a good idea that a country the size of a postage stamp is the world’s no. 2 food exporter. But it is. And if you try to change that by doing a 180º, also on a postage stamp, it is very obvious that is not going to go well. And all the so-called leaders know this. But they still do it.
Prices for heating, petrol, as well as food, are set to go much higher than they have already, mitigated only -perhaps- by the fact that ever fewer people will be able to afford the ever higher prices. But now it’s starting to look like this was all scripted. Because “we” could have kept communication channels with Russia open, “we” could have negotiated for peace for the past 6 months. Not doing that was a deliberate choice. A choice that you and me, another “we”- had no voice in whatsoever.
The Dutch could have negotiated with their farmers, and slowly addressed their perceived problems with nitrogen oxides, while keeping food production going. And we could have found a way to keep Russian and Ukrainian crops available on world markets too. But it doesn’t feel at all like “we” wanted that.
Someone made a list of what EU won’t get anymore with the Russia boycott.: “nat-gas, rare earths, inert gases, potash, sulfur, uranium, palladium, vanadium, cobalt, coke, titanium, nickel, lithium, plastics, glass, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, ships, inks, airplanes, polymers, medical and industrial gases, sealing rings & membranes, power transmission, transformer and lube oils, neon gas for microchip etching, etc., etc.”
And that’s not all. Fertilizer!! Why they do it, I don’t know. Do they WANT to kill their own economies? It makes no sense. And this will not be over soon.
Reuters of course seeks to blame Putin. But he’s not the one who introduced the sanctions. He’s offered to let the gas and oil exports continue.
Putin Bets Winter Gas Chokehold Will Yield Ukraine Peace – On His Terms
Cold winters helped Moscow defeat Napoleon and Hitler. President Vladimir Putin is now betting that sky-rocketing energy prices and possible shortages this winter will persuade Europe to strong arm Ukraine into a truce — on Russia’s terms. That, say two Russian sources familiar with Kremlin thinking, is the only path to peace that Moscow sees, given Kyiv says it will not negotiate until Russia leaves all of Ukraine
“We have time, we can wait,” said one source close to the Russian authorities, who declined to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media. “It’s going to be a difficult winter for Europeans. We could see protests, unrest. Some European leaders might think twice about continuing to support Ukraine and think it’s time for a deal.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wants Europeans to be obedient little critters, and take the punishment for the policies he and his ilk have carved out. Because “we” are destined to win. Mr. Borrell is planing to do just fine this winter, mind you. With the best steak your money can buy, real fine wine, to be consumed in comfortably heated homes, restaurants and offices. A picture of Marie Antoinette pops up in my brain.
EU high representative and foreign policy chief Josep Borrell gave a surprisingly blunt assessment of the Ukraine war and Europe’s precarious position in an AFP interview published Tuesday, admitting that Russian President Vladimir Putin is betting on fracturing a united EU response amid the current crisis situation of soaring prices and energy extreme uncertainty headed into a long winter. Borrell’s words seemed to come close to admitting that Putin’s tactic is working on some level, or at least will indeed chip away at European resolve in the short and long run, given he chose words like EU populations having to “endure” the deep economic pain and severe energy crunch. He cited the “weariness” of Europeans while calling on leadership as well as the common people to “bear the consequences” with continued resolve.
Borrell explained to AFP that Putin sees “the weariness of the Europeans and the reluctance of their citizens to bear the consequences of support for Ukraine.” But Borrell suggested that Europe will not back down no matter the leverage Moscow might have, particularly when it comes to ‘weaponization of energy’ – and called on citizens to continue to shoulder the cost. Who will blink first? …appears to be the subtext here. He urged: “We will have to endure, spread the costs within the EU,” Borrell told AFP, warning that keeping the 27 member states together was a task to be carried out “day by day.”
And yet, as some like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán have consistently argued since near the start of the Feb.24 invasion, it is inevitable that some will be forced to bear the “costs” much more than others. Already this is being seen with initiatives out of Brussels like rationing gas consumption, which has further led to scenarios like German towns and even residences being mandated to switch off lights or resources for designated periods at night. “More cold showers” – many are also being told. As we round the corner of fall and enter the more frigid months, we are likely to only see more headlines like this: “German cities impose cold showers and turn off lights amid Russian gas crisis.”
Talking of Marie Antoinette. Emmanuel Macron is the little man of grand vision. He foresees the ‘End Of Abundance’, a veritable “tipping point” in history. And he’s just the man to lead you through it. I’ll give him this: he’s got good speech writers. But speech writers don’t keep the people warm and fed.
Macron Warns Of ‘End Of Abundance’
France is headed toward the “end of abundance” and “sacrifices” have to be made during what is a time of great upheaval, President Emmanuel Macron told his cabinet on Wednesday upon returning from summer break. The country has faced multiple challenges lately, ranging from the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine to the unprecedented drought that has battered the whole European continent this summer. Yet, Macron believes that the crisis is actually of a much bigger scale and that structural changes are imminent.“
Some could see our destiny as being to constantly manage crises or emergencies. I believe that we are living through a tipping point or great upheaval. Firstly, because we are living through… what could seem like the end of abundance,” he said. The country and its citizens must be ready to make “sacrifices” to meet and overcome the challenges they are facing, he continued. “Our system based on freedom in which we have become used to living, when we need to defend it sometimes that can entail making sacrifices,”Macron added.
“Faced with this, we have duties, the first of which is to speak frankly and very clearly without doom-mongering,” Macron stressed. The president called upon his cabinet to show unity, be “serious” and “credible” and urged ministers to avoid “demagogy.” “It’s easy to promise anything and everything, sometimes to say anything and everything. Do not give in to these temptations, it is demagoguery,” the president said, adding that such an approach “flourishes” today “in all democracies in a complex and frightening world.”
There is a pattern in the messages of today’s Marie Antoinettes. Borrell wants you to take it lying down, Macron wants you to do that for a long time (like the rest of your lives), and the Belgian PM makes it more concrete: you’ll be freezing for the next 10 years. After which, supposedly, renewables will have been built to keep your kids warm. Spoiler: they won’t be.
Belgian PM: “Next 5-10 Winters Will Be Difficult” As Energy Crisis Worsens
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo might have spilled the beans about the duration of Europe’s energy crisis. He told reporters Monday, “the next 5 to 10 winters will be difficult.” “The development of the situation is very difficult throughout Europe,” De Croo told Belgium broadcaster VRT. “In a number of sectors, it is really difficult to deal with those high energy prices. We are monitoring this closely, but we must be transparent: the coming months will be difficult, the coming winters will be difficult,” he said. The prime minister’s comments suggest replacing Russian natural gas imports could take years, exerting further economic doom on the region’s economy in the form of energy hyperinflation.
From Greece, even more concrete: energy subsidies. €1.9 billion in one month. To keep the hordes out of the streets. Wait, that Belgian guy said this will last 5-10 years. How is the country going to pay for that? One thing that comes to mind is Greeks will vote for anyone in the next election who vows to talk to Putin ASAP, restore the countries’ good relationships and sign a gas deal.
A significant rise in the price of electricity announced by state-controlled Public Power Corporation (PPC) for September forced the government to raise its electricity subsidy for September to 1.9 billion euros, from €1.1 billion in August. The subsidy level inevitably follows the PPC’s pricing policy, since it is the dominant player in the market, with 63% of consumers choosing it. While PPC had the lowest price of all electricity providers in August (€0.48 per kilowatt-hour) it raised its September price to €0.788 for those consuming up to 500kWh per month and €0.80 for heavier consumers. In order to stick to its commitment for an actual charge to consumers between €0.14-0.17 per kWh the government had to adjust its subsidy level accordingly, raising it by over 72%.
How long will this last, you said? Well, according to AP, “Washington expects Ukrainian forces “to fight for years to come.” “Included in the package are advanced weapons that are still in the development phase..”
‘Months Or Years’ Before US Arms Reach Ukraine – Media
Years could pass before some of the weapons in the upcoming “largest ever” package of US military assistance to Kiev actually reach Ukraine, according to Western media reports. On Tuesday, a number of mainstream media outlets cited anonymous US officials as describing the impending announcement of a $3 billion package of military aid to Ukraine. If confirmed, it would be the largest of its kind so far. Washington is by far the biggest supplier of military hardware to Ukraine as it fights against Russia. However, some of the promised equipment “will not be in the hands of Ukrainian fighters for months or years,” according to NBC News, one of the outlets that reported the upcoming package. Included in the package are advanced weapons that are still in the development phase, it explained.
The same caveat was cited by the Associated Press, which said that it may take “a year or two” for the arms to reach the battlefield, according to its sources. Washington expects Ukrainian forces “to fight for years to come,” US officials told the AP. The AeroVironment Switchblade 600 drone is an example of a weapon system that was promised to Ukraine months ago but has yet to be delivered. Defense News said this week that the Pentagon plans to sign the contract necessary for sending 10 of the so-called “kamikaze drones” within a month. Last month, Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov called on foreign suppliers of arms to use his country as a testing ground for new weapons. He pledged to provide detailed reports about the experiences of Ukrainian soldiers with the prototypes provided to them.
This is not going to go well. Not for the European “leaders”, not for the EU, not for Ukraine, and not for Europeans. We could start a little bet as to how many leaders will still be in place by spring, and I bet you Zelensky won’t be one of them. Putin will. As for the rest, Rutte, Macron, we’ll see. But don’t underestimate the wrath of people with hungry and cold children. It feels like almost an alien image for 99% of Europeans, but it no longer will be.
And there is no logical reason for this, there is only the ideology of a few handfuls of little men with grand visions. Hate of everything Russia has kept the west going for 100 years or more. And these little men feed off of that. They can only do that by refusing to talk. Because that’s exactly what Russia does not refuse. Only, they want to talk as equals.
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https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/08/27/its-gross-to-live-under-the-us-empire-and-spend-your-time-criticizing-russia-and-china/
It’s Gross To Live Under The US Empire And Spend Your Time Criticizing Russia And China
The other day an Australian journalist was giving me a hard time for not criticizing Russia and China the way I go after the US empire, calling me “morally bankrupt” for not criticizing all governments equally. He said the ethical thing to do would be to criticize the US, but also criticize the governments the US doesn’t like for balance.
I had a look at this fellow’s work online and did indeed see articles sharply criticizing China and Russia, as well as much weaker governments like Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the Taliban.
But guess what government I didn’t see in his crosshairs?
This to me is the worst kind of moral cowardice. To live in Australia (effectively a member state of the US empire) and yet spend all your time criticizing far weaker and far less destructive governments than the US is like living in a Nazi-occupied territory during World War Two and spending your time shaking your fist at Brazil. It’s like tut-tutting judgmentally when you hear your neighbor raise her voice at her kids even as you yourself are busy murdering your entire family with an axe.
As I learn more and more about global power dynamics and interact with more and more people around the world responding to the things I have to say, I find myself growing more and more disdainful of those who live directly under the thumb of the US empire and yet spend their time criticizing unabsorbed governments like Russia and China. It’s literally the most pathetic, snivelling, power-serving position anyone can possibly take at this point in history.
The US empire is indisputably the most murderous and destructive power structure on the world stage today. No other power has spent the 21st century killing people by the millions in wars of aggression. No other power is circling the planet with hundreds of military bases and working continuously to destroy any government which disobeys it. No other power is starving entire populations with economic sanctions, military blockades and brazen theft. No other power has been interfering in foreign elections anywhere near as often. No other power is terrorizing populations around the world with wars, covert ops, drone strikes, proxy conflicts, and staged coups and uprisings. No other power is using its military, economic, diplomatic and media dominance to bully the world into serving its interests. The US exports most of its tyranny outside its own borders (though certainly not all of it), but it is nevertheless plainly the most tyrannical regime on earth.
Everyone in the world should focus their scrutiny and criticism on the most powerful and destructive power structure in the world, because that is the sane and normal thing to do. But those who live in the US or its imperial member states have a special obligation to do so, because focusing on far less powerful and far less evil governments when you live under the umbrella of the US-centralized empire is gross.
Even if you don’t buy the argument that those who live under the US empire have a special obligation to focus their criticisms on that power structure, at the very least you should make your criticisms proportionate to the destructiveness. And because the US is by far the most destructive power on earth, you should be criticizing it far more often than you criticize other powers.
But it’s worth taking time to do some honest self-examination on why you feel the need to even give proportionate criticism to empire-targeted governments like Russia and China, in a society where every single one of the most powerful media and government institutions already criticize those governments constantly while ignoring the crimes of the empire. It’s worth examining why you feel the need to lend your voice to a message that is already being amplified as loudly as any message could possibly be amplified when criticisms of the empire are so profoundly neglected in the English-speaking world, and questioning whether lending your energy to those propaganda campaigns would have any desirable effect at all. What usually happens after we start hating a government the US empire is urgently telling us we must hate?
If you do examine your urge to join the mainstream shrieking about US-targeted governments, what you will probably find (if you are honest with yourself) is that you’ve been marinating in pro-US propaganda your entire life, and that has warped your expectations of normal criticism.
We’re so accustomed to seeing the misdeeds of US-targeted governments grossly over-emphasized and exaggerated, while seeing US misdeeds grossly under-emphasized and ignored, that it sets the bar for our expectations of what normal criticism should look like. This distortion effect makes an appropriate level of aggressive criticism of the US empire look inappropriate and disproportionate; we’ve been trained in such a way that a normal amount of emphasis on the evils of US imperialism looks freakish and suspicious.
In reality, it is not freakish and suspicious when someone focuses their criticisms on the world’s most powerful and destructive government. It’s freakish and suspicious that that isn’t the norm.
It’s a lot easier to criticize empire-targeted governments than the empire itself, because everyone we’re surrounded by has been consuming empire propaganda all their lives and we’ll receive pushback from them when what we say causes them to experience cognitive dissonance. And this is a major reason so many westerners opt for the path of least resistance rather than shining the spotlight of truth where the real monsters are.
But that’s cowardice. It’s bootlicking. It’s pathetic. Don’t facilitate the propaganda campaigns of your rulers while failing to criticize the crimes of those rulers just because it’s easier than putting your energy where it belongs. You’re not being a big brave truth teller when you criticize far away governments who have no power over you; you’re being a coward. Don’t serve power while pretending to oppose power. It’s gross.
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https://stephenlendman.org/2022/08/28/provoking-china/
Provoking China
Longstanding US policy calls for transforming nations free from its hegemonic control into subservient vassal states by whatever it takes to achieve its diabolical aims.
At a time when the self-styled indispensable state is declining politically, economically and morally more than ever — when multi-world polarity replaced its unipolar moment — when China, Russia and other independent nations are rising in prominence — the empire of lies risks nuclear war on Russia and China to try turning things around.
It risks destruction of planet earth and all its life forms to achieve what’s increasingly slipping away because of its imperial arrogance, endless wars on invented enemies and uncompromisingly unwillingness to change its wicked ways.
Perpetually at war at home and abroad throughout its history, its war on humanity escalated post-WW II, especially since the 9/11 mother of state-sponsored false flags to that time — until surpassed by all things flu/covid with intent to eliminate millions and billions of unwanted people to more greatly benefit privileged ones.
Dominant Biden regime hardliners are recklessly pushing things toward direct confrontation with Russia by waging proxy war — what’s at risk of crossing the line to an unthinkable clash between the world’s dominant nuclear powers.
At the same time, it’s acting in similar fashion against China.
What’s going on is ominously reminiscent of events leading up to WW I and II.
With dominant hardliners running things in Washington — ones militantly hostile toward China and especially Russia at this time — pushing things too far runs the risk of crossing a line of no return by accident or design to possible nuclear war.
In the Asia/Pacific, both right wings of the US war party recklessly and dangerously provoke Beijing by having abandoned long ago agreed on adherence to One China policy over Taiwan, while pretending otherwise rhetorically.
It shows by repeated visits of US officials to what China considers a breakaway province to be reunited with the mainland.
Since Chinaphobe Pelosi’s unacceptable August 2 – 3 visit to Taipei, 6 Senator Ed Markey-led congressional members followed suit in mid-month.
Then came Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb a week later, followed by Senator Marsha Blackburn from August 25 – 27.
US weapons sales to Taiwan have more greatly aggravated Sino/US relations.
Since 2017, the Trump and Biden regimes approved over $18 billion worth of arms sales to Taiwan
While the 1979 US Taiwan Relations Act authorized “defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,” US weapons and related military sales to the breakaway province can very much be used for offense.
According to the Committee for a SANE US-China Policy:
“The US and China have entered a period of intensified economic, political, and military competition that can only be characterized as a New Cold War, with a very real possibility of becoming a hot war – even a nuclear war.”
On August 17, A. Trevor Thrall, Jordan Cohen, and Michael Klare warned that “new arms sales send the wrong signal on Taiwan.”
The latest approved sale is for $750 million worth of howitzers and high‐tech munitions kits.
“Proponents incorrectly argue that this (and other) sale(s) will enhance stability in the region by sending a strong signal to China of America’s commitment to Taiwan’s security and by complicating any Chinese plans for an invasion of the island.”
“In fact, the(se) sale(s) accomplish nothing of the sort.”
“To avoid enflaming tensions in the Taiwan Strait (more than already), the US needs to halt sales of weapons to Taiwan” once and for all.
No matter how much in the way of arms sales that US regimes throw at the breakaway province, they’re no more able challenge China militarily than is Ukraine against vastly superior Russian firepower.
And as Russia controls Ukraine’s airspace and offshore waters, Taiwan is no match against China’s overwhelming aerial, naval, and ground force superiority.
The above analysts stressed the following:
“China can blockade the island… airlift full‐scale battle tanks onto (its territory) and overpower Taiwan’s air defense systems” — almost without breaking a sweat.
Repeated arms sales to Taipei justifiably infuriates Beijing — especially after pledging — in 1979 during the Carter years — to refrain from providing its breakaway province with weapons it can use for offense.
As the above analysts stress:
“(A)dvanced fighter jets, missiles and planes are hardly purely defensive,” adding:
“In 1999, then‐Sen. Biden (the real JB, not the White House imposter) stated that mandating arms sales to Taiwan would ‘be the equivalent of waving a red cape in front of Beijing.’ ”
Yet since the Obama/Biden regime’s so-called Asia pivot — to expand hegemon USA’s military footprint in the part of the world where it doesn’t belong — Sino/US tensions have been dangerously increasing.
For good reason, Beijing believes that the empire of lies and forever wars is encircling China with hostile intensions in mind in similar fashion to its actions against Russia, Iran and other invented enemies.
In response to the Pentagon’s increased presence in the Asia/Pacific over the last decade, China doubled its defense budget.
The more arms supplied by the US to Taiwan, along with its increased regional military presence, the greater the risk of direct Sino/US confrontation.
Instead of stepping back from the risk of what’s unthinkable, dominant Biden regime hardliners continue to provoke China recklessly.
Along with unacceptable visits by US congressional members and other officials, two Pentagon Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers — the USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville — entered the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, a US 7th Fleet statement, saying:
Both warships are (provocatively) sailing “through waters where high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law (sic),” adding:
These vessels — produced for offense, not defense — are transiting “through a corridor in the strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state (sic).”
The unacceptable action “demonstrates (hegemon USA’s) commitment to” dominate the Asia/Pacific in defiance of peace, stability, the rule of law and growing risk of war with China.
According to PLA Eastern Theater Command spokesperson, Shi Yi:
“(T)heater command troops (are on) high alert and are fully prepared to crackdown any provocation anytime.”
Separately according to military analyst, Song Zhongping:
“During wartime, US warships, whether cruisers, destroyers or even aircraft carriers, can’t survive in the Taiwan Straits if they interfere in the reunification process with force…”
It’s “because they are too close to the mainland and can’t defend the saturation attacks launched by the PLA’s land-based missiles.”
“So if the US Navy wants to deter the PLA, sailing through the Taiwan Straits is actually pointless and meaningless.”
Time and again in all parts of the world, hegemon USA provocatively proves its foolhardy aim to dominate the world community nations by preemptive wars and other hostile actions.
Of greatest concern is whether global war 3.0 can be avoided — or whether it’s inevitable.
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