Ever mindful of what happened during the first half of the 20th century, for the last six decades Europe has mounted a vigil against any rebirth of totalitarian ideology.
For the first four of those six decades Soviet-led Communism stood as the model of totalitarianism to be avoided. Like its brother socialist ideologies, Nazism and Fascism, Communism exerted its political control through military force, mass imprisonment and execution of dissidents, and brutal state repression. The three totalitarian socialisms provided the template for what was to be prevented. Europe was — and remains — determined to avoid the return of the jackboot.
However, while the sentinels of Social Democracy peered tirelessly over the parapets, guarding against the return of the storm troopers, another form of totalitarianism tiptoed in behind the walls and settled stealthily into place within European democratic structures.
Full-blown free market capitalism never really developed in postwar Europe, but under the umbrella of the American military, state capitalism and various forms of syndicalism allowed the creation of great wealth. At a consistently high rate of taxation, much of that wealth ended up in the hands of the State, enabling the formation of an all-pervasive welfare system. By controlling the material well-being of its citizens, the State could achieve a greater degree of political control than the Nazis or Communists had ever dreamed of.
The difference between the “Left” and the “Right” in modern European parliamentary democracies is laughable. Should the VAT be raised to 20% or 21%? Should we import 100,000 or 120,000 Muslim immigrants per annum? Should we cut the military budget to 1% of GDP, or would 0.5% be more appropriate to our peace-loving democracies?
Any political opinion that is truly different, that would address fundamental questions about state policy — or indeed question the size and nature of the State itself — is considered beyond the pale. Despite pervasive multicultural indoctrination, there are still people who believe that the European Union is an oppressive hegemon, that sovereign independent nations are the best political structures, and that the mass importation of totally alien peoples into Europe is a dangerous mistake. Those who hold such opinions are placed outside the bounds of polite society. They are labeled “right-wing extremists”, “racists”, “fascists”, and “neo-Nazis”. The thoughts they think are simply not permitted.
There is no need for the jackboot or the firing squad or the gulag to suppress dissent and enforce the doctrines of the new EUSSR. State-controlled media and academic consensus stand in absolute solidarity against heterodoxy. Social pressure and professional ostracism make an outcast of anyone who holds deviant opinions, and if such soft measures are not enough to discourage him, his employer — often an agency or affiliate of the State itself — can be relied upon to let him go. His access to state social benefits may also be curtailed.
So it’s easier just to go along with the program. Enjoy your short working hours and early retirement. Relish your six or eight weeks of paid vacation every year. Be glad that you don’t have to pay for your medical care. Be content with your subsidized apartment and state-sanctioned entertainment channels on TV.
Let the wonks in Brussels take care of all those complicated political questions! Why should you bother? Going against their program will only bring trouble and heartache upon you.
It’s not your father’s totalitarianism. It’s a kinder, gentler jackboot. Call it the velvet jackboot — that’s what Europeans are forced to live under.
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There is no more exquisite velvet jackboot than the spike-heeled rainbow version that now rests upon the neck of Modern Multicultural Sweden. As I mentioned yesterday, Sweden has perfected the social suppression of political dissent. There may be no nation on Earth that is more effective at the silencing of forbidden opinions without the use of armed force.
Anders Bruun Laursen, who runs the Euro-Med site, tried to leave a comment on yesterday’s post, but the Blogger system would not permit him to log in. He sent us his comment by email instead, and here’s what he had to say:
Sweden is presumably the most fanatic EU country with the politically most standardized population in Europe. Sweden has been able to subdue a free debate on the Muslim immigration by means of simple words like “racism”, “conspiracy theory”, “immigration is good and necessary,” “nationalism is bad”, and has brainwashed their population with them — in spite of big cities like Gothenburg and Malmö having seen large scale Muslim violence time and again — and even an angry Swede going about shooting at Muslims.
Germany was relieved from this hypocritical attitude a year ago by the politician Thilo Sarrazin. He asserted that the immigration was killing Germany and lowering the intelligence in the population. What shocked politicians was that most Germans agreed! Even the big papers and magazines began seeing Sarrazin as a much needed lightning rod — much like the Danish People’s Party. Such factors can make the electorate believe that the political system is doing something, thus calming down an angry population. The fact is that Sarrazin and the Danish People’s Party are part of the EU political system: They talk, but do absolutely nothing. The Danish People’s Party could have threatened to bring down Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s government if it went back on its word to give the critical Danes a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. The DP had said they would do so — but also went back on their word.
Today there are so many EU immigration-critical blogs with so many readers that even the President of the EU Commission, José Barroso, knows he had better leave them alone. For more and more of the blog readers are becoming impatient and aggressive. Strikes — even general strikes are no longer unrealistic — have been seen due to austerity measures in Southern Europe.
The EU knows the anger among Europeans is growing because of its austerity dictates impoverishing the Europeans: This is the only mechanism that will allow the unnatural, political project, the Euro, an economically hopeless project, to survive — after the poor states have been robbed of value by the EU allies, the big Bank corporations — especially Goldman Sachs. Their natural regulations, the raising of interest rates and devaluation, were taken away from them, when they joined the Euro. The Euro will now only survive as long as the Germans are willing to pay for it. German blog readers know that, too, and write more and more about revolution.
The EU has expanded its economic governance in secrecy this spring. The European Semester commands all 27 EU member states to have their national budgets approved by the EU before presenting them to their national parliaments! Moreover, the Euro Competitiveness Pact was passed, requiring that the heads of state and government of all 27 EU members accept without discussion whatever economic measures the EU’s unelected government, the EU Commission, dictates (consensus rule). Of course, the renegade Danish government and opposition unanimously and immediately rushed to Brussels to join the Euro-stability pact, thus giving up the last remnant of Danish sovereignty, even though the Danes voted no to the Euro!
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