EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31, 2022

Are the Dictatorships Actually in the West?

Aug. 30, 2022 (EIRNS)—For all the talk about an epic showdown between “democracies” and “autocracies,” between Western liberalism and Oriental despotism, what honest observer can fail to note the spread of anti-democratic dictatorship in the West, accompanied by catastrophic economic collapse and the white-hot danger of thermonuclear war?

While a new world beckons—exemplified by the Belt and Road Initiative, the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the growing sovereignty of other formerly colonized nations—the old world looks bleak indeed. Europeans are told that a future of poverty is in store, with galloping inflation in all areas, led by absolutely soaring rates of inflation in the price of energy and food. Prepare for years or decades of degrowth, say the continent’s “leaders,” as energy supplies are sanctioned (based either on their Russian origin or their lack of “green” credentials) and the food supply is destroyed by the imposition of Malthusian limits on land, fertilizer, pesticides, and energy.

As devastating economic policy continues in the U.S., the Associated Press sees fit to exult: “Leadership at the Federal Reserve has become its most diverse ever. There are more female, Black and gay officials contributing to the central bank’s interest-rate decisions than at any time in its 109-year history.” Do they believe economic wisdom is produced by an alchemical combination of human beings of varied biological characteristics and amorous inclinations?

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has trumpeted his plans to expand this land of milk and honey—by growing the EU up to Russia’s borders and ending its requirement of unanimity for major policy decisions. “I could imagine ... starting with majority voting [as opposed to unanimity] in areas in which it is particularly important that we speak with one voice,” he said, pointing to sanctions and human rights. If minority views in the EU can not play a role in its official policy, which “one voice” will be doing the speaking?

Will it be the growing voices speaking the truth about the failure of the NATO Ukraine operation against Russia? What of those who recognize that the physical economy cannot be renewed for succeeding generations through intermittent, low-density energy sources?

Some call the sanctions against Russia an “own goal,” as they have had far worse consequences for those imposing them (and other parts of the world, now unable to purchase LNG at affordable prices) than on Russia. But that was always the intent. With the collapse of the international Anglo-American financial system, austerity is to be enforced through “green” initiatives and warfare.

But this descent can be halted, and those censorious potentates who would assume the mantle of a world empire overthrown, through the rise of a force that has catalyzed, and is increasingly capable of responding to, and guiding the tremendous potential of the future.

Join the Schiller Institute’s Sept. 10-11 conference, “Inspiring Humanity To Survive the Greatest Crisis in World History.”