On this week’s Depgrogrammed, hosts Harrison Pitt & Evan Riggs are joined by Dr. Kristian Niemietz, Head of Political Economy at the Institute of Economic Affairs and author of Socialism: The Failed Idea that Never Dies
Month: December 2023
Globalism Is a Disease That Deprives Life of Meaning
By J.B. Shurk
Two recent statistical surveys keep bouncing around in my head. One study concludes that one out of every four young people in the world feels lonely today. The other study finds that 72% of Americans have no interest in defending the United States in a major war. In other words, a quarter of the planet’s emerging leaders are clinically depressed, and nearly three-quarters of the voters in the world’s wealthiest, most powerful nation have no interest in fighting to preserve the “American dream.” People, it seems, are so disappointed in the present that they have no appetite for the future.
Signs of such debilitating malaise should be a smack across the face to those who insist on ruling planet Earth from privileged perches secured behind steel gates at private social clubs such as the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations. Across the globe and in poor and rich countries, alike, the human race is suffering. Real leaders would recognize this phenomenon for what it is: a worldwide cry for help.
Does it seem as if the post-WWI eruption of think tanks, international associations, economic clubs, and foreign policy institutes has had a net-positive effect on human happiness? Has the Council on Foreign Relations successfully steered the planet toward sustained peace? Have the privately controlled central banks that are empowered to manipulate national currencies at whim safeguarded middle class families from regular economic disaster? Has the League of Nations’ successor, the UN, prevailed in its self-appointed mission to build a better world? Or, after a solid century of international busybodies obsessively micromanaging the world’s affairs, is it perhaps time to conclude that a glut of governmental and non-governmental organizations with a penchant for starting wars and triggering economic calamity has, quite demonstrably, done more harm than good?
With so many global institutions dominating private life, is it any wonder why so many people now behave as if they should be committed to institutions? True meaning — the kind formed through personal struggle, adventure, hard work, religion, community, and family — has been replaced with the incremental oppression of international rule-making. The sanctity of the family home has been bulldozed, so that a global cabal of atheists — whose only real mission is to severely reduce the human population — can poison the natural bonds nurtured between parents and children. The blessings of marriage have been paved over with such vulgar elevation of sin as to condemn human beings, who would otherwise have been made whole through matrimonial commitment, to lonely lives — bereft of hope and adrift in promiscuous isolation.
Culture, marriage, children, and a devotion to God are the bricks that build communities, which in turn fortify nations against the evils propagated by those who lead drab, meaningless lives drenched in self-loathing and hatred for humanity’s existence. The UN and its sister organizations do one thing well: they vanquish cultural bonds and, by doing so, demolish civilizations. And with the wreckage that they reap, they extinguish human happiness.
How successfully have these globalist parasites spread their cancer of human meaninglessness? The Canadian Human Rights Commission claims that the celebration of Christmas perpetuates “colonial” oppression and “intolerance.” In the United States, a trend has metastasized online in which young Americans who have been indoctrinated to condone the evils of Hamas terrorists now openly express their support for the words and deeds of Osama bin Laden. Nearly twenty-five years after an Islamic supremacist murdered 3,000 of their countrymen, lost and confused Americans with no sense of their own history or purpose now thank the 9/11 mastermind for his vile service. And former CIA director Michael Hayden — a Deep State thug who once called for the execution of President Trump — took some time during Thanksgiving to equate Second Amendment-supporting Christians with jihadist terrorists. These kinds of sicknesses — revolting to their core — are vivid proof that life within the United States and throughout the West must imminently change.
Globalism — or the secular philosophy that a small group of international elites can successfully govern nation states better than the people who reside within the nooks and crannies of those nations — insists that bureaucratic mandarins in Brussels, Geneva, or New York City should be managing the day-to-day activities of an electrician in Verona, a winemaker in Sopron, a sailor from Cooranbong, and an accountant living in a suburb outside Cincinnati.
Right now the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference is spending the next two weeks in Dubai deciding just how much energy ordinary folk should be permitted to use to heat their homes and run their businesses in hundreds of thousands of villages and towns throughout the world. Somewhere there is a fisherman on the Cape West Coast of South Africa whose future livelihood will suffer because of some UN regulation being written and inserted into the twenty-sixth paragraph of section eighty-five of article twelve of the seventh official draft of a new environmental edict that probably does nothing other than protect the monopoly power of a wealthy multinational conglomerate with influential connections but whose passage in Dubai will nonetheless be touted as an instrumental step toward “saving the planet.”
“Saving the planet” is big business. Behind every poor worker who struggles that much harder to make ends meet after each new global mandate purportedly constructed to fight bad weather, there is an international oligarch with a corporate board at his side adding new zeroes to his already colossal cache of multigenerational wealth. Extracting every last penny from the world’s poorest in the form of “green” taxes and fees — so that the globe’s most obscenely rich can buy private armies and islands — is what John Kerry and Klaus Schwab’s “Green New Deal” has always had in mind.
No form of national government could be properly described as “democratic” or “representative” of the people if it takes its marching orders from the WEF, WHO, EU, or UN. Globalism seeks nothing less than to create a planetary system of vassalage in which cultural practices, historic customs, religious beliefs, and national sovereignties are all subsumed under the all-powerful dominion of an insular ruling elite. Speaking the most parseltongued form of “political correctness,” its propagandists denounce “imperialism” while building the most sinister empire the world has ever seen.
After a century of coercive internationalism in which corporate oligarchs, central bank money-printers, and clandestine security services have conquered the world under an artificial olive branch and deceptive promises of peace, where are we today? The global population has never been more unhappy. Apparently, serving as meaningless chits for unelected globalists to trade and control has starved humanity of its zest for living.
In this black hole of human meaning, however, I see a tremendous opportunity for excising the cancer that causes us so much harm and lifting a world that is desperately in need of saving. As a Christian, I have always been particularly drawn to one of Jesus Christ’s lessons: It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.
The Marxist globalists who seek to rule the world have sunk the world into a morass of misery. Intentionally destroying culture, marriage, family, national borders, and God have brought nothing but pain and suffering. The world is sick and requires a spiritual physician. And for those who see clearly and have accepted a calling to carry God’s light, there is no shortage of patients who seek healing.
“Great Awakenings” and civilizational rebirths are built on the ruins of unhappiness. I urge you to see today’s chaos not as the beginning of the end but rather as the prologue to our spiritual and cultural redemption. Embrace this journey.
Social media giants ‘got EU censorship threats’ amid Ireland riots
Major social media firms were ordered to censor their platforms by the European Commission during the recent riots in the Irish capital Dublin, reports have claimed.
Sparked by the stabbing of three children on November 23, Ireland’s Government has tried to blame the outbreak of rioting on online discourse and the so-called “far-right”.
According to a report by Ireland’s State-owned broadcaster RTÉ, the EC directly contacted social media giants including X, Facebook and Instagram-owner Meta, and TikTok about the street violence in Dublin.
Eurocrats warned platforms that they must obey the bloc’s new censorship rules as outlined under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The act, combined with nation-state-level legislation, requires large tech firms to quickly censor “hate speech” and “disinformation” when it is brought to their attention.
The warnings are said to have been issued after Irish Government officials triggered an alert outlined by the DSA that prompts European Union intervention in a “crisis scenario”.
With the legislation having only partly come into force in late August, Ireland is believed to be the first EU Member State to have triggered such an alert.
Brussels Signal approached Meta, TikTok and X for comment regarding the situation. At the time of writing, neither TikTok or Meta had responded, while X replied with an automatic email stating its staff were “busy”.
Since the riots, the Irish Government has attempted to shift the blame for the violence onto the country’s “far-right”, seemingly trying to use the civil unrest to fuel efforts to pass what is seen by many as its draconian hate-speech bill.
Such a push has been met with backlash within the country and overseas. Ireland’s ruling coalition has been accused of focusing more on street violence than the multiple child stabbing that triggered it.
US billionaire X owner Elon Musk has been one of the most high-profile foreign critics of the Government, accusing Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar of “hating the Irish people”.
The country’s Justice Minister Helen McEntee is now demanding talks with X officials over its moderation policies.
“I will be seeking to meet with X myself because I think the company have a responsibility to be responsible,” she said, adding that she felt posts on the website “fuelled … what happened”.
Opposition groups are turning on McEntee, with left-wing politicians blaming the minister for the violence.
Her attempts to rally support for tougher restrictions have also angered backbenchers within her Government.
Coalition party Senators have vowed not to vote for a new bill that would hand NGOs in the country influence within the Irish national police force.
https://brusselssignal.eu/2023/12/social-media-giants-got-eu-censorship-threats-amid-ireland-riots/
Risk of Islamist Terror ‘Higher Than it Has Been For a Long Time’ Because of Hamas, Says German Intelligence
The Hamas attack against Israel in October is inspiring a fresh wave of anti-Jewish and anti-Western extremism in Europe in new ways that haven’t been seen before, Germany’s political police bureau warns.
Lone wolf attacks against soft targets are a major threat and disparate Islamist groups which have shunned each other in the past for reasons of history and philosophy are now “linking up” out of a shared feeling of antisemitism, Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), their domestic intelligence agency which polices both the people and politics of the nation, warns.
The dire warning about the threat to Germany and other Western nations was expressed in a bulletin this week stating that a coalition of “Islamists, Palestinian extremists, Turkish right-wing extremists, German and Turkish left-wing extremists” had been brought together by “antisemitism and hostility to Israel” and are spreading hatred. On the other hand, it warns, “German right-wing extremists” are reacting to this in turn and are agitating “against Muslims and migrants”.
The situation is particularly acute, the director of BfV Thomas Haldenwang notes, as groups that don’t otherwise think much of each other are finding common cause after the Hamas attack on Israel.
The director said: “now a new [situation] is emerging: in the jihadist spectrum, we see calls for assassinations and to [link up between] Al-Qaeda and [Islamic State] over the Middle East conflict. This danger now affects highly emotional people who are inspired by trigger events. This can lead to the radicalization of perpetrators acting alone who attack ‘soft targets’ with simple means.”
ISIS, the former “al-Qaeda in Iraq,” broke off from al-Qaeda following leadership and tactical disputes. The original al-Qaeda maintains close ties to the Taliban, which claims to be fighting the Islamic State, though they share the same attitudes towards Islam and the West. Both the Islamic State and al-Qaeda have engaged in public disagreements with Hamas and Hamas has claimed to arrest ISIS supporters in Gaza in the past. All are Sunni jihadist terror organizations.
Despite these differences, the global terror groups have been happy to take advantage of the Hamas attack on Israel to further their calls for jihad, the BfV report noted, saying the degree to which they are expressing support for each other “previously seemed hardly conceivable”.
Antisemitism is the common denominator, the federal intelligence bureau said, and as their director noted: “The danger is real and higher than it has been for a long time.” The paper also stated: “the risk potential for possible terrorist attacks against Jewish and Israeli people and institutions as well as against ‘the West’ as a whole has increased significantly.”
Haldenwang reassured the agency was working intensively to “thwart any potential plans”.
Just hours before the paper’s publication, German police swooped on two migrant-background teenagers who were alleged to have been planning a mass casualty attack against a Christmas market in Cologne. The particular target is a highly emotional one in Germany, which saw a deadly terror attack against the Berlin Christmas market in 2016 by a fake asylum seeker who stole a truck and rammed it through the stalls and locals enjoying the festive event. 13 were killed, including the driver of the truck that he shot dead.
French mayor threatened with ‘decapitation’ for speaking out about sections of her community who refuse to integrate
The mayor of a French town at the center of a racially motivated murder earlier this month has received several death threats for speaking out about a section of her town’s population that refuses to integrate into French society.
Marie-Hélène Thoraval is the mayor of Romans-sur-Isère which was home to the youth gang, many of whom were of a migration background, that traveled to the nearby village of Crépol on Nov. 19 and vowed to “stab White people”.
They gatecrashed a winter ball in the village hall and wounded nine people, including 16-year-old Thomas who was stabbed to death.
Speaking to the Europe 1 radio station earlier this week, Thoraval lamented the fact that some within her community “refuse any form of citizenship and integration”.
She has since revealed that she received a flurry of death threats for her remarks.
In an interview with BFMTV on Thursday, the French mayor spoke to two anonymous calls made to the town hall switchboard on Wednesday morning “with a message that was more like intimidation, asking me if I had a Kalashnikov at home and if I had security guards”.
“It went up a notch in the afternoon when I received a private message on Instagram specifying that I was to be decapitated, that my skull would be juggled, and that all that would be done within a month,” she added.
“These are real death threats,” Thoraval told the broadcaster, revealing she had filed police complaints due to the nature of the messages.
“In these messages, I am described as a fascist. I imagine where that comes from,” she added.
Despite the intimidation, Thoraval expressed her desire to continue “saying out loud what I think quietly. That, I will continue.”
She further warned that “there was one before Thomas and there will be one after Thomas,” referencing the French teenager who lost his life in the racially motivated attack on Nov. 19.
Nine people were initially arrested for their involvement in the gang attack. Reports in the French media noted their use of Arabic slurs for White people as they stabbed several partygoers before being tracked down by police more than 400 kilometers away in Toulouse where it is thought they were attempting to flee the country.
UN to Austria: Take More Asylum Seekers
The United Nations is exerting pressure on Austria, which last year saw the largest percentage increase in asylum applications of any EU member state, to take in additional asylum seekers from across the world.
In an interview with Salzburger Nachrichten published on Wednesday, November 29th, Kelly Clements, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, leveled criticism against the Austrian government—which is dealing with a litany of cultural and economic problems associated with the migrants and asylum seekers—for its decision to suspend its participation in the UNHCR’s resettlement program.
“Of course we want Austria to offer a resettlement program again,” Clements told the newspaper, highlighting that, presently, there are fewer than 60,000 places available for some two million people who are neither able to remain in their current location nor have the option to return home voluntarily and safely.
In 2018, the Austrian government, led by then-chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) joined states like the U.S., Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Italy, Israel, Slovakia, Latvia, and Switzerland in pulling out of the United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The same year, Austria suspended its participation in the UNHCR’s resettlement program.
Clements added that approximately 70% of global refugees live near their homes or in neighboring countries. “Nine out of ten refugees live in a country with low incomes,” she said, suggesting that it is crucial to focus on supporting the countries that first receive refugees, not the destination countries.
“Some frontline EU states feel they are contributing more than others. If there was an approach to sharing responsibility, there wouldn’t be such pressure,” she said, referring to the planned reform of the EU Pact for Migration and Asylum, which if adopted, would force member states to take in asylum seekers or face heavy fines.
Member states like Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary have categorically rejected the EU’s planned compulsory redistribution scheme.
Austria currently hosts the highest number of refugees and asylum seekers in the European Union relative to its population with 34.8 per 1,000 inhabitants.
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), the only party that has long maintained a hardline, anti-mass migration policy, is by far the country’s most popular party, commanding the support of 1/3 of the population at least in part due to the stress migration, legal and illegal, has placed on Austria society,
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/un-to-austria-take-more-asylum-seekers/
Victoria’s Secret Faces Boycott After Apologizing To Trans-Identified Male Who Complained About “Mistreatment” In Changing Room
Women on social media are calling for a boycott of Victoria’s Secret after the famous undergarment company responded to a trans-identified male complaining of his experience in the changing room. While the user has now hidden his profile, many became distressed after learning he was producing graphic pornography of himself and questioned his intentions for using a women’s changing area.
On November 28, a post on X (formerly Twitter) by transgender user @Microdragons1 began to circulate in which he complained about an incident of alleged mistreatment at a local Victoria’s Secret store while bra shopping.
“I went through a thoroughly dehumanizing experience today at Victoria’s Secret due to my status as a trans woman,” the user wrote, going on to outline an experience in which he says staff had allowed him to use the changing rooms but only after female customers had finished. He was then permitted to use the changing rooms on his own, with staff reportedly waiting to allow new female customers inside until he was done.
@Microdragons1 then stated he had called in to complain about the behavior of the employees, and a store manager had said they were looking into “better ways of managing the changing rooms.”
After the post began to pick up traction, the official X account for Victoria’s Secret responded to @Microdragons1 with an apology and invited him to contact their corporate office.
Many women were left disappointed by the response from Victoria’s Secret, praising the store employees for what they felt was the right move to protect female clientele.
“I hope you will not make the mistake of prioritizing the demands of a paraphilic man over the safety, privacy, and dignity of women,” one user responded to Victoria’s Secret.
“Hello Victoria’s Secret. Women appreciate sex-based segregation for the purpose of keeping the fairer sex safe from creeps, sex pests, peeping Toms, fetishistic transvestites, rapists, men’s rights activists and the like,” lesbian activist Gaye Chapman replied. “Not every male person fits that description, however they are disproportionately represented by those who want single sex spaces. Respect women, or our money will go elsewhere.”
The concerns amplified after some internet sleuths uncovered the graphic pornography @Microdragons1 had made, fetishizing his transition and identity as a “woman.”
While he has now set his account to “private,” thus limiting the ability for people to view his tweets, @Microdragons1 had posted a number of disturbing images over the past few months, including images of himself nude and in BDSM wear.
The images sparked additional comments, with many women voicing added concerns about having him in a women’s space.
“This man does not belong in any changing room near women much less one where women are trying on underwear,” ICONS co-founder Kim Shasby-Jones wrote.
“Look at who you are letting into the intimate spaces of women, in your stores. What if tomorrow, I decide that I want to be a peeping Tom and declare myself a woman? Do I get to come into the changing room. Your business should be fighting for women. Not doing this,” a man by the name of Leonard Clinton-Williams said.
Following the invitation by Victoria’s Secret to call their main line, @Microdragons1 reportedly contacted the corporate number, which told him that “the behavior of the store was being corrected.”
Reduxx reached out to the press office for Victoria’s Secret to learn what the “corrections” entailed, but did not hear back in time for publication.
This is not the first time in recent months that controversy has erupted following a trans-identified male’s demand to use a women’s changing room.
In August, a trans-identified male in the United Kingdom prompted backlash after he complained about his lack of access to the women’s changing rooms at a Sheffield hotel. Anne Coombes, 65, first made headlines after he slammed a worker at the Mercure Hotel for giving him a changing room pass for the unisex facilities instead of the women-only area.
But shortly after, information began to circulate demonstrating that Coombes had an apparent “breastfeeding” fetish, and had interacted with accounts eroticizing motherhood and lactation.