The Washington Capital has been stormed. People got maced and shot at. Among the casualties there was a white woman who died as a result of a shot to the neck. To the neck. When a black man died as a consequence of a policeman kneeling on his neck, the whole of the United States seems to have gone up in flames. When protesters in Kiev in 2014 staged riots in the Maidan, the Western media were expressing their support for them and railing against the Ukrainian authorities.

Whence this difference? Whence this unjustness?

George Floyd was a violent male criminal, Ashli Babbitt – a respectable citizen, patriot, a servicewoman. The former was canonised upon his death, the latter may only expect universal condemnation.

Viktor Yanukovych was toppled down – rightly so, as the Western media maintained – by displeased people. No suspicion about the lawfulness of George Biden’s election are allowed to be harboured. Why?

The presidential election in Belarus was rigged, that’s what we are all supposed to believe in. The American presidential election was carried out impeccably, that’s also what we are all told to believe in. Continue reading →

As is the case with any and all calamities that afflict humankind – be it war or for that matter a plague – people sooner or later grow accustomed to the new normal and shed off the initial fear even if the fear is being fuelled. Human psyche has this mechanism of adaptation. We can observe it also nowadays having in mind the covid pandemic. The polls conducted at the beginning of it showed that the vast majority of individuals expressed their oftentimes unconditional readiness to be vaccinated once the vaccine was available. Gradually this readiness has shrunk – at times and places significantly – which was only to be expected.

A more interesting observation concerns the political persuasion of those who want or do not want to be vaccinated. Across the world it transpires that individuals who are right-leaning are much less enthusiastic about vaccination than their left-leaning colleagues. In Poland it is 5% (five!) against 82% (eighty-two), when two extreme political wings are compared. Much the same is observable in Germany, Austria or the United States. How do we explain it?

What other features distinguish the two political camps? The right-leaning citizens are mostly religious and patriotic, they uphold tradition and are opposed to big government. Which of these features makes them remain sceptical about vaccination?

Religiosity may play a role. Religious people put trust in Providence and generally do not attach utmost importance to the mundane matters. Left-leaning individuals have no choice: the only life that they have on earth must be protected cost it what it may.

Patriotism may play a role. Since the pandemic and vaccination are global in their reach and are globally handled, it is only natural to expect patriots to be on their guard against any international or – better put – supranational measures which are being pushed by moderate or extreme globalists.

Right-leaning people tend to accept struggle rather than rely on security, social or otherwise. The political right does not hold the reins of power anywhere nowadays (the parties that are referred to as right-wing are in fact left-wing parties with a right-wing veneer that manifests itself in more patriotic or traditional jargon) and so are naturally opposed to the protective measures – such as lockdown and vaccination – taken by their political rivals. They also tend to suspect that the measures are enforced with a purpose other than the avowed one.

Be it as it may, it is a thought-provoking fact to know that there is a relationship between an individual’s political persuasion and his stance on vaccination.

Gefira 49 looks forward to the coming year. What will it be like? Will there be no end to the pandemic? Are we going to have a third wave or will we be saved by the vaccine? The effects of the measures taken by various authorities worldwide and occasioned by the virus are comparable to the aftermath of a war: flagging economy, large-scale structural unemployment, lingering uncertainty, and a sense of growing insecurity. As usual, we hear that the world will not be the same, that we will wake up in a reality much different to what we have been used to. Governments are not trying to calm us down; rather, they have been whipping up anxiety and frenzy. Why?

There are big, supranational players that have seized the opportunity and are quite open about creating a new world for us. They are intent on introducing a new type of capitalism, they are boasting about “building back better”, they are painting a rosy future with the aid of all the technological devices and scientific solutions that have been advanced and accumulated recently. Will this world be still human or already transhuman? We are promised to be participating in a grand vision of making everyone happy. Have we not heard it before? We are told we need to save the planet and make our economy sustainable. Everything must be sustainable and all goods universally accessible. And pretty soon! It is a breath-taking vision of serenity and satiety outlined for us by our benefactors. Is it not too good to be true? One almost feels tempted to say: May God defend us from our friends: we can defend ourselves from our enemies.

 

Author: The President
The Dutch original follows the English translation.

As a young boy, Sinterklaas Eve on December 5, the eve of his birthday, was pretty much the most exciting day of the year. Good children got presents from Sinterklaas, bad children could be punished by Zwarte Piet by getting blows with the rod. In case of serious misconduct you could even be transported to Spain in Black Pete’s bag. Recently, Sinterklaas apologized for this on national television. Hopefully, the future 2030 Saint (pictured below) will prove just as forgiving to sinful children.

We would put our shoe by the stove for weeks in advance and every morning I would sneak down to see if Pete had dropped by. He would reportedly come down the chimney to put some candy in. Sometimes I would put a carrot in the shoe for Santa’s horse.

On that particular night I would sit in the room with my parents, waiting for Sinterklaas to visit. The tension was unbearable. The moment I heard a knock on the window and I would crawl into the corner of the sofa with fright. The tension was not over. Sinterklaas and Piet would make us wait at least a further 10 minutes. Eventually, they would come in and with awe I would look up at Saint Nicholas and with due respect I would keep my distance from Piet. In the end it usually turned out that my sins were not too bad, so Piet would start handing out candy and eventually a gift in the name of Saint Nicholas. The Saint usually appeared as an old, dignified gentleman who was mentally no longer completely there while Piet acted as his right-hand man who would help the somewhat dull Saint. The Saint did not seem to be able to make it on his own and gratefully relied on his helper.

And let’s face it. Black Pete eventually had to do all the logistical work. It is clear that without Pete we could forget about our candy and presents. In the end we had nothing but awe and respect for Black Petes.

Now that I am much older, that picture appears to be incorrect if we are to believe the colored non-European immigrants. In our guests opinion Black Pete is an expression of racism. Neither I nor my parents had any notion of this in my childhood. So it is not surprising that we now experience this as insulting and find it strange to have to integrate into our own country.

That traditions slowly change is true of all times and places and the fact in itself is not a problem either. It is the way in which it happens that is bad. It is also strange that immigrants of color do not want to be associated with some of the best-oiled distribution network out there. Even more astonishing is the criticism when one considers that Zwarte Piet has been allowed to beat young white children for decades without ending up in jail!

The parallels between Sinterklaas and his Piet and contemporary society are abundantly clear. The original population is aging rapidly and can be compared with the older, somewhat senile, generous Saint Nicholas. The young immigrants are comparable to, according to legend, Moorish Black Petes. The Moors were a North African Berber tribe and therefore Muslim.

The comparison becomes even clearer when one considers that our Western societies have been playing Santa Claus for its citizens and immigrants for years. Guess who is currently delivering the gifts ordered by the Internet, either for one’s self or others. These are predominantly the colored Muslim immigrants in their vans. In any case, it all fits nicely in with the vision of our political elite about how our society should develop.

All these discussions in recent years have de facto killed the Sinterklaas tradition. Most retailers are already skipping the whole celebration in favor of Christmas.

The downfall of a tradition: Black Pete – Zwarte Piet

Continue reading →

The November issue of Gefira takes a closer look at France’s changing ethnic composition which already translates into the country’s economy, its welfare system, the cohesiveness of society, internal tensions and problems of “systemic racism” unknown to any previous generations. The knowledge of the racial makeup is barred from an average inquirer; yet, what one man wants to hide, the other is certain to uncover in one way or another. Thus, though the French law forbids tallying the racial, ethnic or religious percentage of the Republic’s citizenry, the number of Muslim names and especially the sickle cell disease testing which is administered to risk – i.e. Third World – population cohorts not to mention everyday experience – the visual survey of the inhabitants of towns and cities plus sportsmen representing France – provide factual information in this respect. Besides, the European Union – and France is one of the two pillars of it – makes no bones about it: resettlement from the Third World to Europe ranks among its most ambitious projects and as such it is well under way. Unless the current course is reversed, France’s as well as Germany’s, Great Britain’s or Sweden’s destinies are sealed. Beyond 2050 the Western world is going to be a part of the Third World with its population resembling that of India or Mexico. The France of 2050 will be to the France of 1950 what the Turkish Empire was to the Byzantine Empire.

Similarly profound changes are taking place in the world of finances. Modern Money Theory is replacing both the Austrian School of Economics and the Keynesian economic principles. What does MMT advocate? It advocates money creation and spending without regard for the hitherto binding controls along with the non-observance of anything that classical economists held as canon rules. Hence quantitative easing and negative interest rates. Since money is no longer pegged to gold, everything is allowable. The be-all and end-all of the MMT approach is to maintain and possibly advance growth, that fetish of present-day economists. Such financial policy requires an ever stricter surveillance over the amount of money, which is going to be made easier by the introduction of digital money as the only means of exchange. We are in for it. One might be well-advised to already say goodbye to banknotes and coins. Everybody’s finances – for want of any other means by necessity handled in an electronic way – will be made plain to see for the masters of the world who will be able to gain an insight into our pecuniary settlements via powerful computer systems without leaving their offices. A carrot bought or sold in a village miles off the beaten track will not escape the notice of the powers that be unless… unless people revert to barter. What a world to live in!

 

The following will not be an original remark: the world runs on money like the automobile runs on fuel. We may follow the decisions of politicians and even engage ourselves in campaigning and voting for some of them, and not be aware that they all have strings attached and either consciously or unconsciously do what needs to be done. Nothing can be done without money. It is those who control its creation and circulation who exert an influence on decision making.

Gefira #47 seeks to analyze the money matters, focusing its attention on the Bank of International Settlements and the Vatican City Bank. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are rather familiar to anyone who is more or less interested in world affairs. The two topical banks are much less known. We present the reader with their history, financial machinations and under-the-counter activities. The analysis that we present – eye-opening though it is – is merely the tip of the iceberg of the pecuniary dimensions of our existence which is inaccessible to the man in the street.