War As Scare Tactic Constitutes Part of "Big Transformation"

Day after day, people take to the streets in Western Europe because they feel that their very livelihood is at risk, with farmers' protests attracting wide media coverage in recent weeks. In the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine war and the upcoming European Parliament elections, the West sees growing unrest and a possible third world war has become a much-discussed topic. What is underlying the war threat as a scare tactic is the dismantling of the existing social model, cuts to welfare spending and the militarization of Western Europe, Zoltan Kisszely, director of political analysis at the Szazadveg Foundation told Magyar Nemzet.

Budapest, 2022. január 17. Kiszelly Zoltán, a Politikai Elemzések Központjának igazgatója a Századvég Közéleti Tudásközpont Alapítvány A válságok kora - Az Európa Projekt kutatás eredményei 2021-ben címû konferenciáján a Várkert Bazárban 2022. január 17-én. Fotó: Szigetváry Zsolt Forrás: MTI

Is this not a distraction then, but a way of preparing people to accept that they will have to do with less money?

This is a transformation. One of the main reasons for the farmers' protests is the EU budget. So far, two-thirds of the EU budget have gone to rural and agricultural subsidies and cohesion funding. Whereas, only one-third of the new EU budget starting in 2028 will be earmarked for agriculture and rural development. Since so many farmers cannot be supported with so little money, the winding up of small farms is already underway.

Belgian farmers protest on the motorway to Brussels, near Beersel, on January 29, 2024  (Photo: MTI/EPA/Olivier Matthys)

Farmers see this happening and are protesting against the process. It's not only about the glut of grain from Ukraine, but also about the big ongoing transformation: there are too many farmers and too many small and medium-sized farms in Western Europe. East of the Elbe, there are large farms. West of the River Elbe, there are small and medium-sized farms.  In Western Europe, these small and medium-sized farms are facing liquidation. Globalists want to buy the land cheaply, and US speculators may be forced to leave Ukraine.

Belgian farmers burn tyres as their tractors block traffic on the motorway near Daussoulx on January 28, 2024 (Photo: MTI/EPA/Frederic Sierakowski)

In Western Europe, in Germany, the owners of small and medium-sized farms are selling their land because of tightening rules. Because of the heat pump law, because of the phasing out of gas boilers, flats and apartment buildings are being sold, and thus globalists can purchase land or apartment buildings cheaply in the West. This is part of the big transformation. Put it differently, the threat of war is part of the transformation of the West. Dismantling the existing social model is one element, cutting welfare spending is another, militarizing Western Europe is a third.

Many use Putin to arouse fear in people and as a result, people decide not to protest.  How well does this as a strategy work?

This is not a good strategy. Everyone knows that if Putin cannot take Ukraine, he probably won't want a confrontation with NATO. And everyone knows that NATO's presence ultimately provides a nuclear umbrella. The Russians want no nuclear war because no one can win that. Using Putin as a scare tactic doesn't work. Most of all, it's a propaganda ploy by the mainstream media, which people in the West don't believe either, but they can't speak out, because they'll end up like those who speak out against migration: getting fired from their jobs, or their media banned. Mainstream propaganda no longer works. It fails not only because people see through it, but also because the mainstream can no longer ensure prosperity. This is the key issue. With prosperity people are accustomed to in decline in the West, people no longer believe what the elites responsible for this loss of welfare say. In fact, protection against Putin without prosperity is not enough for people, because on the one hand they don't see Russia as a threat, and on the other hand they have no promises that their lives will ever get better again. Unable to change their lives for the better democratically, they are left with no choice but to demonstrate and go on strike. The globalist elites do not ask Western Europeans about these issues, but impose rainbow coalition governments or grand coalitions on the population.

Cover photo: Zoltan Kiszelly (Photo: MTI/Zsolt Szigetvary)