Proud sycophants and the ruling elite will take from their own people to feed the American military-industrial complex, while Trump — who both adores and despises the obedient — will bleed the continent dry as much as he can
After intense days of conflict in the Middle East, today the full focus is on the NATO summit currently taking place in the Netherlands. Unsurprisingly, the “main star” of the meeting is also the most powerful man in this military alliance: Donald Trump, of course — certainly not Mark Rutte, who now serves as Secretary General, though more on him later.
The key announcement concerns the decision that all member states of this Washington-led alliance will increase their military budgets to as much as 5% of GDP. Not long ago, even talk of raising it to 3% caused fierce reactions and — justifiably — resistance. But now we find ourselves in a situation where a massive military machine is effortlessly looting the pockets of ordinary people and redirecting enormous sums into the war industry. It’s not hard to guess who will benefit most from this pro-war, but certainly also anti-social (where else will the money come from?) move. It’s precisely the one who is demanding — loudly and threateningly — that the figure rise to 5% of GDP.
Humanity is burdened by enormous lobbies that are insatiable, but none are more greedy and dangerous than the military-industrial lobby. First, it plays on the psychological fear of the always-easily-frightened masses who, ever since the concept of the nation (not a particularly ancient idea but portrayed as eternal), have lived in fear — real and imagined — of being physically wiped out. Most often, that fear is deliberately fabricated, but occasionally it becomes quite real — even if still intentionally induced.
One doesn’t need a deep explanation to understand how the military-industrial complex survives. These factors are so simple that they should be clear to everyone. If disease didn’t exist, what would happen to the massive pharmaceutical industry? The same logic applies to the military industry — only instead of the sick, they depend on wars and active armed conflicts.
That massive industry, especially in countries like the USA, is one of the main pillars of the latest version of capitalist economics. Without war, it would collapse. With this in mind, and considering the current state of the world, we can say we are entering the “golden age” of the military industry.
The war in Ukraine has reached a new level of horror, not just in terms of death tolls, but also due to its permanentnature. The war is turning into this generation’s Vietnam, with effects we won’t be able to erase or ignore. Even if, by some miracle, Russia and Ukraine reach peace tomorrow, the impact will last for years. And even after peace, militarism won’t die down, even if the weapons fall silent. A nearly homogeneous political elite has emerged in Europe, having convinced itself that a major war, a Russian invasion, or some total war on the continent is just around the corner.
Even those with only modest geopolitical insight understand this is a lie — that the so-called terrifying Russian army cannot even capture a slightly larger city for months. Those who know the truth pretend not to, playing the part of ambassadors for the military-industrial complex (mostly American, although Europe has its crumbs too). The others? They’re even more “ideal” because they genuinely believe the propaganda they push and prepare even harder for the so-called inevitable.
And nothing can stop this process anymore — at least not while this ruling class is in power. The war in Ukraine might end — and they’ll say Russia is preparing for something even bigger. The regime in Russia could fall — and they’ll say that’s just a ruse, or that we must now prepare for a great war with China.
Years of war, propaganda, and societal pressure have taken their toll. People are now willingly allowing cuts to education, healthcare, and the general functioning of their countries — all while cheering for metallic flying machines that break the sound barrier and cost billions of euros.
Unimaginable wealth can be generated in the current state of Europe. No wonder this scent has once again drawn Trump, who continues to work for the lobbies that brought him into power. If the Israeli lobby (AIPAC) is among the most influential — something we’ve seen recently with the American strike on Iran — then the military-industrial lobby is certainly right up there, and Trump is working overtime for them as well.
Trump’s greedy mantra of “we’ve funded your security for too long” aligns perfectly with Europe’s distorted view of the world. European leaders are now beginning to agree with Trump, even though they can’t explain exactly what the American military is protecting them from. Russia again? Perhaps that’s why only Spain opposed the 5% GDP requirement — simply because it’s geographically one of the furthest from Russia? Of course not — the real reason is that Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez was the only one with the courage to resist this attack that others simply laid down for.
But Trump is angry. The U.S. has always been angry when one of its vassals (in practice — all of Europe) disobeyed. The difference now is that pressure used to be discreet, for the sake of “Atlantic unity”, while Trump applies it clearly and directly. He even threatened Madrid, saying they would “pay double” — suggesting consequences for their resistance.
And speaking of Trump’s openness, we must return to the man mentioned at the beginning: Mark Rutte, former Dutch Prime Minister and current NATO Secretary General. Of all the monotonous European elites, Rutte may be the most precise example of the modern European “ideology” that is suffocating the continent. Few European leaders jumped on the bandwagon of “Russia must be defeated through war in Ukraine” as early and as eagerly as he did.
Here is the full message Trump shared on Truth Social:
Mr. President, dear Donald,
Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, it was truly remarkable and something no one else dared to do. You have made us all safer.
You’re flying towards another great success in The Hague tonight. It wasn’t easy, but we got them all to sign off on the 5%!
Donald, you’ve brought us to a truly important moment for America, Europe, and the world. You are achieving something that NO American president has managed in decades.
Europe will PAY BIG, as it should, and that will be your victory.
Safe travels, and see you at the dinner with His Majesty!
— Mark Rutte
Someone could easily interpret this message as treason against all of Europe — and it would be an accurate assessment. But this kind of sycophancy and outright service to American interests is passed off in the media as a minor news story — as if putting European interests last has become completely normalized.
That same man, Mark Rutte, is now literally shaping our destiny and living standards, through his full-on advocacy for the military-industrial complex (again — mostly American), which will drag us down several notches in terms of social wellbeing, while surrounding us with more sonic boom machines, expensive tanks, and bombs we’ll eventually need to use — just so they don’t gather dust.
Meanwhile, Rutte is — to put it mildly — a sycophant without equal. Before the NATO summit, he sent Trump a private message packed with praise, promises, and “good news” (the 5% GDP!). The content was so subservient that even the most spineless puppets in European history would blush. Naturally, it was low of Trump to publicly share the message — but he enjoys humiliating his minions, parading them for the world to see, praising himself and his power. He undoubtedly despises sycophants, but is happy to bleed them dry. Rutte is one of those puppets who, when knocked down, smiles and asks whether he should fall even lower — as he did today, stating to the media that he is “not ashamed” of the message he sent Trump.
When the European elites once viewed Trump as a temporary anomaly, they tried to excommunicate and mock him. Now, seeing the rise of Trumpism (mainly due to virtually no opposition in the U.S.), they are turning into major sycophants. Of course, they don’t admire him — they simply hope to use him to advance their ideological goals, and in the process, will hand him vast sums of money taken from their own people. They also see that a personality cult is rapidly forming around Trump in the U.S., while he himself has become a walking contradiction — anyone can catch his ear and plant a new idea in five minutes.
Sadly, the biggest losers in this exchange of mutual humiliation will be the European people. For Europeans, everything will get worse — economy, security, energy. The only hope lies in clearly recognizing who is responsible for leading them into this condition, and why. But Europe’s downfall will be even more tragic if these same ordinary working people start to vent their frustrations on scapegoats — or allow (and even call for!) the militarization of daily life due to the “terrifying threats from the East.”
About the Author
