Annalena Baerbock’s remarks will in all likelihood be seen as a turning point in hindsight, during which time the “democratic” mask infamously slipped to reveal the German elite’s dictatorial face.
The concept of Western Democracy is widely understood to mean that society’s elected representatives are supposed to always work in their people’s interests and be accountable to them, which is why the German Foreign Minister’s latest policy statement was so shocking to witness. Annalena Baerbock ironically made the following anti-democratic vow on Wednesday during a conference about “Democracy’s Clear and Present Danger: How Do We Respond?”:
“If I give the promise to people in Ukraine – ‘We stand with you, as long as you need us’ – then I want to deliver. No matter what my German voters think, but I want to deliver to the people of Ukraine.
…
We are facing now wintertime, when we will be challenged as democratic politicians. People will go in the street and say ‘We cannot pay our energy prices’. And I will say ‘Yes I know, so we help you with social measures.’
But I don’t want to say ‘Ok then we stop the sanctions against Russia.’ We will stand with Ukraine, and this means the sanctions will stay also in wintertime, even if it gets really tough for politicians.”
In the span of just several sentences, the top diplomat of the EU’s de facto leader just discredited the entire concept of Western Democracy. Far from working for the interests of those people who elected her government, she’s openly promising to work against them even if they take to the streets to protest en masse against her counterproductive policy of sanctioning Russia, which has resulted in inflicting such tremendous hardships on average Germans.
Over half a year ago prior to the latest US-provoked phase of the Ukrainian Conflict, Western officials and influential opinionmakers in their society (chiefly in the government-influenced Mainstream Media) would have smeared any speculation about this scenario as a so-called “conspiracy theory” per their malicious information warfare campaign against the minds of their own people. Lo and behold, now that Baerbock just discredited Western Democracy, these same folks have nothing to say.
If anything, observers can expect those opinionmakers to soon rally in her defense, arguing that every German must suffer in order to supposedly “protect democracy” in Ukraine. “The ends justify the means”, as the Machiavellian mindset teaches, so it therefore follows that the essence of Western Democracy must apparently be indefinitely suspended until the so-called “decolonization of Russia” is fully completed like Western leaders are now hinting is their grand strategic goal in this proxy war.
Since that’s nothing but a political fantasy though, this means that the comparatively much more “democratic” status quo ante bellum will obviously never return, nor is it even meant to in the first place. Creeping awareness of this political fact will predictably prompt widespread protests across the West, made all the wilder by people’s desperation as they seriously struggle to pay for their basic living expenses for the first time since World War II.
It's against this context that it’s much easier to understand exactly what Baerbock sought to achieve through her provocative statement that completely discredited Western Democracy. She’s trying to gaslight the public into believing that their existing and forthcoming economic suffering is for a so-called “greater cause” than themselves, one that was apparently “inevitable” for their government to support despite the immense costs. This false narrative is naively intended to weaken the protest movement.
The reality, however, is that “democracy” was dismantled in Ukraine by none other than Zelensky himself with full Western support after he banned opposition parties, jailed some of their members, and shut down critical media outlets. Moreover, there was nothing “inevitable” about Germany capitulating to the US’ sanctions demands and thus committing economic suicide in the sense of voluntarily impoverishing its own people and thus forever hamstringing the EU’s competitiveness vis a vis the US.
Regardless of Baerbock’s dramatic promise to Ukraine, the latest data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker that was reported on by Politico in late August proves that Germany and the five other largest EU countries made no new military commitments to Kiev in July. Quite clearly, the Foreign Minister of the bloc’s de faco leader is speaking with a forked tongue for reasons that only she can account for but which educated conjecture can help answer.
On the one hand, she and her ilk are dead serious about dismantling Western Democracy exactly as Zelensky dismantled his crumbling former Soviet Republic’s own, but on the other, she also keenly understands that Germany cannot indefinitely sustain its military aid to Kiev. Therein lies the dilemma between words, actions, and intentions – made all the more complicated by their confluence in this case – which makes it difficult to predict exactly what Germany will do next.
Nevertheless, the parameters of its policymaking options are already apparent. Its elite don’t want to go back to the comparatively more “democratic” status quo ante bellum, yet they also can’t proceed full-speed ahead with imposing a hyper-liberal dictatorship either since they already expect there to be massive unrest this winter once the impending energy crisis climaxes. This suggests a so-called “middle ground” policy whereby the coming dictatorship will be imposed gradually and not radically.
As for the military dimension, Germany also can’t walk back on its prior commitments but nor can it keep up the pace of what it’s previously dispatched, let alone compete with the US in this respect. For that reason, it’s expected that the EU’s de facto leader will continue spewing unconvincing rhetoric about “standing with Ukraine regardless of the cost” while silently scaling back some of its arms supplies to Kiev behind the scenes.
Germany’s anti-Russian sanctions policy will probably remain very strict though since it’s enforced by its American patron, who’ll never let Berlin abandon it without Washington’s permission, which isn’t expected to ever be granted. This in turn suggests that the structural basis of that country’s instability won’t be addressed, which means that more protests can be predicted, within which provocative elements (whether state-connected or not) could create the pretext for accelerating dictatorial trends.
While Germany struggles to balance its actions and intentions with respect to these three policies related to the future of its political system, arms sales to Kiev, and the anti-Russian sanctions, its representatives will probably stick with the official script no matter the true policymaking discussions. As such, average folks will have to speculate what might really be going on behind the scenes since nothing will be clear, which in and of itself is yet another example of Germany discrediting Western Democracy.
All told, Baerbock’s remarks will in all likelihood be seen as a turning point in hindsight, during which time the “democratic” mask infamously slipped to reveal the German elite’s dictatorial face. “Germany’s Century-Long Plot To Capture Control Of Europe Is Almost Complete” in the economic, military, and political spheres, for which reason its elite seem to have decided that it’s time to gradually impose a dictatorship at home in order to supposedly lay the basis for their dictatorship over the rest of the EU.
Dick Cheney - answering questions about massive protests by US voters against the 2003 invasion or Iraq - articulated the concept when he replied: 'the voters get their say once every 4 years, but governments cannot be blown off-course by public opinion'.
Seems classic revolution.
At what point do the police, soldiers and low level bureaucrats abandon their elite bosses?