The Fall of Europe

Criticism and warnings were part of the JD Vance speech to the European Security Conference on February 14^th. His presentation laid out the practical aspects of Trump's America First policy, which includes the United States pursuing an end to the Ukraine War.

Vance was highly critical of Europe for its attempts to control free speech and warned them that if they tried to censor American media companies, there would be serious consequences. He also told Europe to get ready for tariffs because the United States would be leveling out the playing field on trade, ending the period of the United States being played by the Europeans. Reaction to the speech from inside Europe was indignation from those in power and support from those who wished to be.

Let's take a closer look at what has happened to Europe.

The continent is in decline, based on its globalist/neoliberal model of governance and declining birth rate. In countries like the UK and France, an elitist-benefiting model operates from the cosmopolitan cities of London and Paris. The educated, upwardly mobile types live in these cities and hold sway.

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The rural areas are ignored, and the people who live in them are considered inconsequential. Middle-class people are forced to live outside the cities because they can't afford to live in them. That means they have little access to educational and career opportunities. The situation in France was expertly described in the 2019 book Twilight of the Elites by Christophe Guilluy.

Germany, a country that has always relied on manufacturing to drive its economy, is suffering because of high energy prices, deindustrialization, and immigration. Germany followed the World Economic Forum's 2030 plan to achieve a Globalist/Neoliberal world and shut down coal and nuclear power plants. The result is that energy costs in Germany are four times that of the United States. Meanwhile, foreign competition has decimated the German industrial base. The German people now realize that the open society concept of the neoliberal order has failed them because its benefits are only enjoyed by the elites. The common man is ignored and denigrated.

The European powers have long neglected investment in their military capability while they rode along on America's dime. They support Ukraine unconditionally, see it as a firewall against Russian adventurism, and have supported Ukraine in the form of loans to buy armaments and providing the weapons directly. But, they have no strategy for prosecuting the war other than funding Ukraine and hoping they win. It took someone like Trump to face Putin as an equal and move the war toward a conclusion. Trump hates useless killing, which is more important to him than the politics of the region.

Populist movements are rising in Europe and will be helped along by Trump's second term. Fortunately for the American people, the United States was lagging behind Europe in the adoption of a Globalist ideology. Resistance from the right and the American character, which holds freedom in a high place, have thwarted its progress.

Biden signed on to the WEF 2030 plan, but its support base never got much wider than the Silicon Valley crowd.

Things are more difficult in Europe because the neoliberals have been in power longer, and the public has only recently woken up to reality. The American experience will propel the European populist parties forward, but it will take time. Recent elections in the UK, France, and Germany saw the neoliberals stay in power, principally because they pretended they received the message of anger from the public.

In Germany, the CDU (Christian Democratic Union), which is a conservative party, gained the largest share of seats (26%) in the election on February 23^rd. The SDU (Social Democratic Party), which recently had the largest share of seats in parliament, was rejected soundly and took its worst beating since the 1890s at 16%.

The populist right party AfD (Alternative for Germany) received almost 21%. The AfD was founded in 2013 as an anti-European Union Party. It has some nativist constituents who are anti-muslim, and occasionally, someone in the party will make a statement that resembles Nazi-like ideology. Its current leader, Alice Weidel, asserts that the AfD is a libertarian party.

To Germans, anything that smells even a little bit like Hitler is canceled, and a statute is in place that allows the government to suspend parties that are too extreme. For now, the AfD will be frozen out of the government, and the conservatives will form a coalition with the SDP. That coalition means that the government will keep the status quo, and the public will become more frustrated. The German election has accomplished nothing.

The three great powers of Europe are on a suicide path. They hope to put off populism in favor of the status quo, but their ideology is unacceptable to their publics because the people are falling farther and farther behind.

Vice President Vance's statements on freedom of speech are a response to two American concerns: European attempts to control the public's free speech and its effort to censor social media. Europe does not have 1^st Amendment rights like the US, and the legal door is open to censorship.

The Digital Services Act (DSA), birthed by the EU and in full force as of February 2024, is a regulation that aims to tackle "misinformation," "disinformation," and "hate speech" online. There have been cases in various countries where citizens were arrested for criticizing their governments.

"We are living in a new bipolar order of speech. On the one hand, Europe is doubling down on censorship, while the US is recommitting to its free speech heritage." - Paul Coleman, executive director of ADF International.

Europe will continue its free fall until the populist parties figure out how to win elections. That will require their embrace of acceptable governing platforms, which will make a larger percentage of the public trust their ability to govern. If populists gain ground, they will need to figure out how to throw off the neoliberal ideology that could destroy Europe in spite of their efforts.

Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.