Did the French Government Let the Protests Escalate?

There is evidence suggesting that French authorities purposefully allowed the protests to spiral out of control, and may even have encouraged them, as a means of asserting authority.

It has been clear for some time that France will end in crisis. The protests across the country on the Saturdays of October 17 and 24 sparked a new political dynamic in France and set off a perfect storm in Europe. The level of looting and destruction of private property was unprecedented in living memory.

France Sets Off Europe’s Perfect Storm

Europe’s most serious crisis since WWII is now accelerating as anger crystalizes among the majorities. It will lead to a rough awakening for many.

The shocking and nation-wide protests of October 17, 2026, in France are the clearest expression yet of a country, and a continent, in crisis. A perfect storm is brewing in Europe, largely of its own making. Europe’s “Eclipse of Intelligence,” to borrow Solzhenitsyn’s phrase, is coming to a head.

Why France Will End in Crisis

International focus on France is going to increase as its 2027 presidential campaign gets going, but also as its economic and fiscal outlook continues to darken. Interest rates are rising worldwide while France’s public debt is nearing 120% of GDP. France’s real economic growth has been anaemic for over a decade, and its budget deficit is stuck at around –5% of GDP. The social security and retirement system are economically unsustainable and there are doubts whether the 2027 budget can even be agreed upon. As the watch-dog Court of Accounts wrote recently, the “demanding and difficult task of regaining control over our public finances starting in 2026 is imperative for debt sustainability.”

Four Economists Who Support Statism at the Expense of Freedom - Part II: Kelton and Mazzucato

Perhaps the more sophisticated of the four statist macroeconomists discussed in this two-part article, are Stephanie Kelton and Mariana Mazzucato. As American academics, they are far less tin-eared in their statements regarding the benefits of the market economy than Piketty and Zucman. They put the efficient, managerial state in the centre of a state-directed economy, fuelled by endless money printing from the central bank. There are precedents for this economic policy: Germany, Italy, and the USA in the 1930s and 1940s. If Piketty and Zucman are socialists, Kelton and Mazzucato are fascists.

Four Economists Who Support Statism at the Expense of Freedom - Part I: Piketty and Zucman

Every generation produces its slew of mouthpieces for state power at the expense of freedom. Statist economists are some of the most sophisticated of these, for three reasons. Firstly, they appear to criticize the current crony capitalist system, when in reality they defend it and want it reinforced in different ways. Secondly, they usually rely on statistics and mathematics to make their cases “scientifically”, making it more difficult for the layman to see through the flaws in their thinking. Third, they couch their argumentation in “feel-good” moral values, to which superficially the public can feel drawn, such as the fight against inequality.

Public Opinion: Cornered by the Many, Controlled by the Few

As many have understood, freedom of speech is under threat in the West today, in particular - of course - dissident speech. But it is important to remember that even if freedom of speech protection were implemented for speech that threatens the power-that-be, public opinion would still be corralled and controlled by the ruling minority. And public opinion would still be subdued by its own conduit: the majority. In other words, public opinion - that most important of political agents, capable to bringing down entire political systems - is cornered by the many and controlled by the few. This is what makes politics truths so difficult to spread in society.

The Declaration of 1789 Does Not Protect Rights

The 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is widely regarded as a foundational text of European liberalism. For more than two centuries, it has undoubtedly helped to restrain many egregious violations of individual rights by European governments against their subjects. Its influence goes far beyond France, as the Elysée palace proudly explains:

The Bread and Circus of World Cup 2026

It is somewhat endearing to see all humanity unite around men running after a ball. It is also fascinating, and a little troubling, to see the passion and the energy that took hold of the soccer-watching majority in this World Cup 2026. Sport events are the modern “bread and circus”, to keep the majority distracted while the ruling minorities tighten the screw to enhance control.

Freedom in a World of Domination

It is obvious for Libertarians that the advancement of freedom requires the reduction of state power. However, many Libertarians consider that liberty requires a wider respect for property rights, beyond state coercion. By examining this assumption from two well-known libertarians, Rothbard and Hoppe, it is relevant to introduce the concept of “domination”, and thus link libertarianism with a theory of power. This helps realistically define the state in a social setting and points to a political definition of freedom.

The Western Militant Mind Is Now at a Critical Crossroads

To yield or to insist? That is the question that will not be asked…

It cannot have escaped even the most die-hard supporter of unipolarity that the West is now at a critical crossroads, not only with respect to Iran, but more generally, geopolitically and economically. 

The Hypocrisy of Western Universal Values

D. Rivera, “Man, Controller of the Universe”, formerly “Man at Crossroads” (1933).

Despite the lofty rhetoric, the Western ruling minorities have only partially and sporadically given priority to the values extolled during the Enlightenment.

The current world crisis has its roots in the hypocritical Western insistence on so-called “universal values” such as human rights, liberal democracy, and open markets. Though these are serious political concepts they are also feel-good expressions, as well as abstract and even contradictory; so much so that they often are wrongly interpreted and implemented, often to suit political agenda. This ought to be obvious to all in the West by now, but unfortunately it is not.

Europe's Eclipse of Intelligence - EUSSR

Considering what has been said in the previous chapters, it seems appropriate to dig into a meme that has been going around for some time, namely “EUSSR”. The implication is, of course, that the EU is starting to resemble the Soviet Union. Though this might sound like a bad joke on the face of it, there are in fact many common points between the European Union and the Soviet Union, and the EU planned direction, such as the Letta plan and the Draghi plan, will further increasing the similarities.