Europe's Eclipse of Intelligence - Introduction

What are the problems of Europe and why? These are the questions that are going to be discussed in this series.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn used the term “Eclipse of Intelligence” in order to describe Europe’s loss of values amidst what he saw as an ever-growing soulless materialism. Though in hindsight it seems like a somewhat exaggerated criticism of Europe of the time, the Russian author’s formula seems particularly apt today, considering the continent’s seeming death wish.

Europe is experiencing an eclipse of intelligence in the sense that intelligent action is needed for peace and prosperity of its citizens. As John F. Kennedy said in his peace speech of June 10, 1963, eerily relevant for Europe now:

“I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men. I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war--and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears. But we have no more urgent task.”

What is intelligent is to seek to increase economic and political freedom for society, not only because it is the morally correct thing to do, but also for purely utilitarian reasons: it brings peace and prosperity. Intelligent action is then the famous classical liberal rallying cry: “laissez-faire, laissez-passer”. In other words, non-interventionism within borders and across them.

This is still, unfortunately, a very hard sell in most of Europe, both on the left, the center and on the conservative right. There is a significant confusion among the public of the radical difference between political globalization (which is a form of tyranny) and economic globalization (which is free-trade). Such an understanding requires European populations that are versed in the benefits of freedom and the functioning of the free market, which is not the case after almost a century of welfare policies, public education and state interventionism in the economy. But this also requires a ruling minority in Europe that is at least to some extent interested in the improvement of European societies (even as this minority certainly betters its own situation).

It is doubtful whether this is the case. If anything, the ideas of liberty are probably regressing in Europe (though not in the US). Today, the European political elite can be said to be acting in an irrational manner (as defined above), because it is acting against its own long-term interest; hellbent on pursuing impossible and self-defeating objectives such as, but not limited to, reaching a Net Zero economy or inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.

What is important to understand is that this evolution is not preordained in any way. In a free market, the price of electricity would of course drop over time. In a free market, nuclear power would not suddenly be abandoned and fossil fuels would be very gradually replaced, over decades, with other forms of energy.

This evolution, not only in the areas of electricity generation but over large swaths of the European economies, is the result of erroneous and misguided economic policies by decision-makers and legislators. It is happening in part because of the deranged holier-than-thou post-modernist “ideology” that has taken hold of Western political culture since around 2010, leading to the implementation of policies that are clearly counter-productive and self-harming (this is even sometimes the point!), perhaps not always to the European ruling minority itself, but at least to their constituencies. (Across the pond, the Trump phenomenon is clearly a reaction to that nefarious ideology.)

At the same time, taxes are sky high and public services leave something to be desired in most European countries. It is no wonder that European politicians have among the lowest favorable opinion polls of all politicians in the entire world. Yet, Europeans pride themselves in their “well-functioning” so-called “democracies”.

But the irrationality, as defined above, in Europe can also be explained by the sharp decrease in competence among the European elite. Today, European politicians are dwarfed by the likes of Adenauer, de Gaulle, Thatcher, Kohl, Palme, and others. European political elites seem unable to handle complex economic, political and geostrategic issues and all of Europe is suffering as a result.

In the next instalments of this series on Europe’s eclipse of intelligence, a more detailed view will be provided on these topics, starting with the most important one of all, which undergirds all others: the economy.