= Hate will prevail
Welcome to the dark age!
“Hate will prevail” or Hatrið mun sigra is the Icelandic song for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 by the group Hatari. As the title and the text (see bottom of this post) say, we are entering a period of antagonism with the intensity of hate.
The American ruthlessness towards other countries is a bad omen. Not only enemy rivals like China are hit by trade wars and economic sanctions or by punishments justified by some pretext like a postulated IT security emergency (which insofar as it was real should give rise to other types of actions). A leading person of a large competing company is simply arrested. Millions of telephone users all over the world are taken as hostages.
But also close allies are threatened by economic sanctions simply for not following orders issued by Trump, Pompeo or the US governor residing in the embassy in Berlin, orders concerning policies on Iran and Russia. Soon we may see German cars being taxed as another national security risk. The arrogance and contempt expressed by the US administration towards its allies is shocking.
Unfortunately such arrogant attitudes towards the outside world are not only expressed by the present US administration. Many US politicians in both parties hold similar views. Now the last barrier of moderation and decency has fallen, and such arrogance and contempt will stay a part of US foreign policies in the future. Attempts to order and control what other countries do, will be directed agains the whole world. Especially countries in what the United States regard as their sphere of interest, not least Europe, will suffer and in many cases they will simply have to obey orders.
It is also a bad omen to see how Trump, Bolton and Pompeo are building up tensions with Iran and elsewhere as if a deliberate or accidental war was just a minor price to pay, not a disaster. Creating and increasing tensions are regarded as a normal part of foreign politics. Such behavior together with the deliberate trade interruptions view the world as a playground rather than the intricate extremely interwoven system it is. A such system can suffer seriously through tensions and barriers. As every country is an integral part of the global system, nobody will be “great again”. Already now American consumers are paying for the trade wars with higher prices.
Particularly worrying is further the building up of tensions inside the United States. A striking example is the extreme anti-abortion legislation introduced in several US states. If it is generalized by the conservative Supreme Court, such laws together with other radical right-wing measures will polarize American society to the brink of revolution. It is especially worrying that the impetus for the polarizing policies not only comes from the politicians, but is rooted in a deeply split American population. There are light years from the Evangelic and other fundamental Christians and the marginalized in the rust belts to the educated inhabitants in the big cities. The polarization in the population and the polarization between the political parties reinforce each other. The constitution is already strained by a president trying to overrule the division of power and the checks and balances. With polarizing policies by extreme Republicans and the to be awaited Democratic reactions and countermeasures, the American Constitution will crumble under the pressure. In the worst case the country can descend into chaotic conditions.
The combination of the developments in US foreign politics and the domestic condition of America is especially worrying for the world. For rivals outside the American sphere of interest internal chaos in America may sound like good news. But its power in military and not least IT and financial matters is colossal enough to make lots of damage. Wars through trade, IT-exchange and cyberspace and real wars can ruin world economy and destabilize countries and relations. The chaotic conflicts of power between opposing hostile forces in the United States will often be channelled outwards in aggressive actions towards foreign countries.
And for allies within the American sphere the combination of US arrogance and internal chaos may be catastrophic. Such countries can be passive victims of competing US politicians using the American part of the world as just a tool in their struggles as power shifts between them in possibly revolutionary ways. Thus as said in the previous post, unless the EU strengthens remarkably, we like Latin America and other countries in the American sphere of interest may encounter a destiny like the countries in the Hellenist world after the Roman victory over Cartage. Become humiliated and subjugated one by one in internally driven bursts of aggressive American policies.
But globally America will suffer greatly from its internal divisions and struggles. Its rivals will benefit from US weakness and lack of strategy. Thereby the American sphere will become limited in size.
Thus as Hatari sings, hatred will rise. Both inside countries and between countries. The powerless will be trampled down.
The revelry was unrestrained
The hangover is endless
Life is meaningless
The emptiness will get us all
Hate will prevail
Happiness will end
For it is an illusion
A treacherous pipe dream
All that I saw
Tears ran down
All that I gave
Once gave
I gave it all to you
Multilateral delusions
Unilateral punishments
Gullible poor fellows
The escape will end
The emptiness will get us all
Hate will prevail
Europe will crumble
A web of lies
Will arise from the ashes
United as one
All that I saw
Tears ran down
All that I gave
Once gave
I gave it all to you
All that I saw
Tears ran down
All that I gave
Once gave
I gave it all to you
Hate will prevail
Love will die
Hate will prevail
Happiness will end
For it is an illusion
A treacherous pipe dream
Hate will prevail
Note
Similar developments as inside America will take place in several countries as we see in the rise of populism, but no country is as globally important as America.
