By Stephen Sefton
Western governments no longer bother to conceal the inherent nihilism of their political actions in the face of declining political, military, and economic power relative to the majority of the world. This nihilism of the ruling elites of the West manifests itself in many ways. It is seen in the abuse of multilateral institutions, unilateralism and the abandonment of international law, the betrayal of their own people by mediocre leaders, their undemocratic domestic culture of censorship and repression, and the collapse of trust caused by constant bad faith.
Through increased productivity, improved technology, and greater development cooperation, Eurasian countries and their counterparts in other regions have created new trade and financial conditions that disadvantage Western economies. But instead of adapting to the new global economic reality and competitively addressing the challenges they face, Western ruling elites have resorted to protectionism, counterproductive unilateralism, and increasingly aggressive manipulation of the multilateral institutions they control, which are no longer as effective as before in achieving all their objectives.
The West's collective inability to respond coherently, viably, and effectively to the new world order is expressed in its desperate policies of militarization and its efforts to consolidate power regionally. These efforts are evident in the US military aggression against Venezuela, the Zionist-American aggression in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon, and the European interventions in Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova, for example. Domestically, amidst the censorship of genuine information and the political repression of protest, Western elites intimidate their populations by instilling fear of a fictitious Russian aggression or the false threat of oppressive Chinese hegemony.
Internationally, cynical Western ruling classes abuse the very institutions they created. They abuse their control of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to grossly and disproportionately favor their vassal governments, such as those of Argentina and Ukraine; they sabotage the World Trade Organization to obstruct potentially adverse rulings from arbitration mechanisms; and they manipulate organizations like the International Atomic Energy Agency to persecute Iran. Their disregard for international humanitarian law is most evident in their callous support for the Zionist genocide in Palestine and the systematic violations of international norms by the corrupt Nazi regime in Ukraine.
The same Western powers violate the most fundamental international norms with their repeated illegal aggressions against Iran and Venezuela, or any other country defending its national sovereignty. Likewise, they have consistently acted with blatant criminality by seizing the financial assets of the countries they attack economically and militarily, such as Libya, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. Domestically, Western leaders cannot offer their populations a vision for their future human development because they lack one.
Nor do they consider democratizing their economies by focusing on productivity and promoting small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the essential foundation of national economies, along with the public sector's provision of good health and education systems and new infrastructure. Instead, they propose discredited and outdated neoliberal schemes of corporate welfare, such as the recommendations in last year's report by Italian banker and politician Mario Draghi on future European competitiveness. In fact, faced with NATO's defeat in its war against Russia in Ukraine, European leaders now confront two insurmountable short-term consequences of their economic aggression against Russia: high public debt and deindustrialization due to the high cost of energy.
Now, they are contemplating even greater borrowing to revive European industry through a megalomaniacal scheme of general rearmament, supposedly in preparation for a war with Russia before 2030. While proposing this, last July the European leadership committed to a neocolonial submission agreement that obligates European countries to invest over US$600 billion in the American economy and purchase US$750 billion worth of American liquefied natural gas. The arrangement eliminates European tariffs on American exports but accepts a 15% tariff on European exports to the American market.
Nothing expresses the grotesque nihilism of the collective West better than this profoundly undemocratic betrayal of the sovereignty of European peoples. While the American and European elites destroy the aspirations of their people, the governments of the majority of the world committed to a new international order demonstrate their faith in the future human development of their people. The best among these governments direct their socioeconomic policies toward eliminating poverty, achieving the common good, protecting the interests of their people, and defending national sovereignty and dignity.
It is natural that revolutionary countries are the best representatives of this vision of the future because of their commitment to best practices for achieving the Common Good through responsible planning and a deep faith in the traditions and ancestral spirit of their people. This reality is evident in the way Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, among other countries, have managed to overcome the sadistic aggressions of Western elites. It is a profound and invincible faith in the human potential of our peoples. In the case of Venezuela, the frustration of the avaricious criminal elites of the United States is now expressed in the threat of a new and more serious military aggression.
In the case of the People's Republic of China, the tremendous transformative power of revolutionary faith is evident in the five-year planning coordinated by the Communist Party of China. This year, the CPC emphasized that, “The 15th Five-Year Plan occupies an important position of opening up to the future while building upon the legacy of the past in the process of fundamentally achieving socialist modernization. The fulfillment of socialist modernization, a historical process of step-by-step advancement and continuous development and progress, requires tireless effort and ongoing struggle.” Thus, China's socialism distinguishes the planned revolutionary process from the perverse capitalist vision of society as a chaotic series of individual transactions dominated by fascist elites who monopolize power.
Among the objectives of the new five-year plan, the CPC recommends prioritizing “greater strengthening of faith in our culture; steady consolidation and strengthening of major ideologies and public opinion; widespread application of core socialist values; continuous activation of the nation’s innovative and creative cultural vigor; and further enrichment of the people’s spiritual and cultural life…” This cultural awareness reflects the vision of President Xi Jinping, who has always emphasized the importance of the Chinese national spirit.
In 2013, before the 12th National People's Congress, President Xi Jinping stated, “To realize the Chinese Dream, we must cultivate the Chinese spirit, which consists of a national spirit centered on patriotism and a spirit of the times centered on reform and innovation. This spirit is the soul of the country's revitalization and strengthening.” Similarly, in 2021, during a visit to the famous Zhu Xi Garden in Fujian Province, President Xi remarked, “We must attach great importance to harnessing the essence of ancient Chinese civilization and combine the development of our excellent traditional culture with Marxist positions, views, and methods in order to unwaveringly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
This fusion of revolutionary commitment, best practices in governance, and faith in the national spirit is also seen in the revolutions of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. As our Comrade Rosario explained, “Our Heroes teach us to live Immensity, Immensity that means dedication to the Common Good. That is Immensity. It is Spirituality… Dedication to the Common Good!” And Commander Daniel affirmed, “They assassinated Sandino, they destroyed the human being, but they could not destroy the Spirit of Sandino, they could not destroy the Soul of Sandino. They could not destroy it! That is why, where is it? Where is it? It is in the Soul of the Nicaraguan People!” And Comrade Rosario also confirms that “We are always called to live our National Sovereignty with a profound and transcendent Spiritual Sense of Sovereignty, because our History, moreover, compels us to do so.”
This profound revolutionary awareness of the historical cultural and spiritual identity of our peoples drives our commitment to national planning focused on the human development of individuals and families. One of the mandatory principles that the CPC recommends for China's 15th Five-Year Plan is, “Perseverance in the primacy of the people. Respecting the leading role of the people, we must act by closely relying on them, safeguarding their fundamental interests, and promoting social equity and justice, paying attention to both ensuring and improving their living conditions…”
Similarly, Latin American revolutions emphasize the leading role of our peoples in defending their interests to achieve the common good. In Nicaragua, this principle is expressed not only through the five-year National Plans for Human Development and the Fight Against Poverty, but also through constant planning in all areas of national life, from citizen, road, and maternal safety, to disaster preparedness and fire prevention, protecting the coffee harvest, ensuring children's nutritional security, vaccination programs, healthy schools, the National Production, Consumption, and Trade Plan, and the ongoing plans of all institutions and municipalities.
Now, with the criminal threat of further military aggression against Venezuela from the United States, the crucial role played by national security and defense plans in safeguarding the security and peace of the Venezuelan people and national sovereignty becomes clear. This represents a decisive clash between the majority faith of our people in their future human development and the destructive nihilism of the collective West. As our co-presidency communicated in its message of congratulations to our brother President Nicolás Maduro;
“People like you, Nicolás, fill our hearts with new light and give us immense strength. May we continue to be, together, great energies, gigantic dreams, a confirmation of rights, with a transcendent vitality and firmness so that peace may be and reign. Always beyond and always together, in times of sacred and decisive battles, for the greatest and most decisive victories.”
