1. Nobody elected our prime minister at the time to sign away our sovereignty and 10% of our economy in the treaty of Maastricht, and the "people" that elected him where neither asked (through referendum) nor informed about the repercussions. It was negotiated over and decided on by the "ruling elite" in backrooms, just like everything is decided in the EU.
2. The Netherlands has a functioning, "democratic" government in the sense that the country is ruled by bureaucrats (the deep state if you will) and we get to choose between different people who'll do as they're told.
3. And you can form political parties and say what you want as long as it doesn't go against the ruling elite, otherwise you'll find out very quickly that these supposed "freedoms" are limited, very much like the are in Russia. (We can discuss this somewhere else, but I have more than enough examples to illustrate this argument).
In short, I believe that you like many others fully buy into the Western propaganda many of us where raised on.
To bring this back on topic, I'm not saying Putin is the "good guy" or that fighting a war is a positive thing. But it irks me that there is an assumption that the West is any less vicious or warmongering than anybody else. I think that people are thoroughly propagandized, but I think that people who think that the West is better are equally misled. That is not to say that I'm against the "West" or that I don't think that we should be better or more peaceful.
I am a denizen of the West and as such my survival and prosperity is linked to its position in the world. Therefore I want my side to do everything to be in the best position it can be, because I know that life can be a whole lot worse. But I also know that the situation we're faced with at the moment, is something that my side has also had a hand in creating by making bad moves, being greedy and overestimating our own position.
In other news... This is the position a lot of Western militaries are in:
German Lieutenant General Alfons Mais said:
"In my 41th year of peace-time service, I would not have thought that I would have to experience a war," Lieutenant General Alfons Mais said on LinkedIn on Thursday.
"And the Bundeswehr, the army which I have the honour to command, is standing there more or less empty-handed. The options we can offer the government in support of the alliance are extremely limited."
What is the readiness like around Europe?
In this article the Dutch defense minister is quoted as saying: ,,Dat betekent dat verloven kunnen worden ingetrokken. Dit is heel impactvol.’’ . Meaning that there is a possibility that leave may be cancelled, which worries me because I assumed that leave would have been cancelled days ago. I know the Poles are mobilizing so shouldn't the whole of Europe be on high alert and getting ready to move out at a moments notice?
If there was ever a time to recall the troops to their barracks and get them ready for operations... wouldn't now be that time? Or is it all just theater and is this threat that Russia supposedly poses to Eastern Europe just theater to rile up the populace?
