'Europe is finished', there is no going back: Telegraph chief editor

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Telegraph
1 Feb 2024 18:56
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Allister Heath argues that the state of Europe today was self-inflicted and a core rot that went beyond reprehension.

A shredded European Union flag flutters in the wind in Brussels in 2016 (AFP)

Europe as the world once knew it is "finished", and global countries are now clearly witnessing its "humiliating fall" except for "deluded Europeans", the chief editor of the British The Telegraph said in an op-ed published by the newspaper on Thursday.

Allister Heath announced that "it's time to mourn the demise of old Europe," which fell from being the world's "richest and most advanced" continent to becoming "rotten" beyond reprehension on a steep decline.

"The welfarism, decadence, pacifism and self-hatred too ingrained, the doom-loop unstoppable," he said.

The cross-sector problems that Europe faces, which are its own making, have grown significantly worse and are resulting in the decline of social unity, economic progress, and military prowess, among other aspects.

This is also affecting influential countries in the bloc, including Germany, France, and the Netherlands, which are today heading toward a "social explosion," he pointed out, citing the recent clash with farmers who have become "radicalized".

Irrelevant on the global geopolitical landscape

This is the current status quo from struggling with a disastrous economic failure and becoming almost completely "irrelevant" in the geopolitical arena to internal crises, which have spread to the core, related to a growing lack of democratic governance, as well as migration and integration.

Meanwhile, the continent remains with a subpar populist political leadership that is hesitant to address the deeply entrenched challenges and only serves its own interests, disregarding the ongoing "social disintegration".

Heath suggested that European youth could today travel to the United States, which offers a more favorable lifestyle and living standards and where they will also be less subjected to a scenario of "total war".

The editor-in-chief admits, however, that the US is "also sick", suffering from "social decay" and the growth of "woke ideology", in parallel with the ridiculous "rematch" between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

But compared to European capitals, the US still has its capitalist "spirit", its scientific, academic, and entrepreneurial steers, alongside other social and financial aspects to walk through its problems.

Imploding welfare state

On the other hand, "there is no way back for a European continent that has embraced nihilism, post-Christian paganism, illiberalism and the politics of envy," which considers closing down industries, such as fossil fuel and nuclear power plants, and impoverishing its people required to "save the planet" and has overlooked Brexit as an anomaly that only serves London's elite and does not reflect the ambition of Britians.

According to Eurostat's projections, the European Union's population is expected to reach its peak at 453.3 million in the next two years, but then it will decline significantly to 419.5 million by the year 2100, despite substantial immigration.

This population decline will be driven primarily by a sharp decrease in the birth rate, leading to a substantial aging of the population. This, in turn, will lead welfare states to "implode" as taxes will have to increase for the younger generation to fund healthcare and pensions for the elderly.

Additionally, European elites want to fill the gap with migration while failing to integrate recently migrated individuals into the continent's societies.

On that note, he argued that the rise of Germany's right-wing AfD should be a source of worry to everyone, concluding that Europe's coming elections will see a growing influence of populist parties.

Economic suicide

On economic parities between Europe and the United States, he highlighted that the US GDP grew by 3.3% compared to 0% in Europe, while that of Germany - the bloc's powerhouse - shrank again, adding that the war in Ukraine also contributed to that decline.

Furthermore, tax and financial regulation barriers resulted in decades of bad economic performance, with now Europe's top economies wanting to shut down the agriculture sector to "meet net-zero targets."

According to Heath, "The Germans are destroying their car industry, and Europe will import Chinese electric vehicles instead."

Moreover, "decades of 'industrial strategy' and subsidies have failed to create a world-class European tech industry. The continent’s economic suicide is already triggering an exodus of the best and brightest."

It's a disgrace

Heath slammed the state of Europe's military status, which he argues contributed to the continent being of "geopolitical irrelevance".

He highlighted France's absence from global security issues, including the situation in the Red Sea, while describing the German military as "a joke".

This comes while all 2022 promises to rebuild armies in Europe went nowhere.

"The continent is almost completely demilitarised, lacks personnel and hardware, doesn’t have the capacity to produce more of the latter, has zero long-term answers to contain Putin and has done nothing to prepare for the possibility of a second Trump victory. It’s a disgrace," he said.

The United Kingdom, across the political spectrum, believes that rejoining Europe could solve its financial problems, but the discrepancies, even on a political level between the UK's Labour party and Europe's rising right-wing parties, would hinder any benefit the British desire.

He questioned the fact that a reintegration with a "zero-growth" EU would change anything.

"It can't," the top editor affirmed.

"Europe’s gradual eclipse is accelerating, and it would be absurd for any British government to consider realigning the country with it."