By: Dr. Štefan Šumah
Imagine the following scenario: drivers in electric cars can no longer control their speed, computer screens display anything but what users intend, televisions explode and cause fires, mobile phones burn users’ ears and hands, smartwatches explode on wrists – not to mention the dangers caused by toys… A modern apocalypse.
But is this really so far from us? Not long ago, this happened in Lebanon. Pagers exploded in the pockets and hands of Hezbollah members. The same occurred with portable radios. In a matter of days, Mossad successfully incapacitated a significant number of terrorists. They demonstrated that it can be done and that it is, in fact, relatively simple – you just need to install the “right thing” into appropriately programmed electronics and activate it at the right time.
In such an “electronic” war, the advantage lies with electronics manufacturers. And which country is the largest producer of electronics? China. There are likely very few devices that do not contain at least one electronic component made in China. Beyond this, Europe is also increasingly dependent on China for energy, driven by its own foolishness. How many solar panels or wind turbines carry the label “Made in China”? Surely a lot. And within the energy “systems” themselves, there is an enormous amount of electronics.
Now, imagine a conflict of broader proportions breaking out, where China is on one side and the European Union – whether directly or indirectly – on the other. This could lead to a catastrophe of unimaginable scale, and events in Lebanon would seem like child’s play compared to what could unfold in our own homes under the worst-case scenario.
Europe has been resting on the laurels of technological superiority for too long while outsourcing the development of strategic industries to Asians, primarily the Chinese. The Chinese seized this opportunity and have made us increasingly dependent on them step by step. We shunned “dirty” industries (which are actually the foundation of all electronics and are becoming the foundation of energy systems, especially those based on so-called green technologies). We allowed them to develop various new technologies (on which we have now become dependent), and we ceded the initiative in international politics, particularly in Africa. In short, we consciously abandoned everything that once made Europe great and provided its competitive edge.
The United States exited the carousel of madness just in time. They began relocating the strategic chip industry back to the U.S. They have also avoided the green madness (at least to the same extent as Europe), remain energy-independent, and are still the world’s foremost military superpower – the only nation successfully countering China. Meanwhile, the European Union is lagging behind with no vision and no expertise. We are led by bureaucrats devoid of ideas and vision, people who care little for the citizens who pay them dearly. Brussels is riddled with leftist cadres and champagne socialists who are completely detached from the daily struggles of ordinary people, caring only about their personal interests. I would not be surprised if it turned out that several Brussels bureaucrats are on the payroll of the Chinese Communist Party – how else can one explain the absurd decisions they make?
The solution is simple: an immediate halt to green ludditism, the return of strategic industries, research, and development to Europe, deregulation, support for entrepreneurship, and actual meritocracy at all levels of decision-making. Take the example of tariffs imposed by the EU on Chinese electric cars – this is sheer folly. Instead of fostering a competitive environment, the EU has provided protection to European manufacturers, allowing them to avoid efficiency and innovation. Components – especially electronics, batteries, and strategic raw materials – will still be purchased from the Chinese anyway. And so we are where we are: in the danger I described at the outset. Best of luck in the next war.