When Charles Dickens opens A Christmas Carol, his sole intention is to make the reader understand that Jacob Marley is dead. Dead as a doornail, to be precise. The entire tale will fall flat if you don’t believe Marley is dead.

In the fourth paragraph of Stave I, Dickens writes:

The mention of Marley’s funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.

As I sit here in front of my laptop, I wish I could bring you news of a similar nature.

However, to my shocked incredulity, Klaus Schwab, the shadow behind the World Economic Forum, is still very much alive.

And he’s not just vegetating in front of a TV set, as most octogenarians would have the decency to do. Ole Klaus is still puppeteering world governments to oblivion.

To be perfectly honest, Schwab doesn’t have to do much anymore. His foul views of where the world should be going are so ingrained in his followers that he may as well kick back with a drink and watch the change unfold.

Moreover, it’s not just Kanada, the UK, France, Germany, and the EU who are quickly circling the drain; now NATO is getting pulled into the vortex.

Of course, I thought NATO should’ve been disbanded decades ago and creates the messes it alledgedly solves. But to put Mark Rutte, the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, in charge is yet another example of a European politician failing upward.

We all know that current EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as German defense minister, was so bad at her job that she supplied her army with broomsticks instead of guns. So disliked was VDL, as the political class calls her, that Angela Merkel had to get her out of Germany. And where’s the best place to dump your trash?

Oh, that’s easy: Brussels.

The story is similar for any EU apparatchick.

But it’s not what any sane person would want to do to the Atlantic’s military alliance. So, of course, that’s precisely what they’re doing.

Mark Rutte, whose electorate recently removed him from the Netherlands’ top seat, will become the Secretary General of NATO, taking over from Jens Stoltenberg, Bill Gates’ ballboy.

Who’s This Guy?

First, NATO's Secretary General is almost always a European, while the Supreme Commander (military) is almost always an American. Americans have the money and power, while Europeans allegedly have the diplomatic finesse.

Second, no one in Europe believes political careers fail. They end in Brussels with a fat pension.

Rutte’s life is as every day as it gets. He grew up in the Netherlands and still lives in his hometown. His politics are reasonably middle-of-the-road. There’s nothing remarkable about him.

However, his journey to the top of NATO was not without its diplomatic maneuvers. He secured backing from key NATO members, including the United States, Germany, and France.

However, Orban’s Hungary resisted his appointment, primarily due to differing views on Ukraine support. 

Rutte navigated these challenges by assuring Hungary that its military would not be obligated to support Ukraine outside of NATO territory during his tenure.

It's all pretty standard so far.

But one thing I don’t like – what he has in common with Trudeau, Starmer, Macron, and Scholz — is his affinity with the World Economic Forum.

Dutch Farmers Be Damned!

Like his brethren named above, Rutte will always choose international glory over the people they’re meant to govern. They’re always angling for a better job.

Rutte’s blatant disregard for his farmers is a prime example of this.

The farmer protests erupted in response to the government's environmental policies, which aim to reduce nitrogen and ammonia emissions by 50% by 2030.

Can you say “Green New Scam?”

This policy, primarily affecting the agricultural sector, was intended to preserve EU-protected Natura 2000 areas and comply with European Union regulations on reducing nitrogen pollution.

The proposed emission cuts threatened the livelihood of many farmers, potentially forcing thousands of them out of business due to stringent reductions in livestock and fertilizer use. Farmers argued that they were unfairly targeted compared to other sectors and that the timeline and targets were unrealistic and detrimental to their operations.

Rutte's government faced fierce backlash as farmers staged large-scale protests, including blocking roads, dumping manure, and setting hay bales on fire.

In response to the escalating tensions, Rutte and his cabinet negotiated with farmers' organizations and appointed a mediator to seek common ground. Despite these efforts, the protests significantly hurt Rutte's political standing, decreasing his popularity and weakening his coalition's stability.

Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen supported the farmers, which made Rutte look even worse.

So vulnerable was Rutte that the following immigration disagreement knocked the legs out of his four-party coalition government. He resigned.

Wrap Up

It’s so European I don’t even know why I’m surprised.

Once again, an unemployed politician has failed upward.

Despite the Dutch people removing Mark Rutte from his job, NATO snatched him up as quickly as possible. Now that Hungary and Slovakia have removed their objections, he'll be the next Secretary-General.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, as the Frogs say.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.