The construction of a European common identity in the last 50 years or so has been delegated to the so-called “Western values,” which were supposed to have some magical value. It made some sense, given that the EU states do not make reference to a common nation, don’t have a common language, and religion, of course, is off-limits given the separation of church and state.
It was said that values such as democracy, respect for individual liberties and rights, the welcoming of diversity, and solidarity as a general policy (education and healthcare as human rights) were the common heritage at the basis of this new geopolitical entity.
This fired the imagination of the people of my age in our youth.
Not to speak of the fact that the EU was born of ex-enemies who pledged to end wars amongst them and with the rest of the world forever. Not to linger on the fact that colonialism was over and multilateralism was the buzzword.
Fast forward 50 years or so, and the EU is not only a humungous bureaucratic apparatus — a fact so evident that the right-wing populists can win elections based on it — but is perpetuating the worst colonial policies, creating havoc and misery around the world, while hypocritically talking about “Western values” all the time.
Europe is a fortress within which its population is aging at a pace that makes it impossible for its economy to thrive. But Europeans, by and large, are afraid of “losing our Western values” and oppose mass immigration. Therefore, complacent politicians have put in place for decades anti-immigration policies instead of regulating the arrival of new citizens from the south of the world.
The worst among such policies are not, however, the ones that regularly raise public debates, such as the norms and waiting times to become a European citizen. They are, instead, the agreements with armed militias in several parts of the world, which, under the pretext of international aid, are signed for two major purposes: the containment of immigration toward the north and the continuation of the exploitation of natural resources by European companies at a low price.
For example, the civil war in Sudan between the regular army and the RSF militias has made about 2,000 civilian casualties in the last few days, and over 150,000 overall since its inception in 2023, with millions of people displaced. What is not said very often is that in 2014, the EU functionaries started paying the RSF militias very good money in exchange for their control of immigration toward the north.
One wonders what they expected to happen when the purse of the militias got full. Of course, that money was used to buy new weapons, which simply made public European money flow back into the coffers of (mostly European) private citizens who own weapon factories, and now are used for purposes of ethnic cleansing and mass murder.
Is this information widely available? Yes, and there are courageous journalists who unearth and publish new scandals every day. Is this information discussed by the public? Not at all or very rarely.
Now the warmongering attitude has stuck to the same EU functionaries, who are imposing on national governments the doubling of military expenses in one year or so. The real purpose is the same: to make huge profits for a few people, in the name of the “defense of Western values,” while eroding those very same values, as public health services and public education are being dismantled year after year.
The crisis in Ukraine is taken as a pretext for the sudden rearmament of all of Europe. I wholeheartedly suggest to my American friends not to be fooled into thinking that the EU position concerning the defense of Ukraine is pure and holy, just because it opposes Trump’s own folly. The situation is at once much more complex and much simpler. The bottom line is that nobody cares about the people of Ukraine, and everybody wants their minerals and resources.
Ideals have not inhabited the palaces of the EU commission (the EU “government”) for quite a long time, and values in the same palaces are being spoken about all the time to reduce them to dust by over-munching.
So we Europeans live plunged into hypocrisy, while my American friends must endure the daily show of greed and cruelty. Let’s not fight over who has the best deal. Let’s ask ourselves how to get out of these woods instead.
Banner Image: Informal refugee site, Adré, Sudan, where more than 215,000 people depend on emergency food rations co-funded by the EU. © European Union, 2025 (photographer: Anouk Delafortrie). Photo by EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid, on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
Is there a spiritual answer to the world crisis of values?
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9 thoughts on “Hypocrisy and Colonialism”
Have we forgotten Mother Mary? Maybe each of us can follow her lead and give daily birth to a new act of love, a new creative thought and be humbly present with it. Where is our peace, our joy, if not created by and for us? Are we to resign ourselves for lack of humility and a lack of egregious action? Mary was and is both humble and egregious every day and we can pick-up the same ‘mantle’ as well. — BB.
I don’t think it is true “nobody” cares about Ukraine. Many Europeans opened their doors to Ukrainian refugees. They also know that Putin will not stop at Ukraine. As you have pointed out, there are abuses that should be stopped, but Europe is stronger and better together than apart. We must not let the desire for perfection be the enemy of good.
My spiritual answer to the world crisis of values is threefold: 1) “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it”; 2) I keep in mind the image of the hummingbird of the fable flying back and forth between the river and the forest fire on which it throws droplets of water: “I know I can’t put out the fire, but I do my part”; and 3) “Little brooks make great rivers.”
One day at a time, one drop at a time.
Yes, there is; and it’s a very simple answer: To live the Laws laid down by Jesus, the Buddha, Shri Krishna and others. When that, should it ever, become the priority in our lives, humanity and the world will prosper.
Gianluigi,
You are a prophet every inch,
you made my day
Thank you GG for helping us become aware that European countries, just like the US, are also dealing with old historical/societal shadow issues of duality and spiritual imbalances of patriarchy such as racism, colonialism, greed, materialism, ecocide of multinational corporations, wars, social injustices, and movements of authoritarianism. There are probably a few European countries and many nations/individuals around the world, especially Indigenous peoples, that are trying to maintain true democratic, Gaian, and spiritual values, especially as represented by demonstrations by young people, social justice, and interspiritual movements. There is no doubt that we’re still evolving as a human species. Our capitalistic and materialistic economic systems of multinational corporations and modern lifestyles, especially based on fossil fuels and petrochemicals, continue to pollute and destroy our Sacred Mother Earth and many of Her living species, including our own human species. We have to continue to maintain Our Faith and interspiritual values and responsibilities personally and communally on Our spiritual journeys with God’s Living, Loving, Wisdom, Healing, Creative, Compassionate, Loving Diverse ONENESS Spirit PRESENT within and among Us guiding and strengthening Us to discern, follow, and manifest the Divine Will with-in All ongoing evolving Co-Creation in Our multidimensional/multiverse Sacred COSMOS….
Today’s meditation inspired this poem:
Globalization’s procrastinations
contractions and abstractions
webs of lies and weapons we weave
a plan for global propaganda
global arachnophobia
global acronym phobia
UN, EU, WTO, IMF, GDP
Nato or Nafta
it is planned Nakba
excuses to exclude and collude
to export war
to import imperialism
to ratchet up fear and xenopobia
to amass more wealth
to make more money
more killing of more people
more disregard for the planet
and nobody wants to admit it is happening
it is observable obsolescence
it is planned obsession
it is planned obscenity
Thank you Kevin. This says it poetically, as GG told us in prose. In any endeavor, personal or communal, in this world one has to ask, cui bono? Those who benefit are always in transactional mode, and the benefit is always down to power/money. Most of the media are caught up in this system and do not report what is really going on often enough.
Dear GG,
Your essay today is one which fills me with consternation, because the remedy is so hard. We have to be willing to let go, and face uncertainty, and allow change. We have to trust that God has good things in mind for the human family. It is good for me in Advent to re-read Fr. Greg Boyle’s book “Forgive everyone everything”. Do not keep score, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Let God judge; and just work on accepting and forgiving and trusting.
“the Lord builds up the city of God, he gathers the outcasts. He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars, and gives to all of them their names.” (Psalm 147:2-4). I let go a little, and then tighten my grip again. I am trying to widen my trust and faith. THe daily walk and the daily prayer.