Dear Friends,
It seems to me, in personal as well as international relations, it’s best not to sign agreements you know the other side won’t live up to. If you’re selling someone a car on credit, and they clearly have no means to pay, nor intention, giving them the keys to that car is stupid. It will result in paying some repo-man to pick up a junker so you might get pennies on the dollar. The same is true of international relations. When the Soviet Union and Germany signed a non-aggression pact to split up Poland, the Soviets planned on breaking the pact first… but were shocked when Operation Barbarossa kicked off. Untrustworthy people, factions, and nations are obvious. They exploit honesty, fidelity, and rule following as weakness. A weakness they do not have.
Just as the unreasonable can’t be reasoned with and a miser tends towards usury… the untrustworthy can’t be trusted. In personal relationships the untrustworthy have to move once they dirty up the playground, because everyone knows what they are. That’s why narcissists, psychopaths, and users of all stripes have to move regularly. Their untrustworthiness allows them to play a game once, then they have to find another mark. Once the patsies are used up in an area they move on. Because as individuals we’re smart enough to not play with them again. But our elite don’t seem to have that level of introspection and wisdom. Because they love trusting the untrustworthy. Judged by how often the elite gleefully sign pacts, agreements, and contracts with them.
If you get burned at a store you stop shopping there. If a borrower doesn’t pay back a loan their credit rating is lowered… but if a faction breaks faith, others are only too happy to sign another pact. I have to wonder if self interest plays a part. You take your own self interest seriously. So you don’t play with cons, you only do business with people who provide value. Elites on the other hand have a different incentive structure. The interests of the nation don’t necessarily align with theirs. Broken pacts, threats of war, and chaos serve to enhance the power of the elites. This comes at a cost to the nation but the elites’ interests lie elsewhere. Their fortunes are increased. It’s the people who pay the price. Self interest then is a strong incentive why elites trust the untrustworthy.
Signing a peace deal with a long time adversary, instead of crushing them, makes the elite appear as heroic humanitarians. But when the pact is fictitious it’s only giving breathing room for the aggressor to rearm. The elite know this full well, but pretend to the people they’re stabbing in the back, that they are such merciful people to sign a peace agreement… with someone who has a history of using them to rearm. The result always has been more war. War that serves the interest of the elite. The people are scared so cede more power and money to the elite to keep them safe. Then the elite exploit that fear to undermine elections, sustaining their power even in the face of public anger. So elites that sign deals with the untrustworthy get immediate accolades and later more power to fight the war they set up.
Now, we can’t say that all elites are malevolent, cunning, and conniving… some are just plain stupid. Bonhoeffer said stupidity is more dangerous than evil. Because the evil at least are trying to get ahead by their evil. While the stupid harm themselves as much as everyone else with their stupidity. This makes intention irrelevant. The CCP violated the last trade pact Trump signed with them, instantly, yet he wants to sign another. Since when have the Muslims ever recognized a peace accord as anything but a means to rearm? The globalist progressive faction in the west considers itself above the law and our adherence to Constitutional norms… a weakness. Yet we are told to trust the media, bureaucracy, and courts beholding to that faction? Wouldn’t it be wiser to stop trusting the untrustworthy altogether?
Sincerely,
John Pepin
