FROM MONOPOLY TO RISK
It seems that after a long period of growth, progress and prosperity we have once again entered the “dark ages”. Self-interest, greed, power, racism and land grabbing are the order of the day.
Trump grabs Venezuela and is eyeing for Panama, Canada and Greenland; Russia wants Ukraine’s Donbas; China wants Taiwan; Israel conquers Palestine. In the meantime the agression is running rampant: Israel flattens Gaza to the ground, Trump bombs Iran and steals oiltankers, Houthis are boarding tankers in the Red Sea etc. While we thought we were playing Monopoly worldwide, it turns out that we are suddenly playing the war game Risk.
ARMSRACE
The result: we are in a new armsrace. The money that was once intended for tackling environmental issues, for example, is now simply being funneled into defence. And defence is gradually transforming into “attack”. In the US, “The Ministry of Defence” is now called “The Ministry of War”. Following Trump’s lead, Prime Minister Mark Rutte is calling for astronomical sums to be spent on weapons, ammunition and war equipment. After Big Pharma profited handsomely from the Corona pandemic and Big Tech profited from the rise of AI, the arms industry is now running at full speed. The economy is turning into a “war economy”. It’s as if we’re watching a new Netflix series that’s becoming increasingly violent.
BIG MOUTH FIRST
The adage of the new world order is “Big mouth first”. Zelensky was snubbed in the White House. Journalists are insulted with “Shut up, piggy”, European commissioners are denied access to the US, people in boats in Venezuela are bombed without evidence and Israel is systematically given bombs and ammunition to continue its genocide. Violence reigns. International treaties are being thrown in the bin, the International Court of Justice in The Hague is limping, and the world order is rapidly crumbling. Someone like Francisca Albanese, the UN champion of Palestinian rights and human values in Gaza, is being made’s life impossible: her bank accounts are blocked, her visas are revoked, her daughters are threatened.
ISLAMAFOBIA
The cracks in the world order run along old religious fault lines. Just as in the time of the Crusades, the battle is taking place between the Western, Christian part – “white and civilised” – and the Islamic part – “dark and terrorist”. Israel, sailing under the flag of Judaism, is charting its own violent course. The great battle against Islam has begun, or resumed. White, Christian America is fighting with God at its side. All countries and groups belonging to the old Axis of Evil – Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Jordan – are labelled as The Enemy. But the battle against Islam is not only being fought in Europe and America, but also in India (think: Kashmir) and China (think: Uyghurs). In the far east, the communist part – China, Russia, North Korea – is trying to expand its sphere of influence.
AMERICA FIRST
The main programme point of many populist and far-right parties is “own people first”. Refugees, migrants, those with different or woke ideas, other races or colours are no longer welcome and must be deported. This sets the tone for a new wave of racism, stemming from the great replacement theory: the fear that other cultures or religions will take over power in Europe.
The White House – what’s in a name – writes in its latest Security Strategy that it sees Europe as a lost continent as a result of too many migrants. The “civilisation” of Europe must be saved by supporting far-right politics. The US now officially wants to dismantle the European Union and is joining forces with the AFD in Germany, Nigel Farage’s Reform in the UK, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and VOX in Spain.
During a meeting of far-right leaders in Madrid in early February 2025, the ideal of the medieval crusades against Islam was revived. ‘We are Christians,’ said Spanish host Abascal. ‘Europe is Christian soil and we must protect it.’ Geert Wilders replied to his Spanish host: ‘You were the first to push back Islam and restore the rich Christian heritage in your country.’ Wilders praised Donald Trump, whom he calls a brother in arms. His colleague from the Portuguese party Chega (Enough) ended with the slogan: ‘Hail Portugal, hail Spain, hail Europe, and hail freedom.’ The audience applauded.
In America, the culture war has already gone a step further and the country is beginning to show fascist traits. Migrants, Latinos, and people of colour are now being rounded up, detained, or deported on a large scale and with heavy-handed tactics by units of ICE, a kind of mercenary army of the president. It is not inconceivable that this could lead to civil war.
THE FUSE IN THE POWDER KEG
What 9/11 once was for the United States, 7 October is for Israel. And just as the US took merciless revenge by reducing Iraq to rubble – even though they had nothing to do with it, but hey: “weapons of mass destruction” – so Israel took revenge by bombing the whole of Gaza flat, including the civilian population they had locked up behind walls for decades. The West turned a blind eye. Suddenly, international law of war, human values and universal human rights were worthless. Revenge, starvation, the large-scale murder of journalists, doctors, children: there was no end to it. Every red line was crossed.
Israel has become a pariah state, where prisoners are systematically tortured, more than 20,000 children have been murdered, and everyone is still being starved or killed under the guise of a ceasefire. The Palestinian West Bank is also being taken over step by step. When European leaders cautiously remind Israel of international agreements, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responds curtly: ‘Foreign governments will not restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel, and any such call is morally wrong and discriminatory against Jews.’
The result of Israel’s unbridled violent actions is that a new wave of anti-Semitism is flaring up worldwide. The powerlessness and pent-up anger is – unfortunately – being taken out on Jewish citizens worldwide. Just as all Muslim terrorism leads to global Islamophobia and hatred of Muslims. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The monster of discontent, fear and anger is haunting the world. What started in Gaza – like a fuse in a powder keg – has rapidly spread worldwide. Attacks are taking place everywhere: from Australia to the UK, from America to Iran.
LOOKING AWAY
The intertwining of Europe and the Israeli arms and security industry (think: Schiphol) is undoubtedly the reason why European leaders do not stand in Israel’s way. The Netherlands is even the second largest investor in the country. Israel is one of the top ten arms exporters in the world.
Israeli arms exports include armed AI and surveillance technologies, such as facial recognition, which have been extensively tested on Palestinians in Gaza. Armed AI generated kill lists that wiped out entire neighbourhoods. It seems that the Palestinians are the guinea pigs of modern warfare, which leads to enormous profits. No matter how many protest marches and red lines there have been from hundreds of thousands of citizens worldwide, Israel can continue unhindered. We stand by and watch. How symbolic: they are allowed to sing along at the European Song Contest again.
PROPAGANDA
Sport and music have once again become shameless political propaganda. Just as Hitler used the Olympic Games to sell his Third Reich, or Putin used the Winter Games in Sochi to cover up his murderous actions in Syria and Chechnya, and China polished its image while oppressing the Uighurs and Tibetans. Every time, we fall for it again and naively join in the celebrations, in the vain hope that music and sport will lead to brotherhood. Nothing surprises us anymore, not even when FIFA boss Infantino invents a peace prize to give to his buddy Trump.
MONOPOLY
Meanwhile, the rules and players on the Monopoly board have also changed unnoticed: what was once a “free world market” has become predatory capitalism. A form of super-capitalism in which it is no longer about the richest 1%, but all money and power is concentrated in the hands of the richest 0.001%. “The Magnificent Seven”: Nvidia, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, OpenAi (ChatGPT), and Tesla now control just about all the streets and hotels on the board game and have become all-powerful. They no longer operate according to the principles of the free market, but according to the principle of “the strongest wins”.
In the field of AI, there is a global race to be the first to develop AGI, Artificial Generative Intelligence: a self-thinking and self-learning brain that is independent of human intervention. Everything is being done to be the first to reach the finish line, and quadrillions are being invested. AI has become a kind of black hole in the financial market, sucking up all the money, pension funds, shares and capital.
At the same time, entire generations of young people are being sucked into a parallel digital universe via games, TikTok, Instagram, etc., which we will never see again. They are like the children of Hamelin, lured into the mountains by the Pied Piper. In return, we get all kinds of artificial replicas. The first virtual actress, Tilly Norwood, is indistinguishable from the real thing. Smiling ladies offer us all kinds of services on the internet, including the fulfilment of all our sexual fantasies. The (virtual) sky is the limit. ChatGPT was only launched three years ago, but a global survey shows that 82% of respondents have used AI in the past six months, with questions about relationships, meaning, work and political choices. AI is our new God.
What we don’t see, or conveniently forget, is that AI consumes our drinking water, our electricity and our data like a hungry beast that needs more and more food. In order to survive, at some point it will decide on its own to sacrifice nature, the earth and ultimately perhaps humanity for its own survival.
MEN
Now, about 80% of this whole story is a man’s story: think weapons, tech, religion, struggle, war, Risk, Monopoly. These are mainly male solutions to uncertainty, fear, anger, ambition and the right to exist. Somewhere, with the downfall in sight, everyone starts to behave in an increasingly extreme, selfish and violent manner.
Since men feel somewhere in their genes that they must be protectors, everything in them is activated. They see countless examples on Netflix and in video games of heroic behaviour in which the hero slays dozens of enemies to protect his loved ones. Good examples are worth following. And since the line between fiction and reality has become seriously blurred, the game is up. The world is turning into one big war game. Boys play with toys. It is no coincidence that the female half of the White House has been unceremoniously demolished and replaced by a “ballroom”. What’s in a name?
GANDALF, IS THERE ANY HOPE?
This story resembles The Lord of the Rings, part three: the great final battle. But hope and strength lie in the small things, and in connection. The little hobbits give their hearts and souls and throw the Ring of Power back into Mount Doom. And the Fellowship of the different peoples – dwarves, elves, wizards, humans and hobbits – ensures that the light prevails in the darkness. For example, there are Israelis and Palestinians who continue to connect and see each other as allies. Their courage is unimaginable in this age of polarisation. The great mythological stories of heroes from times past may give us the strength and courage to do the same. There is no better time than now. If not now, then when? If not us, then who?
But the dangers are commensurate. Some look too long into the Palantir and become intoxicated by all kinds of conspiracy theories. They live in their own bubble and from there add to the turmoil. Others hope to use the ring for their own gain and power. It takes humility, compassion and a big heart to withstand the challenges.
In spiritual traditions, it is said that the light shines brightest in the dark. Every candle that burns is one. Perhaps this is the time we have been prepared for: to let our light shine and do what we came here to do. Because, as Sam Gewissies says in LOTR: “It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?
But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you… that meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something.”
2026
The new year will undoubtedly be one of great challenges in all areas: financial, technological, personal, (geo)political, nature and climate, etc. The hour has come. I wish you much courage, strength, perseverance, and humour to weather the storms of this time. And: never give up <3
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