It sounds exaggerated at first, it sounds provincial. It sounds paranoid. Yet it is sillier to believe the opposite. It is silly to think that international lobbyists, global banks, and rich corporations have nothing to do with the financial balance of the Czech Republic. Borders exist on maps. Capital ignores them.
Therefore, when people talk about “national decisions,” they usually describe the last link in a very long chain. The real chain starts elsewhere. Often in New York. Sometimes in Washington. Sometimes in boardrooms that never appear in elections.
The illusion of national sovereignty
Formally, the Czech Republic is sovereign. It has a parliament; it has elections. It has a central bank. However, sovereignty on paper does not equal sovereignty in practice. Financial reality sets limits long before voters speak.
Markets punish deviations. Ratings downgrade governments. Capital leaves quietly. Currency weakens. Suddenly, politicians “have no choice.” At that moment, sovereignty reveals its true size.
Thus, power rarely announces itself. Instead, it constrains.
When they decide the right–left fight is over
At some point, elites decided the old ideological war was dangerous. Left versus right created instability. It created unpredictability. Worse, it mobilized people.
So the fight ended. Not publicly. Structurally.
Politics shifted toward managed consensus. Centre-right economics became “reasonable.” Alternatives became “irresponsible.” Debate survived, but only inside narrow walls. Everything else turned into extremism.
Consequently, voters kept choosing, yet nothing fundamental changed.
Medicating society with centre-right politics
Centre-right politics works like sedation. It sounds boring, it feels technical. It presents itself as neutral expertise rather than ideology.
Words like responsibility, discipline, sustainability, and reform dominate discourse. They calm society. They signal obedience to markets. At the same time, they depoliticize suffering.
Thus, pain becomes a necessity. Cuts become science. Anger becomes childish.
Why the big fight against corruption suddenly began
Then something interesting happened. The big fight against corruption began. Not because elites became moral. Not because justice suddenly mattered.
The real reason was efficiency.
Corruption expanded too much. Too many players entered the system, too many intermediaries took cuts. Too many unpredictable actors demanded bribes. Chaos replaced order.
For capital, chaos is unacceptable.
Sarkozy, Chirac, and the signal moment
Figures like Sarkozy and Chirac did not fall because corruption existed. Corruption had existed for decades. They fell because corruption stopped being manageable.
Their cases sent a signal. The system tolerated theft only while it remained orderly. Once it threatened coordination, punishment followed.
Justice arrived late. Selectively. Strategically.
From many crooks to fewer, bigger ones
Elites learned fast. Instead of bribing many small actors, they consolidated influence. They bribed the crook connected to a particular politician. One gatekeeper replaced dozens of thieves.
This was not moral progress. It was optimization.
Corruption did not disappear. It centralized.
People do nothing, so systems adapt
Elites also understood something else. People do not fight corruption. They complain, they post. They vote occasionally. Then they return to their lives.
Because of this passivity, systems adapt confidently. They do not fear backlash. They fear inefficiency.
As long as citizens remain fragmented and tired, consolidation proceeds smoothly.
The super-rich and the hidden surplus value
Now look at scale. The super-rich transfer sums comparable to national pension flows. That comparison matters. It shows where power truly sits.
This is where hidden surplus value goes. Not into one factory owner’s pocket. Not into visible theft. It flows through finance, ownership structures, dividends, fees, interest, tax optimization, and cross-border movements.
It disappears quietly. Legally. Elegantly.
Why pensions become the perfect distraction
Meanwhile, politicians scream about pension sustainability. Demographics dominate headlines. Old people become the problem.
Yet pensions did not break the system. Capital extraction did.
However, pensions offer a moral cover. They allow cuts framed as necessity. They divide generations; they redirect anger downward instead of upward.
Thus, the real drain stays invisible.
What happens to the social net
The same logic applies to welfare. Disability pensions provide a perfect example.
Instead of open cuts, criteria change. Assessments harden. Paperwork multiplies. Reviews repeat endlessly. Life becomes a nightmare.
The goal is clear. Help must hurt. Support must humiliate. Assistance must deter.
This is cruelty by design, not accident.
Why Jičín matters
You may wonder why I highlight my hometown. Jičín is small. It feels distant from power. That is exactly why it matters.
If even Jičín feels the consequences, nowhere escapes them.
Small towns reveal reality better than capitals. There, abstractions turn into empty offices, delayed repairs, stressed hospitals, and anxious families.
The role of the Federal Reserve
Now follow the chain upward. The U.S. Federal Reserve moves interest rates. It controls global liquidity. It shapes risk appetite.
Because the dollar dominates global finance, these decisions spill everywhere. Capital shifts. Currencies react. Inflation pressures move across borders.
The Fed never votes in Czech elections. Yet it influences Czech life.
From the Fed to the Czech National Bank
The Czech National Bank does not operate in isolation. It reacts, it absorbs shocks. It tries to stabilize.
Even when it “chooses” policy, global finance defines the safe zone. Step outside it, and markets respond immediately.
Thus, autonomy exists only inside tight boundaries.
How financial reality becomes reality in Jičín
Then the abstract becomes concrete.
Interest rates become mortgages. Inflation becomes grocery bills. Currency pressure becomes municipal budgets. Fiscal discipline becomes fewer services.
Efficiency becomes understaffed hospitals. Reform becomes harsher disability assessments. Stability becomes silent decline.
What started in New York ends in Jičín.
Why this system survives
Complexity protects it. Distance protects it. Technocratic language protects it. Media simplification protects it.
Most of all, sedation protects it.
People sense injustice, yet cannot trace it. They blame local politicians, immigrants, or culture wars. The real chain stays hidden.
Power without faces
New York does not need to hate Jičín to shape it. It only needs mechanisms.
This is the modern order. Power travels globally. Consequences stay local. And small towns carry the weight of decisions they never made.
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