Lew Rockwell remembers the subtle procedures of the East German STASI in the late 1970s.
"The goal was to destroy dissidents and potential dissidents socially and emotionally without resorting to arrest and imprisonment. The Stasi collected information about the victim’s private life, and proceeded to ‘disintegrate’ their careers and their family and private life.
"Damaging lies (or truths) would be conveyed to employers until the target was rendered unemployable. Relationships with spouses and kids would be poisoned with gossip by operatives, professional failure, and financial stress. Friends would be warned away through the grapevine.
"The goal was to destroy the reputation of the target and make him so preoccupied with his personal difficulties and emotional turmoil that he had no will to question the government of the DDR. It was done covertly, and often victims weren’t believed even if they discovered [the covert campaign].”
-- Lew Rockwell, Jr.
Greece’s Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, has announced a new legislative framework targeting the operation of illegal places of worship, emphasizing that non-compliance will lead to the immediate revocation of residency permits. In Agios Nikolaos, a Mosque was sealed and the alleged imam had his residency permit revoked and faces deportation.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
—Matthew 11:28-30
That's China's vision, objective and immediate goal. They have the leverage to make it happen.
Summary of Xi's January 2026 announcement:
"It's a sweeping vision for building a global financial power organized around socialist principles, without the greed and without a financialization of the economy (what Xi calls 脱实向虚, “drifting from the real economy into the virtual”).
-- Arnaud Bertrand