The Kronos Doctrine

The Price of Enforced Dependency

The fear of successors is the oldest dread, gnawing at the foundation-stone of dominion. Once a potentate guarded his sovereignty by every means, yet was haunted by portents that foretold how one day he would be surpassed even in might and glory through what had been created from himself—so to say, his own progeny. So the solution did not lie merely within outshining them, but consuming their potential until such strength became wholly a part of him, with all future forever trapped inside the present.

This is not an old story. The weight of watchfulness now rests on the modern stage—and in a moment I shall tell you what it has seen of late, what indeed we have all half suspected for many years past, though none ever dared to speak openly about such matters.

For many years a dominant nation across the sea, in its own interests and not from any benevolent impulse or generosity of spirit but rather as part of an elaborate design, has sought to create for itself perfect instruments, shields, and economic appendages reflecting creditably upon it.

But creations have a way of growing, and they began to find their own voice, develop interests peculiarly theirs, form alliances with other burgeoning powers, and go their own ways from the destinies which had been linked so closely in old times. They spoke now not only about “strategic autonomy” but also about a course unlike that mapped out by their creator’s ceaseless planning. It was this very energy—the foundation stone laid for their growth—that made the leading power become resentful, seeing their autonomy as nothing less than a rebellion.

The old dread of cowardice was aroused—and the prophecy of decline began to fulfill itself.

The guiding hand became a grasping one—and the leading power launched policies which acted as predatory vacuums, openly preying upon the industries it had once helped to plant on foreign soil. The hegemon inaugurated trade wars treating former allies as permissible sacrifices in its great struggle for dominance, and demanded the severance of vital economic ties forcing austerity upon them, all while setting itself up to be their sole remaining provider. The alliance turned into merely another feeding ground for the hegemon’s voracious appetite, its members mere pawns to be discarded after they had served their purpose.

The language shifted from “we” to the imperative of command, with obedience and conformity becoming the new emphasis. Any demand of equitable relations was branded treachery, for it now lay in plain sight that what had been sought was to force upon one’s fellows an enforced dependence from which no rival power could ever rise. It was a campaign not so much one for conquest as cannibalization, consuming its own progeny’s shared future as nourishment to feed its insatiable hunger for dominion.

The nations of Europe now stir within a belly of statutes and sanctions, waking to the chill realization that their patron has become at once a devourer. The Kronos Complex is complete. The father, fearful of his children those whom he fashioned in his own image, chooses consumption rather than share with them a sky, or even an earth and sea.

The legend says that the consumed children at length coalesced and burst forth, strengthened even in darkness by a hidden resilience. And now there hangs over the Atlantic one question: Do those heirs of this fabricated order know likewise how to survive their devourer? You must first cease being his food before you can be strong enough for that!