2
" A cycle. As clear there as in politics. Good, then bad, then good, then more bad, more good. He remembered telling Stephanie when he retired that he was fed up with the nonsense. A change in habits must surely lead to a change of thoughts. There had to be a calmer place. She’d smiled at his naïveté and promptly explained that so long as the earth was inhabited by people, there would be no calm place. The game was the same everywhere: Only the players changed, not the rules, not the stakes, not the risks—only the players. And again she was right. "
― Steve Berry , The Kaiser's Web (Cotton Malone, #16)
6
" This novel deals with the rise of the new right across Europe. It’s a troubling issue, one that continues to escalate (chapter 64). Incidents of violence and how local courts and law enforcement turn a blind eye (chapter 18) are not fiction. Anger toward Jews and immigrants is steadily increasing (chapter 57). Nationalistic parties across the Continent are gaining more and more followers. Why is this happening? A number of factors are contributing. The greatest mass movement of humanity since the beginning of the 20th century, refugees from Eastern Europe, Turkey, Africa, and the Middle East, has placed an enormous strain on resources. A decade of little to no European economic growth has only added to the frustration, as has the failure of the old social welfare state. A generation of strong leaders are aging and dying off, their places taken by less competent populists who have a growing disillusionment with the European Union. They argue that the EU is no longer a place of peace, prosperity, cooperation, and harmony. "
― Steve Berry , The Kaiser's Web (Cotton Malone, #16)
8
" Sadly, memories of World War II, the Holocaust, and the gulags fade by the day. New-right leaders promise a return to the strong welfare state of the past, but with the caveat that it be ethnically and racially bound. They spew forth a range of patriarchal, racist, and homophobic ideas, each made more palatable by wrapping those concepts in racial purity and national honor. And they are winning elections. Even more important, they are framing issues. And the old wisdom is correct. He who frames an issue, wins that issue more often than not. Sadly, what Hitler said so long ago still rings true today. The masses have little time to think. And how incredible is the willingness of modern man to believe. "
― Steve Berry , The Kaiser's Web (Cotton Malone, #16)
