By Hans Vogel for the Saker blog

Do you remember Margaret Thatcher? And Indira Gandhi? Have you ever heard of Golda Meir? All three were “Iron Ladies” who as leaders of their countries and staunch defenders of national interests, truly made a difference. One may or may not agree with their political philosophies and opinions, but there is no denying these women were truly great politicians, outshining even most of their male contemporaries.

Today there are seventeen countries where women lead governments. These include France, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Serbia, Iceland, New Zealand, Bangla Desh and Nepal. The president of the European Commission, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, also belongs in this list. In addition, there are fifteen countries where a woman is president.

Of today’s female politicians, perhaps only Cristina Fernandez of Argentina is made of the same stuff as her illustrious predecessors Thatcher, Meir and Mrs. Gandhi. Her actual stature might have been comparable if her country carried more weight in the world political arena. An influence comparable to that of Germany, until its imposition of suicidal economic policies earlier this year. Angela Merkel, the woman who presided over Germany’s fate for over sixteen years, had already done her best to destroy the social fabric of her country by opening the gates to millions of young single male foreigners who nurtured not an ounce of respect or sympathy for the nation that welcomed them with open arms. In other words, although “das Merkel” (as her many detractors liked to call her) might, on account of her long reign and her grip on German politics be considered a peer to Thatcher, Gandhi and Meir, she has gloriously forsaken her duties. Even if she is not Germany’s actual butcher, Merkel has prepared her country for slaughter. The master butcher currently presiding over the killing of Germany is the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, a man.

But rest assured, half of his cabinet are women. Some of the most pernicious, moronic and incompetent of these women have been put in charge of key ministries. Annalena Baerbock is Minister of Foreign Affairs and as such has been making public utterances that in terms of ignorance and sheer stupidity rival those of her British counterpart Liz Truss, who just a few days ago was anointed Prime Minister. The Interior Ministry is headed by one Nancy Faeser, hardly less incompetent than la Baerbock, while the Defense Department is led by Christine Lambrecht who, as befits a woman put in charge of national defense, knows absolutely nothing about military affairs. Incidentally, her colleague in The Netherlands, Mrs. Kajsa Ollongren is at the same level of ignorance. Even after having been made head of defense, she could not tell the difference between a major and a sergeant major.

Of course, in order to be a cabinet minister, one does not need to have a detailed knowledge of everything upon which that ministry touches, but a smattering of knowledge and some basic intellectual capabilities do come in handy, even if to inspire confidence among the public. What the appallingly low levels of competence among most of today’s government ministers indicate, is that ministers in modern governments are no more than figureheads. Interchangeable heads who just need to put signatures on dotted lines, smile at photographers, answer simple, prepared questions and travel around a bit to give the impression they are actually doing something. That is precisely why so many ignoramuses (m/f) are being appointed to high government posts. It is not they who make the real decisions.

That is done by high public officials, big business, banks, NGOs, international organizations like the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum and by the occasional non-elected body such as the European Commission. Most of these entities are led by men and only very few of these entities have a male/female parity in their boards and executive bodies. That is precisely why so often women are made government ministers: it makes no difference for the way affairs are run, but it looks so nice in the eyes of a gullible public.

For those who demand equal opportunity for women (going all the way to numerical parity in high-paid, prestige jobs, but never for garbage crews), politics is a choice area for the achievement of their goals. Since it does not matter if a government minister is competent and knowledgeable, job openings at that level can easily be filled with cronies (m/f) and stooges (m/f). As a general rule it may be stated that across the board, politicians are less competent than their counterparts outside government. This is most evident in areas where expertise truly counts, where major interests are at stake and where big profits are made

Currently, men and women are in parity in the European Commission, the Dutch government, and also in France, Germany and Portugal. Women enjoy a majority in the governments of Belgium, Spain and Sweden. We can be certain that militant feminists and equal rights zealots will not object to the female majority in those cabinets even if it would be, according to their philosophy, unjust. To men, of course. On the other hand, those very same feminists will certainly make strong objections to the composition of the governments of Romania (twenty-three men, one woman), Poland (twenty-one men, one woman) and Hungary (fourteen men, one woman).

Curiously enough, the cabinet composition in Hungary, Poland and Romania is not very far removed from that of the World Health Organization, which claims to watch over the health of the entire world population. The God-like WHO seems perfectly at ease with its serious discrimination against women. On its Executive Board, men outnumber women by more than four to one. However, so far I have heard no complaints about this situation.

As a matter of fact, many of the most powerful and influential entities in the world do not aim for equal representation of men and women in their boardrooms. Besides the fact that they are very rarely led by a woman, gender inequality is what sets them apart from the most “advanced” governments in Europe.

Overall, the world of finance, comprising banking, insurance, asset management and other financial services, knows no gender equality at the highest levels. The same goes for pharmaceuticals and high tech firms. Exemplary egalitarian businesses in these branches include Allianz and Zurich (both insurance), Microsoft and Pfizer. These firms can proudly exhibit boards that are half male and half female.

Other giants in these fields have a male/female representation at the top levels ranging between 4:1 and 2:1. Blackrock, the world’s premier asset management firm, has 2:1, runners-up Vanguard and Charles Schwab have 3:1. Together with his son, that great self-proclaimed humanitarian, George Soros leads the Open Society Foundation, while on its Global Board the ratio is 2:1, again in favor of men. One would have expected that an organization that prides itself on promoting a more just and a more equal world would have made sure that—at least for PR reasons—its board would have equal representation.

The same goes for the World Economic Forum. Using every opportunity to bother the rest of us with their ill-thought out projects and snippets of cruel lunacy, it is as dominated by males as most of the financial world, which is actually its core business. Governed by Klaus Schwab, his son and daughter, men outnumber women by two to one on its Board of Trustees, the Managing Board and the Executive Committee. Even the Biden Administration has attained equality, with twelve men and twelve women. Thus one might ask what is keeping the WHO, the WEF, Blackrock and other outfits from following this laudable example?

Perhaps in organizations where cold hard figures are paramount, it is unfeasible to apply fashionable equality norms. That be might be why the Bank of International Settlements at Basel, the central bank of Central Banks and the most powerful financial entity in the world, has less than six percent women on its board: one out of eighteen. The very fact that, ultimately, money is more important than male-female parity, is the best explanation for the absence of a public outcry against the underrepresentation of women in the world of finance and real power and influence.

In this respect it may be worthwhile to recall the French feminist scholar, Evelyne Sullerot (1924-2017), who formulated a “law” to the effect that when women become a majority in a vocation or profession, prestige and salary will be lower than when men were a majority.

As anybody with a half brain knows, anything men can do, women can do as well, and some indeed better. History is replete with both talented and highly capable women and men. The same goes for “minorities,” be they racial or constructed on the basis of modern gender lunacy. However, to demand and even impose “equality” by means of special legislation is the height of folly. It will only carry the wrong kind of people to high-paid jobs and high government office.

Incompetent women, for instance, like the Dutch finance minster, Mrs. Sigrid Kaag. As a faithful associate of the WEF, she is dutifully carrying out whatever Klaus Schwab has ordered. Since she is apparently also a psychopath (certainly no rarity among politicians and CEOs), she does not care about the widespread destruction, misery and poverty she is causing. Now that desperate citizens are giving her and her family a hard time, with some even shouting threats, Mrs. Kaag has declared this is in fact caused by one of the opposition parties in parliament. I am sure that Indira Gandhi would never have said something stupid like that. But apparently, la Kaag is incapable of understanding the effect that her policies are having, nor can she bear the consequences of her actions.

The only answer Mrs. Kaag deserves is the saying “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!”

Actually she might better in her place in the kitchen, doing something constructive and useful, like preparing a meal for her family, or for the soup kitchens that she is forcing so many of her fellow citizens to resort to…