The American sociologist Robert Merton called ritualism a way of behaving when a person repeats an action out of inertia, but is aware that it is completely useless. He himself does not really know why he does not stop. Maybe it’s out of habit, maybe it’s because the environment expects him to do it.
As a typical example, Robert Merton cites the work effort that consultants and economists say will lead to success and wealth. The worker knows full well that he will never become a manager, never own his own company and never get rich. Yet he does not slack off and acts as if that goal is within reach. The combination of feverish effort and loss of hope. Of course, it doesn’t matter if he acts expediently or ineffectually. It doesn’t lead to any result anyway.
Czech anthropology professor Ivo Budil recalled this concept when he described the armaments and war plans of the current European Union leadership. This is not a bold plan to create a formidable war machine. These are just bluntly recited slogans, and even the politicians themselves do not believe that anything other than another gigantic theft could come of it.
It is a view that leads to a very different prognosis from the one we read in opposition circles. We are not heading towards a build-up of weapons and the risk of war, but towards ruined economies, with armaments plans ending up with most of the money being stolen, some of the equipment produced not working and the rest having no one to operate it.
Which of the scenarios is more likely? If you go by the speeches, Europe is heading towards a warlike superstate. If you are looking at real action, it looks more like a Budil scenario. How many new factories are being built? Where is arms production expanding in real terms? Has militant nationalism begun to be encouraged? Are new military courses being opened in technical schools and young men being pushed into them en masse?