Open Letter to the Leaders of the BRICS+ Countries

By Nico Cost, for GlobalSouth.co

Dear Readers,

My name is Nico Cost and I live in the Netherlands. My country is in Europe and is part of “the West”. I am a simple citizen and if all goes well I will turn 62 in four weeks. I am married, have children, grandchildren and pets. My main work experience is leading people and projects as well as personally coaching people. I am not religious but am spiritually involved. This as background to my writing.

Just five years ago I could publicly state that I was against the monarchy, that I thought our prime minister was a worthless man and that my government was opposite me instead of beside me. In 2020 everything changed and in just four years I developed a certain fear of being able to express myself freely in my country that was known to be tolerant.

There are plenty of people here who will argue that I am exaggerating. They will not want to face any factual example to change their minds. During the lockdowns, local administrators called on their citizens to report neighbors who did not comply. We were eighty years back in time and things have only gotten worse.

This open letter could just about give cause to gag me. When Mr. Orban from Hungary looks for ways to keep the peace he is reviled by the so-called “Free West”. My open letter will no doubt cause disgust and anger in this “Democratic West”. But I must write it regardless of the consequences. Yes, it is scary.

The reason for my open letter is that I too want to keep the peace. I do not want war. And even though so many fellow citizens in Holland and the West are still little aware of how lost our leaders are, by far most of them do not want war either. But we citizens are not in charge. We get to elect our leaders once every few years, but they then do what they see fit. No leader asks the people to choose peace or war, because it is the leader who decides that war should be waged.

None of our leaders will appear at the front. As monarchs they will send their subjects. Their children will get exemptions and my (grand)children will be cannon fodder. It has been this way for thousands of years. Man is still little aware and apparently has to repeat life lessons over and over again because they are not remembered for more than a lifetime. It is sad. We are in a bad shape.

When one side chooses war, the other side cannot avoid it. But what is war? Where does war begin? I see two main reasons. The first is when one side wants something from the other side. The “West” is very familiar with its colonial past. The second main reason is when that other side is forced to protect itself from the rapacity of that one side. So where does this war begin? Isn’t war always about freedom? The one that wants to restrict the freedom of others in favor of itself, after which the other side is forced to defend its own freedom.

The first thing to die in a conflict is truth. But I can also say that that truth has already fallen before the conflict because people have difficulty with freedom. That may sound strange, but still too many people on this planet cannot handle freedom. When they are free, it bothers them that others are also free. Especially the “golden billion” represented by the West is wedded to autocratic rule. Those other seven billion souls are their slaves. And the terrible thing is that this Western man just doesn’t see this, he is not aware of how the world is.

I never saw this as such either, until recent years when my eyes were increasingly opened. I never understood how much our Western culture leans on colonialism and slavery. I never concerned myself with the essence of capitalism, the voraciousness of the current money system. I marveled at how easy it was to blame Russia for everything. I have been dumbfounded at how much the West looks away from the atrocities in Gaza.

The double standard is everywhere. Critical people today are ground up in the mills of the incumbent, while their aides are given nothing in the way of blackening “us”. I see the whole system failing. More and more citizens are waking up, but the network is already finely woven and intertwined by all the major institutions. The media in particular still make it seem that ‘we’ are one, but the leaders, government, politics and media are completely disconnected from normal people.

This week, I saw a podcast that talked about Mr. Trump’s assassination attempt and Mr. Biden’s mental state. About the latter, the one who was pro-Biden said he was shocked at the severity of the deterioration. The one who was pro-Trump asked if the other had not noticed this much earlier, given many examples. No said the pro-Biden supporter, it had happened very quickly in recent months. I then wonder how that can be, because I do believe the pro-Biden supporter seriously thinks it came on suddenly. Whereas, like the pro-Trump supporter, I could see for years that Mr. Biden had seriously lost his way, because of those many examples of confusion and incoherent texts he uttered. This shows how split “we” are.

Polarization in the West has never been greater. The corona period in particular has put this on edge. Whole groups of friends and even families have been split apart. One group blindly believes the government-narrative. The other group asks critical questions, but is immediately castigated. Why so many people still believe the government is a mystery to me, because here in the Netherlands that same government has proven little reliable for decades. There are also many examples here that actually show how much the government opposes citizens instead of working for them.

Western man is spoiled and sits down eating chips watching a real life soap opera. As if that is real life. Few start studying history because studying for law brings more lucrative jobs. Careers here are made because you know people, not because you are good at something. It is incredibly painful to see how far we have strayed from our potential. Where I once thought the West was a good captain for the world, I now see how rotten it has become. I cannot express it more mildly. I am ashamed of our morally bankrupt culture.

Does this now make me a traitor to the country? Is this writing a reason to punish me? The in and out bad man will be able to find a reason in everything to want to brush away the unwelcome. I don’t want “us” to be like this, which is why I am writing this. I want to change it. And I don’t want war. But what can you do if ”my” leaders stay this way?

Actually, it is already war and maybe the war never stopped. So how can we prevent it from getting worse? That the battlefield continues to develop and spread all over the world. How do we stop the conflicts? What to do when diplomacy is refused and weapons are taken up?

I think restraint is the greatest strength. As little fighting back as possible. Because you don’t win a war by forcing another to its knees. The conflict then remains, because nothing is learned. Man must become conscious, change within. Only then will man truly learn to deal with freedom. When “we” suppress this process with violence, we are doomed to keep repeating it.

Smart people want to win in war. Wise people know that peace is about not wanting to win. Humanity must become wise because that is the only path that can free us from conflict.

Children were once asked here if they felt like playing a game of indoor soccer but without keeping score. They didn’t feel much like it, didn’t understand that the game is about playing soccer instead of winning. It shows that as a species we still have a way to go. As long as we continue to participate in lotteries where a few can get rich at the expense of many poor, things will not get much better in our world.

In addition to my criticism of “our” leaders, I can also criticize you. Would that be indecent? Disrespectful? After all, is everything going so well in the BRICS+ countries? Is there no corruption in your country? The point is that I don’t know, because I hardly know you and your country. I only hear and read Western propaganda that is not mild. Fortunately, I am piercing through that more and more. I read everything with a grain of salt these days. But at the same time, I do think we all still have a way to go. Every country has some cleaning to do. We are all in the process of becoming more conscious.

The wry part of it all is that humans have so much potential. Our species is unique and capable of miracles. If we work together, anything seems possible. Why is it that we make such a mess? Is it really the bad in man that causes so much suffering?

And then I see people on both sides pointing at each other. Those who cause suffering point just as hard at those who complain about the suffering and point to the causers as guilty. Who is right?

I have real influence on only one person here and that is me. Those eight billion others do what they want and can do for themselves. Self-reflection is the only way out. For me and for everyone else. Do I act from my thinking or from my heart, from my fear or from my love? Does my decision serve the whole, including those dissenters, or do I want to impose my will on others? Do I have to do something or can I do nothing?

Hopefully I have not bored you with my writing. I am but simple and probably it is cut and dry. Maybe I wrote it mostly for myself, to remind myself once again that I have to do it myself. No one is going to save my world or make it better. We all have to do it ourselves.

This writing is part of my own process of moving away from my fear and finding love. Perhaps the sharing will help inspire and encourage others to get on the road as well. To walk their own wise path.

Knowing now how difficult that road is, I have deep respect for you and everyone else. Also compassion for others and myself. We as humans have been on the road for many hundreds of thousands of years. Searching. Wandering. And there is only one who knows the whole way. All of life is about awareness. Not about knowledge or cleverness. But about love and wisdom.

I wish you much love and wisdom.