“Finance has moved from being a means to an end, from a tool to a power. And now it devours everything it cannot control.”
— Luigino Bruni, economist, author of “La ferita dell’altro”
When the sharks in a tank run out of fish, they begin to eat each other. It’s a brutal image, but an apt one to describe what’s happening today in the Western world. Especially in the United States, where the economic system—driven to the extreme of turbo-capitalism—is now confronting its own internal contradictions. And in Europe, where, having lost any real autonomous ambition, war is increasingly seen as a new productive outlet.
This phase of the system devouring itself is not only a moment of decline—it also opens the door to a real possibility of change, provided that someone has the clarity and courage to seize it. Donald Trump, whether intentionally or not, has had the merit of triggering this moment of awareness. Not with a fully-formed ideological alternative, but through symbolic gestures and economic decisions that challenge the globalist order.
A telling example was his comment to Zelensky, who showed up at the White House without formal attire: an apparently trivial remark, yet deeply meaningful. It highlighted the loss of measure, the improvisation disguised as heroism, and the spectacle that war has become. Trump, for all his limits, calls out hypocrisy for what it is—without mincing words. And when he imposes tariffs, it’s not out of ideology, but defense: like a shark, cornered, that lashes out at its own kind.
The Country That Produces Nothing
American turbo-capitalism has found its most extreme expression in economic models that have severed all ties with real production. A clear example is Ireland: a country that, in its bid to attract foreign capital, has built a fictitious economy based on tax advantages and the artificial installation of corporate headquarters. Apple, Google, and Facebook all have “head offices” in Ireland for tax purposes, but without any real industrial impact on the territory. GDP skyrockets, but the people see little tangible benefit.
Likewise, much of the U.S. economy today is rooted in speculative finance, hedge funds, high-frequency trading algorithms, and tech companies whose stock market growth is completely detached from the production of real goods. This system does not create shared prosperity—it generates instability. When everything is reduced to capital flows, unanchored from labor and land, the result is a vicious cycle.
The European Union and the War Temptation
Faced with this systemic crisis, the European Union is not seeking a new path. On the contrary, it seems ready to adopt the worst possible solution: war as an economic engine. It’s a script already seen in the 20th century, when collapsing powers turned to arms manufacturing and rearmament as a way out of stagnation.
“When the economy detaches from reality and the human person, the only horizon left is war.”
— Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium
The common defense plan promoted by Brussels—presented as a response to external threats—is in reality the sign of a continent that can no longer produce wealth unless it’s laying the groundwork for escalation. The military industry is once again central; public funds shift from healthcare and education to missiles, and every dissenting voice is silenced in the name of security.
War thus becomes a shortcut to keep afloat an economic system that no longer works, that has lost all grounding in reality, and that prefers destruction to reform.
China: The Exception That Proves the West’s Decline
In his plans for economic protectionism, Trump identified China as the main adversary. But Beijing doesn’t play by Western rules: it does not accept conditions, does not bow to dollar blackmail, and does not line up for negotiations. China produces, builds, invests in real infrastructure. Its power is still—despite its faults—based on long-term planning and a firm grip on tangible production.
Trump, in trying to revive American manufacturing, collided with a financial system that thrives on the dissolution of labor and the outsourcing of production. And he found in China an opponent that cannot be defeated with the same weapons that brought down others.
Conclusion: Beyond the Shark Tank
We’ve reached the point where the sharks are devouring each other. It’s a clear sign the system has hit rock bottom. But it’s also a sign that an alternative is possible. What’s needed is the courage to step out of the tank, to reject both the American brand of financial cynicism and Europe’s “humanitarian” militarism. We need a return to reality: to production, to community, to the human dignity of labor.
Trump, with all his contradictions, may have inadvertently exposed the crack in the system. The question now is whether we have the courage to walk through it—or whether we’ll keep pretending the future still lies in a world that no longer exists.