An Essay to the People of Yugoslavia
By Josip Jukić

My brothers and sisters of Yugoslavia,

We once lived in a world where a man knew the taste of real bread and real butter, where a family sat together at the table, and where the rhythms of life were not dictated by distant corporations or financial empires. We were not perfect. No society ever is. But we understood something that the modern world seems to have forgotten: that an economy should serve the people, not the other way around.

Today I write to you about the dangers of what I call super-capitalism — the global economic system often promoted under the banner of the so-called “New World Order.” It promises prosperity and freedom. Yet behind the slogans there is a simple formula: create new consumers, create new dependencies, and expand profit at any cost.

Let us examine how this machine works.

First, consider tobacco. For decades cigarettes were marketed primarily to men. Sales were strong, but they had reached a natural limit. What did the industry do? It doubled its market. Advertising campaigns were launched to convince women that smoking was a symbol of independence and liberation. Suddenly cigarettes were no longer a habit; they were presented as a badge of freedom. The result was obvious: twice the customers and twice the profits for the tobacco giants, while millions more people paid the price with their health.

Second, look at the transformation of the workplace. The participation of women in public life has brought many positive developments — education, independence, and opportunity. Yet we must also recognize that corporations and governments saw something else: a chance to double the workforce and therefore double the tax base. When two parents must work simply to maintain the same standard of living that one income once provided, the system benefits greatly. Tax revenues grow, consumer spending grows, and the cycle of dependency tightens. What was once called progress can quietly become economic necessity.

Third, consider the strange war against traditional foods. For generations people cooked with butter, milk, and simple ingredients from the land. Then came a wave of marketing and scientific messaging declaring that these foods were dangerous. In their place appeared industrial substitutes: margarine, spreads, and laboratory creations. One of the most famous advertisements featured the model Fabio Lanzoni promoting the product I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!. Suddenly a factory-made imitation was marketed as modern and healthy, while the food our grandparents trusted was portrayed as primitive or harmful.

This is how super-capitalism operates. It does not simply sell products. It reshapes culture. It redefines habits. It persuades people to abandon what is familiar in favor of what is profitable.

The danger is not capitalism itself. Markets can be useful servants of human creativity. The danger lies in a system so powerful that it begins to engineer society in order to expand consumption endlessly. When profit becomes the supreme value, traditions become obstacles, families become economic units, and even our diets become marketing campaigns.

The people of Yugoslavia — Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Slovenes, Macedonians, Montenegrins, and others — know the importance of community. We know the value of land, family, and shared history. These things cannot be measured by quarterly earnings reports.

My message is simple: remain vigilant. Question the stories that advertising tells you. Defend your local culture, your food, your communities, and your independence of thought. The future of our societies should not be written in corporate boardrooms or dictated by distant financial institutions.

Economic systems must serve human dignity. If they do not, it is the responsibility of free people to remind them who they exist for.

Let us remember who we are, and let us choose wisely the kind of world we wish to build.

— Josip Jukić