Another great piece. Thanks for writing it. You continue to be one of the few left of center intellectuals who is truly committed to diagnosis as opposed to reflexive and repetative rejectionism. As a footnote to this article I offer up my admittedly anectodal observation that liberal Europeans seem to hold oversimplifed views of American Politics. In particular liberal Europeans seem to be the only public body left standing that maintains high trust in traditional American corporate news outlets. Probably because the dissident outlets have emerged primarily in the new media, and Europeans have enough on their minds just navigating the challenges new media brings to bear just in their own local and national politcs. It seems to me that European citizens are blindsided by the current situation precisely for this reason, and their politicians probably respond accordingly. When I muse over how the American media outlets survive at all, I sometimes think that their foreign reach may be the last thread that is holding them together as Americans get wiser to their failure.
Let’s call a spade a spade, Germany rammed through the European policies you describe. Germany did not want to even think about improving our defence, because it didn’t want to pay for it. Much cheaper to not think, pretend that the “Amis” will stay forever and diss the French. Others, notably France, always were more realistic. I am confident that we Europeans have what it takes not to be overrun and to take up our place in the world. After all, now that Washington aligns itself with Moscow, we are the free world. Although we have been backsliding, we are still immensely rich and can undo the damage if we want to. What is clear to me though is that the EU in its present form and with its present membership is doomed. So is the “regulation world power” nonsense that anyway only works in a law-abiding world that is now going down the drain with the US’ enthusiastic support . The EU was a part of a US-led security architecture that is dead now the US has become a geopolitical threat. Something else will emerge that will not include Russian stooges like Hungary and will be focused on geopolitics and geo-economics. Forget about green agendas and other Putin-enabling nonsense. Germany will also have to decide if it is ready to give up its arrogance and complacency or it it prefers to become Russia’s Lebensraum after having been Europe’s beer belly.
Another great piece. Thanks for writing it. You continue to be one of the few left of center intellectuals who is truly committed to diagnosis as opposed to reflexive and repetative rejectionism. As a footnote to this article I offer up my admittedly anectodal observation that liberal Europeans seem to hold oversimplifed views of American Politics. In particular liberal Europeans seem to be the only public body left standing that maintains high trust in traditional American corporate news outlets. Probably because the dissident outlets have emerged primarily in the new media, and Europeans have enough on their minds just navigating the challenges new media brings to bear just in their own local and national politcs. It seems to me that European citizens are blindsided by the current situation precisely for this reason, and their politicians probably respond accordingly. When I muse over how the American media outlets survive at all, I sometimes think that their foreign reach may be the last thread that is holding them together as Americans get wiser to their failure.
Let’s call a spade a spade, Germany rammed through the European policies you describe. Germany did not want to even think about improving our defence, because it didn’t want to pay for it. Much cheaper to not think, pretend that the “Amis” will stay forever and diss the French. Others, notably France, always were more realistic. I am confident that we Europeans have what it takes not to be overrun and to take up our place in the world. After all, now that Washington aligns itself with Moscow, we are the free world. Although we have been backsliding, we are still immensely rich and can undo the damage if we want to. What is clear to me though is that the EU in its present form and with its present membership is doomed. So is the “regulation world power” nonsense that anyway only works in a law-abiding world that is now going down the drain with the US’ enthusiastic support . The EU was a part of a US-led security architecture that is dead now the US has become a geopolitical threat. Something else will emerge that will not include Russian stooges like Hungary and will be focused on geopolitics and geo-economics. Forget about green agendas and other Putin-enabling nonsense. Germany will also have to decide if it is ready to give up its arrogance and complacency or it it prefers to become Russia’s Lebensraum after having been Europe’s beer belly.