Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun

Re:Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun by joe_mamba on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @03:44PM (#46966625)

>it seems as if government mandated privacy intrusion is OK

Once you give people an outside boogieman(Putin, Trump, Covids, etc) or a self inflicted false flag crisis(surge in crime rates) to shake them up to their core and put the fear in them, you can then easily sell your intrusion of privacy in their lives as the necessary solution that protects them.

When you start lose control of your people because their standard of living has been going downhill for 2 decades and they realize the future prospects aren't any better so they hate you even more, you can regain control of them by rallying them up on your side in a us-versus-them mentality against external and internal aggressors you paint as the enemy. The media is your friend here. /s

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Re:Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun by stoneforger on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @04:23PM (#46967118)

Amen to that.

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Re:Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun by Cyph0n on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @04:49PM (#46967394)

I agree 100%. Europe is just ahead of us for the time being, but our turn is soon approaching...

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Re:Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun by pseudony on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @03:37AM (#46972408)

You may say that, but last I checked, we don’t get stopped and shot in the streets by masked goons on government payrolls.

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Re:Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun by Cyph0n on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @06:26PM (#46982699)

Sure, but I am talking about government-mandated surveillance through legislation.

Also, your police aren’t afraid to go the extra mile to quash dissent. Look at what’s happening in the UK for example with Palestine Action. The only difference is that they are less armed and better trained.

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Re:Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun by s1mplicissimus on Saturday February 14, 2026 @07:41AM (#47014132)

Remember how UK is not a part of the EU anymore for about a decade by now?

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Re:Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun by Cyph0n on Saturday February 14, 2026 @05:36PM (#47019116)

Pedantry at its finest. The UK is European and you know it - regardless of the technicalities.

Since you’re a pedant, look at what Germany is doing in this same area.

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Re:Europe's $24T Breakup with Visa and Mastercard Has Begun by s1mplicissimus on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @08:05AM (#47047084)

Oh boy, did I hurt your feelings or something? If you call this pedantry, I'll gladly be a pedant in your perception. I'll call you ignorant in return though. And since you are an ignorant (notice how I can also take an adjective and ascribe it to your whole personhood?) you probably won't know what the difference between Europe and the European Union is anyway, so there's little hope for a fruitful discussion.

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