Re:The U.S. Is Bullying Europe Like Never Before
by tmgldn on Tuesday November 03, 2026 @12:10AM
(#50348331)
Americans here saying that the world is a zero sum game and we Europeans should be doing the same back to the US govt as they do to us miss a few key points:
- we want to but cannot because we could not project that the country which convinced us to embrace our current political and economic system would abandon it and punish us for following
- saying the world is dog eat dog is a self fulfilling prophecy; after the 20th century in Europe was characterised by war, the post-war federation and economic cooperation has made intra European bloc war impossible. This is rightly considered a success in Europe, and explains why we tend not to see world matters as zero-sum. American education teaches war in a transactional economic way that does not resonate with our collective imagination, due to our own scars from war
It is easy (and partly fair) to blame the European bloc for a lack of organisation and foresight but in fairness, it was hard to imagine the US govt would act in a form of economic self-sabotage as a means of political pressure. And deterrents and preparation for the possible are not free. Hindsight is not an answer.
- we want to but cannot because we could not project that the country which convinced us to embrace our current political and economic system would abandon it and punish us for following - saying the world is dog eat dog is a self fulfilling prophecy; after the 20th century in Europe was characterised by war, the post-war federation and economic cooperation has made intra European bloc war impossible. This is rightly considered a success in Europe, and explains why we tend not to see world matters as zero-sum. American education teaches war in a transactional economic way that does not resonate with our collective imagination, due to our own scars from war
It is easy (and partly fair) to blame the European bloc for a lack of organisation and foresight but in fairness, it was hard to imagine the US govt would act in a form of economic self-sabotage as a means of political pressure. And deterrents and preparation for the possible are not free. Hindsight is not an answer.