France, Germany, and Austria all have a military-industrial complex problem. MIL money might not dominate their politics the same way as the US, but there is a problem there.
Even with their post-WW2 defensive militaries, Germany and Austria are perfectly ready to sell military hardware to anyone with the cash. H&K, Glock, and Steyr all hail from those two.
France sold off the Exocet anti-ship missile to just about anyone. As far as I can tell, it has only been fired in anger at the boats of other NATO members. Thanks, France!
The sound from my portable bluetooth speaker. But that’s mostly because it’s a shitty speaker and you can barely hear it when it’s sitting 3 feet away let alone when there’s at minimum an ocean between you and it.
yall need to get off the high horse and take a joke sometimes. you terrorized the entire world via colonization for hundreds of years through modern day, if people harmlessly stereotype the german or french, make fun of british people, or tease the dutch language, yall can handle it
for context, im american. we get bullied all the time, and while not all americans are fat and stupid, the combination of that many are and that we’ve terrorized the world plenty make me think a lil teasing is fair
Yes it’s perfectly fair and most of us don’t mind.
I think the issue, especially on Reddit, was the over-representation of US Americans compared to the other countries.
It gets old quite fast to get called a “surrender monkey” or a Nazi on a regular basis in a space where most of the audience is on the other side and I’m not even French or German.
On Lemmy it’s probably a bit more balanced.
I guess let’s see what happens with the Germany elections in February because that nazi line may start to ring true.
Does the Trump election gives everyone the right to call all US citizens convicted felons?
Certainly gives everyone the right to call us a country of idiots.
Sounds derogatory and xenophobic
Europeans are really fucking racist. Asians and Jews are cool and yet yall are really weird about them. and don’t get me started on how badly Islam is vilified…
Nobody is “weird” about Asians or Jews where I live, that I know of. I’m even half west-Asian myself. Nobody had been weird about it to me, ever. I was always met with positivity regarding my heritage. Surprised to see you say this, to be honest.
middle eastern person says on internet that they haven’t experienced racism, must mean there’s no racism
Not what I wrote at all if you pay close attention but okay.
Europeans like to pretend they’re innocent, but they are the benefactors of most the damaging empires to have ever existed. They colonized nearly the entire world, extracting value from other cultures while destroying them. They pulled out once it was financially wise, keeping the wealth they extracted and leaving behind the destruction they created. They then blame everyone else for their issues while bragging about how awesome the EU is while overlooking that the EU is only possible due to the wealth they stole from everyone else. Europe likes to discuss that they had their social hardship discussing WWII, but the origin and impact of WWII there was internal to Europe. Had Europe been subject to colonization from elsewhere, it would be just as much a mess as other places. Look at the situation in former Soviet Pact countries that were practically colonized by Russia for maybe half a century. Now imagine if instead of half a century, it was hundreds of years and 5 times as brutal.
Fun fact: The term “colony” comes from Christopher Colombus’ name, which is Spanish is Cristobal Colon. Even the term colonization derives from a European.Apparently, that was incorrect.tl;dr: Europe got to where it is by destroying the rest of the world while blaming the rest of the world for their issues. Their critique of USA is merely a distraction from their own responsibility.
We don’t believe in generational sin, forced upon you because your grandparents did something bad either.
Lol the downvote brigade is here +11/-7 and on my other comment too, if I’m so wrong tell me why!
I will believe this when the British museum, the Louvre, etc are devoid of stolen (or very unfairly “purchased”) artifacts from former colonies. Generational responsibility may not be a thing, but institutional abuses spanning centuries that persist into the current day absolutely are.
Fair enough, but it’s quite far away from enslaving and murdering.
Edit: I see the difference between stealing versus raping, enslaving and murder. Not saying stealing is right, but there is more than a nuance to it lol.
Countries built their generational wealth on the backs of slaves though. Look at how, for instance, Belgium enriched itself though the horrific abuses in the Congo. While it’s true that no one alive was directly responsible, they still benefit from it.
How would people who live outside of Europe know what Europeans are not ready to hear? As someone who lives in the U.S. I know only a couple of people IRL who live in Europe.
The thing my European friend was not ready to hear was that all his complaining about the social programs in his home country and the high taxes and so on comes across as entitled and spoiled. Because he’s never lived without the benefits of a state that will provide healthcare and so on, he is free to complain about his privileges and glorify the U.S. as a place where individual citizens fill in the responsibilities that the government should fulfill. He sees this as an unmitigated good, because he thinks it means more civic engagement.
What he doesn’t understand is that this results in most people falling through the cracks, and until he falls through one of those cracks himself it won’t be real to him how bad it is to not be able to afford losing wages because you are sick or injured, or what it’s like when you can’t afford to see a doctor when you break a bone or get so sick you can’t leave your house.
That said, I’m not sure every European needs to hear this, or that they’re not ready to hear it - just this one person seemed to be a little delusional and to have idealized the U.S. as some kind of right-wing libertarian utopia.
How would people who live outside of Europe know what Europeans are not ready to hear?
-Goes on to do exactly that
Bröther
I thought America was racist until I saw a member of UK Parliament tweeting about a boat of migrants sinking with “Good riddance”.
I definitely don’t agree with the sentiment and sinking of boats, but they basically are people coming from another first world country for economic reasons. The type of people willing to cheat the system and pay people smugglers tend to overlap closely with bad people. It’s not just simply coming from a place of “racism”. I’m more pissed though that people are putting their kids on these dangerous boats and killing them, or overexaggerating the legality and safety of said boats.
A safe and legal option into the UK is the best solution imo
The Europeans have had -many- centuries longer to screw -everything- up in -every way- and then, eventually, regret it. A bit. So, like most of us humans, who learn most lessons the hard way, they have finally settled on something they can live with … and they call it civilization. With pride.
Amongst those living there who don’t know all of that history - like most humans - they assume that things got that way reasonably. And brag about it as if it was true.
Unlike the middle East - which has had -millenia- longer to learn - and which was, is, and it seems always will be, screwing everything up in every way. While they all point their fingers elsewhere. And build very large monuments to survive them.
Lol at the casual racism of claiming “middle east is screwing everything up” as is they haven’t been manipulated, exploited and intervened on for the past couple of centuries by EU and USA for their own benefits. What drivel!
I don’t think the EU has existed for most of the last couple centuries, and EU itself hasn’t poked its nose in the Middle East much.
Don’t be deliberately obtuse. Obviously I meant the European nations which now comprise the core of the EU. You realize the age of colonialism and later on the age of imperialism was a exclusively European phenomenon, yes?
Europe as a whole is swinging too far too the right. Y’all all are descending back into Fascism. The recent popularity of the AfD in Germany being a prime example. My own parents - who immigrated from Germany - are deeply disappointed in the direction the country is taking.
I think everyone everywhere knows the world over is sliding to the right.
what are you on about?? europe is auth left for sure, look at france and uk. The left is winning even tho people are fed up with open borders policy. You are delusional nutjob at best.
Youtube always shows off all the progressive and positive aspects of Europe. Bike lanes, relable trains. Was so jealous. Then heard that my game buddy is off to manditory milatary service.
The idea that the government can take away a year of your life, and thats normal is still a tough pill to swallow.
The vast majority of countries in Europe don’t have military service, and it’s no coincidence that the few countries which do, also border Russia.
From a few years ago
Edit: source https://old.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/iejyu9/european_countries_with_mandatory_military_service/
The state of Western Australia is bigger than all of Europe.
Factually incorrect.
That’s like saying “no u” Of course it’s incorrect (I think) but now the burden of proof is on you
Europe is not as different from the US as it likes to pretend, especially politically.
Racism is not a unique or exceptionally American phenomenon, and the things I’ve heard from otherwise progressive Europeans can fucking curdle milk equal or in excess to what people in my ultra-rural ultra-conservative home region of the US can say.
I’ve had good friends who were Europeans studying here, and they can definitely be very insensitive and racist. What makes the two flavors of racism different to me is American racism is typically very confrontational, tribalistic. White man calling a black man a slur, and there’s something cavalier about it, maybe even humorous on the part of the racist.
Europeans have a much more “it is the way it is” attitude. I’ve heard friends talk very disparagingly about interracial couples, or blacks in general, and the attitude is less “hate for hate’s sake” but instead “it is the wrong way to be and my way is correct”. Fascinatingly, when you point out the bigotry, my friends have typically refused to accept their bias (at best), and will deny they’re racist.
I’ve heard Europeans call Turks ‘filthy’ and ‘roaches’ and Africans ‘monkeys’. And don’t get me started on the things said about the Romani.
I don’t think there’s a difference in how tribalistic or vicious it is.
Weird. I haven’t.
French food is wildly overrated, as is Paris.
If there’s anything Europeans know to be true, it’s that Paris is a giant tourist trap. Not worth it imo.
Commas are for separating thousands, periods are decimal points. Stop trying to be unique, you’re not.
as soon as you stop measuring things with body parts
It’s not just the US that has bland restaurants and/or is afraid of spice.
I’ve been to restaurants in the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Austria, and Bulgaria.
I’m sure there are places that spice things up more and some of the restaurants were really good, but some were also some of the most bland food I’ve had at a restaurant.
It’s the same thing in the US; there are places that won’t put any spice on and there are places that will leave you crying the food is so hot and everything in-between.
Also every “Mexican” food dish I’ve had in Europe has just been bad. Y’all are doing it wrong.
It’s not just the US that has bland restaurants and/or is afraid of spice.
First time I hear this stereotype lol, I’ve only ever heard it about European countries (basically all of them that don’t border the Mediterranean)
