I have a theory that you can drop your prized line about how euro-rightists are to the left of American leftists. That's not true.
Ideologically, we're pretty similar. In the concrete, Europe is further left because they havent been paying for their own defense. That makes funds available for social welfare.
Biden will advocate continuing to defend Europe. Trump would not. So sure, support Trump. — frank
I may be wrong. — frank
Europe is not further left of the US just because some of it is in NATO. There are important cultural issues there. — Baden
Europe ought to organize its own defence and move away from the US. — Baden
You may just not know how prevalent American Communists were before the 1950s. — frank
(at which point they would be doomed). — frank
Your culture (and politics) has changed. — Baden
Hardly. We have a strong nuclear deterrent and the ability to defend ourselves against pretty much anyone except the US. But then, I don't see that war happening unless things really get wild with Trump. — Baden
Sounds more like an attempt at one-upmanship based on your country's superior firepower. — Baden
There's more chance of Martians invading Europe than China. It'd be like Amazon bombing the post office. — Baden
I didnt say that Europe needs to defend itself from China. — frank
I dont think Europe is prepared to defend itself from Russia and certainly not China. — frank
I said it's been shaped politically and economically by the lack of any need to worry about defense.
And this might influence the way a European thinks about the difference between Biden and Trump. — frank
frank
4.8k
The need to maintain a standing army holds a country hostage in some ways. National security overrides other issues. In that climate, a special kind of corruption invades. Resistance to change is cemented by those who benefit from that corruption. — frank
This is why I think you're seriously better off getting Trump for another 4 years than some appeasement from Biden that very likely had the effect of diminishing the start of this fire.
Edit: in the long run obviously. In the short run it's shooting yourself in the foot. — Benkei
But what the hell would we want to fight wars for now? — Frank Apisa
The idea that the US has to spend as much as it does on military might...is fucking nuts. — Frank Apisa
If only. I think you're missing a set of zeros.We spend almost $800,000,000 per year on military. — Frank Apisa
tim wood
4.3k
We spend almost $800,000,000 per year on military.
— Frank Apisa
If only. I think you're missing a set of zeros. — tim wood
I do not question your $8B figure. I do question whether it's a true figure - probably not too far off. Anyway, roughly $2500+ per US soul.We spend almost $800,000,000,000 per year on the military. — Frank Apisa
tim wood
4.3k
We spend almost $800,000,000,000 per year on the military.
— Frank Apisa
I do not question your $8B figure. I do question whether it's a true figure - probably not too far off. Anyway, roughly $2500+ per US soul.
My understanding of the fall of the Soviet Union is that it was mainly - not entirely - the result of a decision by the Reagan administration that the US could spend them to death. And it did. I wonder now if the US is spending itself to death. If it is, can it be reversed, and on what terms. — tim wood
so there's some overlap between the two — frank
I think that military spending during peacetime is a way a Neoliberal government can force the economy forward when Savings & Loan institutions or the banking system itself becomes overtly unstable (which they did occasionally since the late 80s). — frank
There's confluence but not concordance. Bill Clinton was a neoliberal too, but not a neocon (Hillary, on the other hand, hmm.) — Baden
Well, as you no doubt saw from the Blyth vid, the neoliberal project is to divorce the material benefits of growth from the vast majority of the population and concentrate them in a tiny minority. — Baden
So, the question becomes not 'How do we get growth?' — Baden
Not that this has anything to do with Joe Biden, but he's too boring to talk about anyway. — Baden
Calling it the neoliberal project makes it sound like it was consciously conducted by scam artists, as if someone actually wanted to concentrate wealth. — frank
For Americans, deregulation performed by a guy in a cowboy hat was in line with the American identity. — frank
scam artists — frank
Alan Greenspan was a fan of Ayn Rand's. Like it or hate it, there is an ideological aspect to American neoliberalism, and it's essentially neoconservatism. — frank
When a string of savings & loans collapses due to poor lending practices, I think an infusion of cash into the economy would be helpful in reversing a collapse in confidence. Is that wrong? — frank
My theory is that military spending in the US helped hide instability in the banking system over a period of several decades. — frank
It's laid out pretty clearly in, for example: — Baden
Neoconservatism directs itself primarily towards social conservatism and hawkish foreign policy. Neoliberalism is concerned with economics. The concepts face in different directions. Analytically, what's the return on conjoining them? — Baden
The American savings & loan crisis was in the 80s and 90s. Under B. Clinton the banking system also appeared unstable for a while. It was an early sign that poor lending practices were becoming normal.When a string of savings & loans collapses due to poor lending practices, I think an infusion of cash into the economy would be helpful in reversing a collapse in confidence. Is that wrong?
— frank
The story of why things failed is more complicated than that — Baden
as is the best solution — Baden
We are the poster boys for austerity and the only country where it seemed to "work".) — Baden
Tell me more. — Baden
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