> Another point I’d like to make is that modern European lifestyles exist partly due to American military hegemony, which has allowed European nations to redire

> Another point I’d like to make is that modern European lifestyles exist partly due to American military hegemony, which has allowed European nations to redirect their defense spending to social programs. I agree with you on your main point, but I'm not sure this one holds. Per NATO, defense spending is supposed to be around 2% of GDP, with most European countries spending 1-1.5% [1]. This is while the average European country spends ~20-25% of GDP on social services [2]. So if the US were to defund the military to 2% and leave Europe to their own devices, the budget shortfall would be a small portion of the amount European countries currently spend on all social programs. --- [1]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/584088/defense-expenditures-of-nato-countries/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/584088/defense-expenditu... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_social_welfare_spending#Total_net_social_spending https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_social_we...