5 ms·

Never is a long time. Look at where Germany was after both WWI and WWII, and where it is now; it's demonstrably possible to cause irreparable damage to everyone

Never is a long time. Look at where Germany was after both WWI and WWII, and where it is now; it's demonstrably possible to cause irreparable damage to everyone around you, and then rise back to the top (multiple times!). The only questions are timeline and scale.

vrganj 7mo ago
Germany wasn't and isn't the world's hegemon. I don't think that position is recoverable the same way.
- nozzlegear 7mo ago
  It was the hegemon of Europe though, and it is once again – at least economically. I don't know much about European culture to say how popular German pop culture is there though.
  - vrganj 7mo ago
    The "hegemon of Europe" was the "Franco-German engine" for the longest time. The engine has stalled though and the center of gravity is shifting East (Poland) and South (Spain, Italy). United in diversity, as is our motto.
evilduck 7mo ago
You also have to consider the outside intervention forcibly imposed upon Germany, after being defeated in war both times, and how the first round of that contributed directly to WWII. It's not exactly a playbook to copy verbatim.
- nozzlegear 7mo ago
  I'm on the record that America needs a third Reconstruction era.
stevenwoo 7mo ago
Germany got a new type of government. The 2/3 required in USA for significant change will be insurmountable short of a disaster on order of second Great Depression since plurality of American voters can’t see past next paycheck, no Democrat that can win Presidential primary has any kind of revolutionary vision, it’s all muted, even Bernie got squashed by centrist voters eventually and he was not even that far to the left IMHO - he even stayed away from race or gender issues.
- nozzlegear 7mo ago
  Hillary Clinton was to the left of Bernie Sanders in 2016, because free trade reduces global stratification and being against trade and immigration like Bernie was (and is) to protect American jobs is elitism.
  - ratrace 7mo ago
    [dead]
  - Our_Benefactors 7mo ago
    > Hillary Clinton was to the left of Bernie Sanders in 2016 No, this is so factually untrue as to be offensive. Hillary is a party stooge through and through, it’s why she was essentially installed as the 2016 dem candidate, in spite of voter preferences. They did Bernie dirty
    - nozzlegear 7mo ago
      > Hillary is a party stooge through and through, it’s why she was essentially installed as the 2016 dem candidate, in spite of voter preferences. They did Bernie dirty No, this is so factually untrue as to be offensive. I caucused and volunteered for Bernie in 2016. He lost the primary vote fair and square, but he dragged himself and his supporters to the convention kicking and screaming as if there was some chance he could overcome a mathematical defeat. Superdelegates never even entered the equation. All he did was instill a conspiracy in his diehard supporters.
  - 7mo ago
rchaud 7mo ago
Germany changed its constitution, banned its former ruling party, and actively explores and teaches their school kids about their crimes. The US on the other hand has a chunk of its electorate flying Confederate flags and voting for politicians who think US history textbooks should be more "pro-American".
- nozzlegear 7mo ago
  I'm not saying the country is perfect right now. We need a third Reconstruction.
  - mrguyorama 7mo ago
    We need a first reconstruction. We voted in Confederate sycophants ASAP to undo the very first, and spent the next 100 years pretending that slavery wasn't still happening. Yet again we have instead voted in people who for some reason think the literal aristocracy system of the antebellum south was anything worth protecting, despite the southern US being so dysfunctional it could barely support a war of it's own making.
feb012025 7mo ago
Look at where Germany is now? They're a total non-player on the world stage. They completely kowtow to the US. Hardly a good example
- nozzlegear 7mo ago
  > They're a total non-player on the world stage. It's the biggest economy in Europe and the de facto "head country" of the EU.

vrganj 7mo ago

Germany wasn't and isn't the world's hegemon. I don't think that position is recoverable the same way.

nozzlegear 7mo ago
It was the hegemon of Europe though, and it is once again – at least economically. I don't know much about European culture to say how popular German pop culture is there though.
- vrganj 7mo ago
  The "hegemon of Europe" was the "Franco-German engine" for the longest time. The engine has stalled though and the center of gravity is shifting East (Poland) and South (Spain, Italy). United in diversity, as is our motto.

evilduck 7mo ago

You also have to consider the outside intervention forcibly imposed upon Germany, after being defeated in war both times, and how the first round of that contributed directly to WWII. It's not exactly a playbook to copy verbatim.

nozzlegear 7mo ago
I'm on the record that America needs a third Reconstruction era.

stevenwoo 7mo ago

Germany got a new type of government. The 2/3 required in USA for significant change will be insurmountable short of a disaster on order of second Great Depression since plurality of American voters can’t see past next paycheck, no Democrat that can win Presidential primary has any kind of revolutionary vision, it’s all muted, even Bernie got squashed by centrist voters eventually and he was not even that far to the left IMHO - he even stayed away from race or gender issues.

nozzlegear 7mo ago
Hillary Clinton was to the left of Bernie Sanders in 2016, because free trade reduces global stratification and being against trade and immigration like Bernie was (and is) to protect American jobs is elitism.
- ratrace 7mo ago
  [dead]
- Our_Benefactors 7mo ago
  > Hillary Clinton was to the left of Bernie Sanders in 2016 No, this is so factually untrue as to be offensive. Hillary is a party stooge through and through, it’s why she was essentially installed as the 2016 dem candidate, in spite of voter preferences. They did Bernie dirty
  - nozzlegear 7mo ago
    > Hillary is a party stooge through and through, it’s why she was essentially installed as the 2016 dem candidate, in spite of voter preferences. They did Bernie dirty No, this is so factually untrue as to be offensive. I caucused and volunteered for Bernie in 2016. He lost the primary vote fair and square, but he dragged himself and his supporters to the convention kicking and screaming as if there was some chance he could overcome a mathematical defeat. Superdelegates never even entered the equation. All he did was instill a conspiracy in his diehard supporters.
- 7mo ago

rchaud 7mo ago

Germany changed its constitution, banned its former ruling party, and actively explores and teaches their school kids about their crimes. The US on the other hand has a chunk of its electorate flying Confederate flags and voting for politicians who think US history textbooks should be more "pro-American".

nozzlegear 7mo ago
I'm not saying the country is perfect right now. We need a third Reconstruction.
- mrguyorama 7mo ago
  We need a first reconstruction. We voted in Confederate sycophants ASAP to undo the very first, and spent the next 100 years pretending that slavery wasn't still happening. Yet again we have instead voted in people who for some reason think the literal aristocracy system of the antebellum south was anything worth protecting, despite the southern US being so dysfunctional it could barely support a war of it's own making.

feb012025 7mo ago

Look at where Germany is now? They're a total non-player on the world stage. They completely kowtow to the US. Hardly a good example

nozzlegear 7mo ago
> They're a total non-player on the world stage. It's the biggest economy in Europe and the de facto "head country" of the EU.