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> Right, black and white haha. Well if we are highly volatile, highly unreliable, and highly unreasonable why would we do anything besides whatever we decide to

> Right, black and white haha. Well if we are highly volatile, highly unreliable, and highly unreasonable why would we do anything besides whatever we decide to do? Can’t trust us, can’t reason with us, and can’t rely on us. In that case, who gives a shit about alliances with Europe? So, what's the plan? The USA imperialistically conquers land of former allies and rules the world forever with force? All countries are forced to trade with the USA? Or will the USA just operate as an island? How is this gonna work? I don't think you realize how bad things have already gotten. We're not at the level of Europeans or Canadians burning American flags and chanting "death to America" in the street yet, but we are definitely speedrunning towards that. According to polling a large majority of the countries in the world now see the USA as the biggest threat to world peace [0]. A lot of people have also come to simply really, really hate (most) Americans. The complacency and impotence in stopping the utter madness and stupidity (or worse, doubling down on it) are damning. I wish it were different. [0] https://www.niradata.com/global-pulse-2026 https://www.niradata.com/global-pulse-2026 ("Global threat" section)

ericmay 1mo ago
shrug If people feel that way then there’s no reason to do anything besides whatever we want. We are untrustworthy, unreliable, highly volatile (anything else we should add?) and every Canadian/European is proudly chanting death to America. At that point, who cares? It reminds me of those abusive relationships where some girl (EU/Canada) hates the boyfriend (America) but keeps coming back to him despite all these flaws. You’re untrustworthy! You’re bad! And then you just keep hanging around because deep down you know you need us. That’s why you have to keep saying the same thing over and over again - you need us and want us to act in a way that best suits your interests.
- dinfinity 1mo ago
  What an incredible way to miss the points and what an incredible bit of logic. "Sure, I am an abusive asshole. But you need me, so I'm going to continue to be an abusive asshole. Why wouldn't I? You need me." At this point I'm just going to assume you're trolling. Well done, I guess.
  - ericmay 1mo ago
    > At this point I'm just going to assume you're trolling. Well done, I guess. Every accusation is a confession. > "Sure, I am an abusive asshole. But you need me, so I'm going to continue to be an abusive asshole. Why wouldn't I? You need me." Well, then why are, idk what to call some folks, I guess anti-American pro-EU? still trying to convince us of anything? It's like you keep repeating "we don't trust you", "we don't like this or that", "the relationship will never be the same"! Ok got it, we've moved on and we're flying solo now, why haven't you moved on?
    - dinfinity 1mo ago
      > Every accusation is a confession. That doesn't make sense. Are you accusing me of trolling? Based on what? > Well, then why are, idk what to call some folks, I guess anti-American pro-EU? still trying to convince us of anything? The option "the USA stops being an abusive asshole" is really not on your radar, is it? Because that would be the obvious and best way out of the current situation, like in the abusive relationship analogy you so aptly described. You do realize in that scenario the boyfriend is unequivocally the bad guy, right? > Ok got it, we've moved on and we're flying solo now The USA hasn't "moved on" and is not "flying solo". It is being petty, reneging on previously made agreements and actively significantly hurting and threatening to hurt the other parties in their (ex-)relationships constantly. It's like a couple with kids where one of the parents suddenly starts behaving like the biggest piece of shit on earth. Even after the divorce that is going to be a massive shit show for all parties involved. If the USA wouldn't be dragging the rest of the world down with it, we wouldn't care. But you are. Spectacularly and moronically badly.
      - ericmay 1mo ago
        > That doesn't make sense. Are you accusing me of trolling? Based on what? I'm not accusing you of anything, but if you are going to accuse me of trolling then I'll assume you are admitting to trolling instead. > The option "the USA stops being an abusive asshole" is really not on your radar, is it? It's not - that's why my analogy made sense. We're abusive, relationships unrepairable, never to be trusted again, highly volatile, you name it. You implicitly or explicitly (and others) have made these claims, not me. I think we can absolutely still work together, and there is a lot of room to repair things and frankly they're not as bad as the internet people make them out to be. But if all you are going to do is sit there and repeat these feel-good phrases: "can't trust, can't redeem, highly volatile, &c" then ok sure yea we're all those things and there's no interest in talking or trying to repair anything because you've already declared it's over.

ericmay 1mo ago

shrug If people feel that way then there’s no reason to do anything besides whatever we want. We are untrustworthy, unreliable, highly volatile (anything else we should add?) and every Canadian/European is proudly chanting death to America. At that point, who cares? It reminds me of those abusive relationships where some girl (EU/Canada) hates the boyfriend (America) but keeps coming back to him despite all these flaws. You’re untrustworthy! You’re bad! And then you just keep hanging around because deep down you know you need us. That’s why you have to keep saying the same thing over and over again - you need us and want us to act in a way that best suits your interests.

dinfinity 1mo ago
What an incredible way to miss the points and what an incredible bit of logic. "Sure, I am an abusive asshole. But you need me, so I'm going to continue to be an abusive asshole. Why wouldn't I? You need me." At this point I'm just going to assume you're trolling. Well done, I guess.
- ericmay 1mo ago
  > At this point I'm just going to assume you're trolling. Well done, I guess. Every accusation is a confession. > "Sure, I am an abusive asshole. But you need me, so I'm going to continue to be an abusive asshole. Why wouldn't I? You need me." Well, then why are, idk what to call some folks, I guess anti-American pro-EU? still trying to convince us of anything? It's like you keep repeating "we don't trust you", "we don't like this or that", "the relationship will never be the same"! Ok got it, we've moved on and we're flying solo now, why haven't you moved on?
  - dinfinity 1mo ago
    > Every accusation is a confession. That doesn't make sense. Are you accusing me of trolling? Based on what? > Well, then why are, idk what to call some folks, I guess anti-American pro-EU? still trying to convince us of anything? The option "the USA stops being an abusive asshole" is really not on your radar, is it? Because that would be the obvious and best way out of the current situation, like in the abusive relationship analogy you so aptly described. You do realize in that scenario the boyfriend is unequivocally the bad guy, right? > Ok got it, we've moved on and we're flying solo now The USA hasn't "moved on" and is not "flying solo". It is being petty, reneging on previously made agreements and actively significantly hurting and threatening to hurt the other parties in their (ex-)relationships constantly. It's like a couple with kids where one of the parents suddenly starts behaving like the biggest piece of shit on earth. Even after the divorce that is going to be a massive shit show for all parties involved. If the USA wouldn't be dragging the rest of the world down with it, we wouldn't care. But you are. Spectacularly and moronically badly.
    - ericmay 1mo ago
      > That doesn't make sense. Are you accusing me of trolling? Based on what? I'm not accusing you of anything, but if you are going to accuse me of trolling then I'll assume you are admitting to trolling instead. > The option "the USA stops being an abusive asshole" is really not on your radar, is it? It's not - that's why my analogy made sense. We're abusive, relationships unrepairable, never to be trusted again, highly volatile, you name it. You implicitly or explicitly (and others) have made these claims, not me. I think we can absolutely still work together, and there is a lot of room to repair things and frankly they're not as bad as the internet people make them out to be. But if all you are going to do is sit there and repeat these feel-good phrases: "can't trust, can't redeem, highly volatile, &c" then ok sure yea we're all those things and there's no interest in talking or trying to repair anything because you've already declared it's over.