4 ms·

Because there's three grand powers in the world and two of them are locked in contest. The third one is the only one that can shift the balance of powers, so i

by vrganj 1mo ago

Because there's three grand powers in the world and two of them are locked in contest. The third one is the only one that can shift the balance of powers, so it gets to be kingmaker.

0xDEAFBEAD 1mo ago
Why should I care about winning this contest?
- vrganj 1mo ago
  I don't know. It's your leadership that started the contest in the first place, take it up with them. Either way though, they decided to care and now they're trying to abandon their winning hand. You don't get to both play the game and then pretend you don't care.
  - 0xDEAFBEAD 1mo ago
    >You don't get to both play the game and then pretend you don't care. Why not? You seem to think that these silly arguments based on your invented verbal classifications such as who is "playing the game" should count as constraints on US foreign policy. The fundamental problem is that we gave you a sweetheart deal for decades. You got used to it and took it for granted. Aspects of that deal are being renegotiated. You're now saying: "Where are my entitlements?" But they were never entitlements. In any case--good luck buddy. I think you're beyond my help.
    - vrganj 1mo ago
      Because now that you started it, the Chinese won't stop playing. Your own behavior is what creates constraints, the irony is that you haven't even realized my language is purely descriptive of geopolitical grand strategy while yours is enacting the late stage imperial hubris I'm describing. And it was you that is throwing away the sweetheart deal and still being arrogant about it. You're correct that they were never entitlements. They were the bare minimum compensation for our support.
      - 0xDEAFBEAD 1mo ago
        I don't consider European "support" to have much value. It seems to mostly come in the form of whining, lectures, and things which would happen anyways, such as trade. Obama also considered you guys to be freeloaders: https://www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2016/03/the-obama-doctrine-the-atlantics-exclusive-report-on-presidents-hardest-foreign-policy-decisions/473151/ https://www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2016/03/t... I don't particularly want the US to be a empire. I like the Swiss model better. We did something like this successfully pre-WW2. Since the US alliance has been so burdensome for you, you should be happy about this development.
        vrganj 1mo ago
        One recurring issue here has been that the American public is apparently operating under the assumption that their personal preferences are directly translatable into geopolitical reality. You can want things and you can even vote for them, but you are within a larger system who's other factors or trajectory you don't control. Personally, I think realistically with that in mind, the EU should work for rapprochement with China considering America's current loss of ambition. Most importantly, I think this whole frame is way too stuck in the inane back-and-forth between states, when I believe Climate Change is the defining issue of our time - for all of us, independent of national allegiance. With this humanity defining issue in mind, the American behavior becomes particularly dangerous, not honoring their international commitments and actively making the problem worse while pretending the world could be the same as a hundred years ago. We need to move forward and deal with the problems of right now, instead of harking back to some perceived glory days. History flows forwards, not backwards. We don't have time for these petty squabbles, we can't afford to wait for you to get your house in order. The final irony is that now apparently you're praising the Swiss model after just calling it "moral facade that allows them to dodge responsibility"? Which one is it? An example to inspire or a dodge to avoid? Once again, you want your cake and eat it.
        0xDEAFBEAD 1mo ago
        I want the US to stop being the designated country which gets blamed whenever anything goes wrong. What am I allowed to do in order to make that happen, O European Master? You're doing it again in this comment with regard to greenhouse gas emissions. Ours have been dropping. See https://www.onepercentbrighter.com/p/who-emits-the-most-co https://www.onepercentbrighter.com/p/who-emits-the-most-co I'm tired of being the designated punching bag.

by vrganj 1mo ago

Because there's three grand powers in the world and two of them are locked in contest. The third one is the only one that can shift the balance of powers, so it gets to be kingmaker.

0xDEAFBEAD 1mo ago

Why should I care about winning this contest?

vrganj 1mo ago
I don't know. It's your leadership that started the contest in the first place, take it up with them. Either way though, they decided to care and now they're trying to abandon their winning hand. You don't get to both play the game and then pretend you don't care.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 1mo ago
  >You don't get to both play the game and then pretend you don't care. Why not? You seem to think that these silly arguments based on your invented verbal classifications such as who is "playing the game" should count as constraints on US foreign policy. The fundamental problem is that we gave you a sweetheart deal for decades. You got used to it and took it for granted. Aspects of that deal are being renegotiated. You're now saying: "Where are my entitlements?" But they were never entitlements. In any case--good luck buddy. I think you're beyond my help.
  - vrganj 1mo ago
    Because now that you started it, the Chinese won't stop playing. Your own behavior is what creates constraints, the irony is that you haven't even realized my language is purely descriptive of geopolitical grand strategy while yours is enacting the late stage imperial hubris I'm describing. And it was you that is throwing away the sweetheart deal and still being arrogant about it. You're correct that they were never entitlements. They were the bare minimum compensation for our support.
    - 0xDEAFBEAD 1mo ago
      I don't consider European "support" to have much value. It seems to mostly come in the form of whining, lectures, and things which would happen anyways, such as trade. Obama also considered you guys to be freeloaders: https://www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2016/03/the-obama-doctrine-the-atlantics-exclusive-report-on-presidents-hardest-foreign-policy-decisions/473151/ https://www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2016/03/t... I don't particularly want the US to be a empire. I like the Swiss model better. We did something like this successfully pre-WW2. Since the US alliance has been so burdensome for you, you should be happy about this development.
      - vrganj 1mo ago
        One recurring issue here has been that the American public is apparently operating under the assumption that their personal preferences are directly translatable into geopolitical reality. You can want things and you can even vote for them, but you are within a larger system who's other factors or trajectory you don't control. Personally, I think realistically with that in mind, the EU should work for rapprochement with China considering America's current loss of ambition. Most importantly, I think this whole frame is way too stuck in the inane back-and-forth between states, when I believe Climate Change is the defining issue of our time - for all of us, independent of national allegiance. With this humanity defining issue in mind, the American behavior becomes particularly dangerous, not honoring their international commitments and actively making the problem worse while pretending the world could be the same as a hundred years ago. We need to move forward and deal with the problems of right now, instead of harking back to some perceived glory days. History flows forwards, not backwards. We don't have time for these petty squabbles, we can't afford to wait for you to get your house in order. The final irony is that now apparently you're praising the Swiss model after just calling it "moral facade that allows them to dodge responsibility"? Which one is it? An example to inspire or a dodge to avoid? Once again, you want your cake and eat it.
        0xDEAFBEAD 1mo ago
        I want the US to stop being the designated country which gets blamed whenever anything goes wrong. What am I allowed to do in order to make that happen, O European Master? You're doing it again in this comment with regard to greenhouse gas emissions. Ours have been dropping. See https://www.onepercentbrighter.com/p/who-emits-the-most-co https://www.onepercentbrighter.com/p/who-emits-the-most-co I'm tired of being the designated punching bag.