constellation [none/use name]

Maybe it’s my Reddit brain that hasn’t fully recovered.

Europeans resent America for it’s warmongering

Oh come on, they’ve resented us for decades. Ever since the adults in the room stopped them from being fascists like they really wanted. They’ve never forgiven us for “saving” them from Naziism.

while their own material conditions get worse

Europeans have fantastic material conditions. They can afford to spend generously on a welfare state because America subsidizes them. And why the fuck do we give ten or eleven figures every year to wealthy first-world nations?

We need to grant their requests and pull our troops out of there. Stop the occupation, it’s been 80 years already, when were we planning on leaving? NATO was intended as a defensive alliance. Last three NATO wars were the offensive invasion of Afghanistan, offensive invasion of Libya and the proxy war in Ukraine. All unmitigated disasters. All we get in return is condescension from the intellectuals and commercial exploitation by the competitors that the “global order” has created.

What’s the code of conduct like there?

Smart people have been saying for a long time that the sooner we stop spending money on a massive military to maintain our global hegemony the better. I had hoped Obama would be the one to do it but he couldn’t make it happen, he was too worried about something bad happening on his watch and not getting re-elected.

The goal is to no longer be a global hegemony, not to maintain it through other means. Every global hegemony has lost its status eventually by ignoring the welfare of their own population to maintain its military power. Some outright collapse (Rome) and others fade from power gracefully and start spending their wealth on their citizens (UK).

• US is considered to be the greatest threat to peace in the world

• In general, Europe depends on the US for defense and to protect their interests

• 53% of Germans would not intervene to protect a NATO ally. As for NATO treaties, it seems that Europe is the one that sees no point. A majority of Germans are against military assistance for a NATO ally that is in a military conflict with Russia.

• NATO’s European Allies Won’t Fight for Article 5

• And at least half in Germany, France and Italy are unwilling to use military force to defend other NATO allies against Russian aggression.

• Europeans generally expect the U.S. to use military force to defend a NATO ally from a Russian attack, but they are less supportive of using their own armed forces under the same circumstances.

A lot of hate Europeans have for the US is not only a product of their ignorance of their dependence on the US, it’s also because of their dependence on the US. Europeans take the US for granted and many of those that are aware of their dependence on the US still hate the US because playing second fiddle to the US stings their pride.

[What happened at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco in 1993. The ATF assault that ended with the whole place burning down on national television.] (https://i.imgur.com/VDWGEbf.png)

Drafted soldiers.

After Vietnam the US went to an all-volunteer force. Not because, as some would enjoy thinking, protesting. But rather because a post-war analysis revealed that draftee units frequently failed to accomplish their assigned missions. Moreover they were prone to committing war atrocities.