ike17055

clemynx said:

ike17055 said:

Perhaps EU leaders DESERVE to be insulted.  Diplomacy has gotten us nowhere for decades. Pay for your own defense. We are foing broke propping up your nanny state ways. 

Wow, you seem to suffer from an acute trumpist syndrome. 

In the real world, European leaders certainly do not deserve to be insulted. Diplomacy has made the world safer than it ...

European leaders who make committments and break them and then lampoon the American president, even as he speaks in front of them, deserve SO much more than being insulted.  

You also misdirected agin. I said diplomacy achieved nothing in reference specifically to trying to persuade the Europeans from reneging on their defense commitment. But since you raise the topic of diplomacy...the fact is that diplomacy in and of itself has not kept the peace...the deterrent power of American military might has been the single biggest factor in keeping the peace in Europe and keeping the Russians out of Western Europe. But diplomacy has served a vital role in avoiding conflict...conflict that is only even a possibility because of Soviet /  Russian desires to dominate the continent, particularly in the post-WW II period -- except you know, we kept them from doing so. So, the inconvenient fact for you is that the Bomb (and American bombers) has more to do with preserving European territorial integrity and sovereignty, than just about anything else. Especially diplomacy. But fine, we can remive our bases, and we will see if the Americans ir the Russians are the ones you should have been worrying about. 

clemynx said:

ike17055 said:

Perhaps EU leaders DESERVE to be insulted.  Diplomacy has gotten us nowhere for decades. Pay for your own defense. We are foing broke propping up your nanny state ways. 

Wow, you seem to suffer from an acute trumpist syndrome. 

In the real world, European leaders certainly do not deserve to be insulted. Diplomacy has made the world safer than it was for centuries. It’s troglodytes like Trump who want to bring it back to the Middle Ages with: 
rejection of science (climate change)
rejection of the balance of power (constant attacks on justice and the media)
rejection of the people's wellbeing (removing healthcare from 22 million people)
rejection of wisdom (a huge ignorant thinking Belgium was a city, Trump rejects the idea of learning)
rejection of good manners (the sociopathic handshake)
rejection of reality (all that is fake is real and vice versa, the inauguration crowd, the birth certificate, the election fraud, the wiretapping, the tapes, the kept Medicaid...)

Not defending Trump. You are misdirecting again. I merely stated that he has hit a nerve by expressing his reluctance to continue overpaying for NATO when Europe won't pay its agreed-to fair share has a huge impact and that America is reaching the end of its patience with being "rich Uncle" to spoiled children who insult the very source of their many indulgences.  

clemynx said:

ike17055 said:

clemynx said:

ike17055 said:

In fact, it is You who could not be more wrong. "Freer" and "more equal" are essentially contradictory in the marketplace. The freedom to succeed, or fail, is dependent largely on individual or organizational abilities and desire to exceed and outperform the practices of all others, not equality. The power of the consumer to choose ultimately picks the winner, not socialist interventions toward equality. This is the fundamental piece of free markets that European decisionmake

Agreed. But since any sane person would say that equality is more important than a "free market" that only makes companies richer, there is no doubt that the EU is doing the right thing.

No, no sane person who understands the real world and cares about personal freedom would choose "equality" in the European sense over freedome of choice.   This attitude is why my ancestors and those of millions of others fled Europe. Nothing has really changed much.you still look to The State for your answers to everything. The free market provides for a lot more than making the rich richer.  It does that too, for sure. Often to a fault, but that is usually due to politically driven government policies, not free markets.

That is factually wrong as every neoliberal move in the past 30 years has only lead to more inequality. But please, keep on pretending that 1% holding half of the wealth is acceptable. I think it’s a scandal. 

Never defended it.As stated, this is not a failure of the marketplace. It results from deliberate policies of the government, whose keepers then decry it, while fixing its foundations into cement. The Left and Right share responsibility for it by putting their political agendas and supporters above national interest and the defense of our Founding ideals. 

clemynx said:

ike17055 said:

foggyhill said:

ike17055 said:

wizard69 said:

This is a prime example of the EU's obsession with successful American companies.    Frankly i think the goverment here in the USA needs to take a more active roll in adressing this harassment.   

Google's success, and that of others, is in part how we can afford to continue paying the bulk of Europe's defense, while they sneer at us and laugh publicly at American admonishment for Europe's broken financial committment-- to itself. Trump gets a lot wrong, but he is right on this: if Europe wants to complain about how they cannot "depend" on America, perhaps they should stop shortchanging their own responsibilities, and quit always trying to play the U.S. for chumps, and begin to act like allies are supposed to act for once. 

So, a Trump lie huh, ok, now I know who to ignore.

Dimwit, the fact is: Trump has pointed out what has been record for years. Europe agreed to meet NATO funding percentages, then ignored the commitments they made, happily relying on the Americans to continue funding an excessive percentage. It is Europe that is the "unreliable partner."  Now it seems, America will reset its committment based on the realities of its own budget needs, and the unwillingness of Europe (again) to sacrifice butter today, for the guns that protect its cuture and freedoms. This time, we will not be bailing you out.  The Russians which to dominate the continent, just as they have for centuries. Now, it seems, they will.  We are more concerned about South Korea and Japan now.  And that actually began under Obama with his "pivot to Asia." 

Shame on you for talking like that. You are an ignorant person full of hate. 

Yeah. Fall back on name calling when you have no facts and are confronted with uncomfortable realities. No wonder the American Left and Europe's Left find so much in common. 

clemynx said:

ike17055 said:

clemynx said:

SpamSandwich said:

rotateleftbyte said:

It's just a matter of perspective. 

You think that the American dream is real and that customers have a choice. I think you are naive, that the American dream has been shown to be a lie, that the US are a big scam, that consumers only have the illusion of a choice and that big companies prey on their consumers. 

I live the the American dream everyday. The choices we have are truly astounding.the freedoms are incredible, if unfortunately under intense pressure of politicans who want us to be "more like Europe."  You have no clue what you are talking about. 

More like Europe would be great. Let’s take France : 

Work 35 hours per week
5 weeks of paid vacation per year
Paid medical leave
Paid maternity leave for 3 months and paternity for 2 weeks
Paid retirement at 63 
Free healthcare for all
Free ambulances 
College at 600$ per year
Better trains and public transportation 
Better food
Basically it's a paradise compared to the US. 

Right...France (and much of the rest of Europe) ...also known as "Greece in waiting."  I remember when Greece was cited as such as "paradise."  Now they wait for the next bailout from Germany....but who will then bailout out the bailors...beggar thy neighbor policies, tax-dodging as sport, more and more debt...once America's defense umbrella is closed up, we will start to see repeats.  And soon, it will be time to blame the Jews again, I guess.  I only wish I could say that the U.S. Has learned a lesson by watching this unfold, but not yet. We may steer clear yet from the destructive path of socialism and dependency.