>EU citizen here, what in hell is happening right now?

The EU chose themselves to be US vassals, to be technologically outdated and to move from GDP parity in 2008 to being half the US economy 15 years later. Every problem that we face can be traced to the technocrat idiots in Brussels.

Those numbers seem quite exaggerated, I think since 2008 the US economy has grown around 40 percent, EU around 25? So definitely more growth but hardly a ratio of 2, or where do you get your numbers?

And this relates to Trump, Musk, and Zuck shoving their politics down our throats how?

Their GDP is bigger, so we just give up self-determination? Maybe in your country the people who fought for freedom are all dead now, not here. F all that. We are barely 2 generations free here. Not going back.

Their GDP is bigger, their army protects us - so at any point in time Trump can say "I am altering the deal, pray I don't alter it further" and we have to suck it up.

Do you really think that Europe cannot defend itself against Russia, a country with a GDP less than that of only Italy, whose military is currently so destroyed that it relies on North Korea to defend its own borders?

Under Trump, I believe it is already priced-in that he would do nothing to uphold his NATO obligations. That ship has already sailed in sober-minded circles.

>Do you really think that Europe cannot defend itself against Russia, a country with a GDP less than that of only Italy, whose military is currently so destroyed that it relies on North Korea to defend its own borders?

Doesn't matter what i think. This what all of western european leaders say. Do you say that our governments would lie to us?

Can you share a link of Western European leaders saying that they are not able to defend ourselves without the USA? I am honestly unaware of any such public statement. This smells a lot like RU propaganda.

However, it would be cool if even more countries started to spend their NATO required GDP on defense.

Fight means here: Influence the political landscape in Europe how Musk is already starting. So not lobbying but spreading opinion/propaganda etc like Russia and China are doing to change the election outcomes.

We are allowed to self-determine us. But that would mean kick out X, Youtube, FB, Instagram, etc. Good luck explaining that your social media addicted relatives.

Tarifs etc, will just backfire into the revenues of the US economics.

> But that would mean kick out X...

See what happened in Brazil, and we are a 2x larger market just in population, 8x in GDP. That is the entire point of the EU. We are too big to ignore together. 345M in the US vs. 449M in the EU.

“Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”

The US is succumbing its deep desire to be a fascist state with trappings of deep south slave culture.

That sounds very inflammatory, however, if it looks like a duck... it sure as hell swims like duck...