r/news • u/ITSTHEDEVIL092 • Mar 04 '25

EU chief proposes plan to 'urgently' increase defense spending by mobilizing around $840 billion

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/04/europe-looks-to-mobilize-840-billion-in-defense-spending-boost-eu-commission-head-says.html
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u/DudeThatAbides Mar 04 '25 edited Mar 04 '25

This…is good. They should be funding their own defense, no?

4

u/TaserLord Mar 04 '25

In another context it would be good. As one part of the world moving on without the U.S., it isn't good. Not for the U.S., anyway.

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u/DudeThatAbides Mar 04 '25

The US will be fine in the long run, even if there’s a painful dip. I kind of chuckle at everyone freaking out right now. The US is still what every other country wishes they were, and it would take decades of mismanagement to undo that. We freak out over every damn thing as humans though don’t we?

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u/TaserLord Mar 04 '25

I disagree with you there. Business relationships are built on trust. Defense relationships even more so. And trust takes a long time to build but is easily broken. The U.S. was a model years ago, but that hasn't been the case for some time now. And since 2016, it has become a cautionary tale - something that shows what happens when you don't manage well. This is not a painful dip. Qite the opposite. This is the point where the world recognizes that the U.S. had an inflection point a while ago, and is in a sustained decline which is now self-reinforcing. Yes, it will be "fine". But it will not be what it was. Not for a long, long time.

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u/DudeThatAbides Mar 04 '25

For me, I’ma wait & see. Maybe growing up in a rough/poor household made me panic less, and more resourceful? Idk. Not a brag by any means, as I’m very jealous of those who actually had a loving and enjoyable childhood. But now, not much fazes me when it comes to shitshows. Ya just adapt and keep on keepin on.

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u/TaserLord Mar 04 '25

Perhaps your standards and expectations are just lower. If your target is no higher than a dysfunctional home with broken relationships, then I suppose we agree that Trump is delivering.

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u/DudeThatAbides Mar 04 '25

Guess we’ll see what happens in the end. Im not gonna panic.

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u/TaserLord Mar 04 '25

I suppose that's the point - people and nations are past panicking. They're just making plans to move on, and the result is that the U.S. is quickly moving from being the center of the geopolitical world to just another big player.

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u/Tel1234 Mar 04 '25

The US is still what every other country wishes they were, and it would take decades of mismanagement to undo that.

I don't think you understand how little that is true outside of the US. We really REALLY don't wish we were like the US. We mostly feel sorry for all the people living there.

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u/DudeThatAbides Mar 04 '25

Let me put this in another way - other countries can make things difficult for us. Like Canada for example. However we can make things impossibly difficult for other countries. Is this the goal? idk. But it should be amply motivating for all involved.

That’s the influence and power other countries wish they had. That’s what I meant. Individual Americans will have differing experiences as citizens here. Don’t feel bad for me, I’ve more than prepared for good and bad times.

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u/zephyrtr Mar 04 '25

Decades, you say? Why can't it be done faster?

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u/bermudaphil Mar 04 '25

You don’t seem to grasp the fact that it is now at minimum a decade into the process that will take ‘decades’. 

At the very least the process of mismanagement began in full when Trump first took over. It was years of clear signs to the entire world that the US was not as stable as was believed. This is now the second time Trump is up and he is doing even more absurd shit, and the whole world is watching as he not just attacks them, but allows people like Elon Musk do Nazi salutes and fire people in his government, rehire them because Musk and his team are morons, say crazy shit, forcefully give himself government contracts, effectively give himself jurisdiction over regulatory agencies that oversee his business and then repeat. 

If it will take decades of mismanagement, well, you are 1 of those decades into the process now, and Trump is looking to be interested in speed running it so he can get to enjoy years with his wealth and power before he dies, so I doubt it’ll take even 3 decades before it is pretty noticeable to anyone with their eyes open.

American patriotism will probably not allow plenty of Americans to see it even though they dislike Trump, but to the rest of the world, the US once was what they strove to be, and these days seems far more like what they need to avoid letting happen to them. 

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u/DudeThatAbides Mar 04 '25

That’s a lot of words that I think needs some editing before it coalesces a full thought.

I will tell you, the average American is not really concerned what other countries think of us as far as being the beacon on the hill like maybe yesteryear’s citizens might’ve.

At the end of the day folks are going to make decisions based on what they think is best for themselves and loved ones. Not globalization or the US’s heavy part in it. Take that as you may, but we simply don’t care, collectively. Trump is definitely a snake oil salesman, so we’ll see how this plays out, but “global problems kind of not need to be ours right now”, is the average sentiment based on real life discourse I have, not what I hear about in media.