Europe is a fucking joke

[Lhartley]

That freedom index is pretty Sus, it references economic freedom but most of those dark blue countries top the charts for personal debt. Tell me that banks funded that data set without telling me banks funded it.

I get it that debt can be a personal choice and you're denying your own freedom, but it's also nuanced

https://www.smbcompass.com/every-countr ... onal-debt/

[wooley12]

Interesting. In Norway, 79% own their homes with big subsidized mortgages. 64% in the US and in 66 in Canada.

[Lhartley]

For sure, at least you have a 60 percent chance of owning a home (you dont) as you work into your 70s and 80s

[wooley12]

You would need to get out of your bubble get on the internet and maybe do your own research to get why it is what it is. Naw, too hard.

I did it and learned a few things.

[Lhartley]

Ok. Took two minutes. Inflation. Housing bubble. Irresponsible governments running massive deficits with tax and spend policy. Unsustainable immigration.

[fisheater]

As an American, whom never has been to Europe, and probably never will go to Europe, I do have my concerns.
I only know what I hear from news agencies or people with broad platforms.
I think Vice President Vance is an intelligent, well informed guy. Here’s what he said recently in Munich.
I am curious, if this entire speech was widely available in Europe, Canada, or even US legacy media?


If you have trouble logging onto the YouTube link, as I just did. You can link the entire speech from here:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/18/va ... pt-europe/

[wooley12]

Interesting for me to hear what he says. He lost me when he said he lied about Haitians eating pets and would lie again to make a point.

[Musk Ox]

As an American, whom never has been to Europe, and probably never will go to Europe, I do have my concerns.
I only know what I hear from news agencies or people with broad platforms.
I think Vice President Vance is an intelligent, well informed guy. Here’s what he said recently in Munich.
I am curious, if this entire speech was widely available in Europe, Canada, or even US legacy media?

This speech was very widely reported in Europe, yes.

It was front page news in Denmark and the first item on the DR (public broadcaster) news site.

There is very great concern in Europe that the United States is becoming an authoritarian country, and that the U.S. is taking the side of Putin and the extreme right parties in Europe, giving up its influence for no return at all.

We're in Denmark at the moment, again. Here, defence spending is about to be raised to war-time levels. The consensus is that Russia is capable of anything, and that if Ukraine falls, Russia will go for the Baltic nations or something within a very short time. No one really knows, but the government is extremely worried.

I'm doing some work for (a branch of) the Danish military now, on papers, articles and analysis of things that concern the military and defence in the Nordics and the Arctic.

It's kind of serious shit.

Vance is not popular here. Sentiment on the current administration in the U.S. is extremely negative generally.

[Lhartley]

They know the Yankees are serious about Greenland. Which will also involve rare earth metals

[Musk Ox]

I also want to say that when I go on to this forum, which is my favourite place on the internet, and see a thread started by someone in North America called 'Europe is a fucking joke', and read that the place I live is an 'Orwellian pussy nightmare', it makes me really, really sad and worried.

Not just because it isn't true. The anger is so completely unnecessary. The interpretation of what's going on here is so incredibly at odds with what's reality. I don't know how long it'll be before North Americans are going to be on the internet in places like this saying outright 'Europe is the enemy'. Everyone thinks they're immune from propaganda. It's so fucking weird seeing English-speaking people writing and thinking like this.

This post is useless and pointless and will not change anyone's mind and will only serve to make other people angry.

I think you should all come skiing in Europe.