TreeFiddyFiddy's recent activity

  1. Comment on The army of God comes out of the shadows (gifted link) in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
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    Detailing the rise of the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement capturing a reported 40% of the US‘s Christians and has the power to reshape the fabric of American culture and politics.

    Detailing the rise of the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement capturing a reported 40% of the US‘s Christians and has the power to reshape the fabric of American culture and politics.

    3 votes

  2. Comment on How do you navigate an imbalanced friendship? in ~life

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link
    There is already so much good advice here. I only wanted to present one possibility that I haven't seen. I may be way off base but it's hard to tell without more details but the relationship you...

    There is already so much good advice here. I only wanted to present one possibility that I haven't seen. I may be way off base but it's hard to tell without more details but the relationship you describe could sound like an avoidant-anxious attachment.

    The initial level of communication that you describe as initiated by her, with all the "good mornings" and "good nights," could sound like classic love bombing. An avoidant person in this situation usually expresses intense and excessive attention on someone but at some point, will pull back and either drastically cut communication or disappear entirely. If the person on the receiving end of this likewise pulls away, this may trigger an avoidant to return at some point - usually months later.

    On the other side of this is usually the anxious person. They respond well to the love bombing and early attention but when attention is decreased, they may begin to become anxious, fearful that they are losing the avoidant person. An anxious person's actions at this time may sadly further create distance between the pair if they act on that anxiousness by trying to pull the avoidant back in or cling to the relationship.

    Avoidants may act for a variety of reasons but it's usually, and ironically, most tied to a fear of losing people themselves. They subconsciously crave closeness and will connect with and become enamored with someone who they are attracted to (on a basic level, we're not necessarily talking about sexually or romantically). They're subconscious fears will eventually trigger them to create distance in the relationship as they fear that the other person will at some point abandon them or that the other person needs too much for them and they aren't capable to provide for the needs of the other person. When the anxious person disappears, the avoidant's nervous system will eventually regulate and it's when they feel "safe" that they might return.

    This has the potential to create a very sad and vicious cycle where the avoidant gives attention to the anxious before eventually pulling back, the anxious becomes anxious and tries to pull the avoidant back in and restore what they previously had, this pushes away the avoidant and usually emotionally damages the anxious, the anxious then eventually pulls away which then ends up triggering the avoidant, the avoidant's emotions now being damaged may try to reach back out to the anxious, and repeat. The saddest part of this cycle is that both avoidant and anxious are scared of the same thing, losing the other, but subconsciously act on it in complete opposite ways.

    If this does actually sound what your relationship might be like, it might be best to disengage now before any lasting damage sets in. People who are neither avoidant or anxious are known as securely attached but love bombing and proximity-distance dynamics exhibited by avoidants can trigger anxiousness even in them. Avoidant-anxious relationships can become healthy and functional but only when both people are committed to change but your relationship sounds too new for that to be a possibility, I could be wrong. It's also possible for someone to recognize their anxiousness and work to function as a more securely-attached person in the relationship but the avoidants actions make avoiding anxiousness difficult if one is prone to it.

    People usually talk about this dynamic in the context of romantic relationships but these dynamics can also exist in friendships as well. Both avoidants and anxious usually have deep wounds from childhood that make them feel that they either need to be alone to be safe or, conversely, that they need to bid for attention to be safe. Tragically, these types of relationships can become very deep and intense but usually end up leaving a trail of hurt feelings in their wake.

    Again, from your limited description I can't tell if any of this applies to you but the dynamic is reminiscent of it for me.

    6 votes

  4. Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Sure, I'll bight but with a huge disclaimer: I'll start with the ground basis that the type of comparisons we're talking about are often made between the US and other western nations. Most western...
    • Exemplary

    Sure, I'll bight but with a huge disclaimer:

    Nothing stated here is an endorsement for the American system over any other. I am comparing the US to other Western System nations (to include places like Japan and Korea) but exceptions to almost all the items below can be found in one or another country within the western world.

    I'll additionally point out that these "advantages" are largely a matter of cultural attitudes as to what is more desirable in a society. I know many Europeans who prefer life in the US for the reasons I'll list below, even when it means giving up the "advantages" that exist in their own society. Conversely, I live in Germany and love it here for many of the "advantages" that they have over the US. No system is perfect and despite political attitudes, preference for societal systems are sometimes largely subjective.

    I'll start with the ground basis that the type of comparisons we're talking about are often made between the US and other western nations. Most western nations are inordinately reliant on the US for their defense and are able to save enormously on spending this way. Until recently, European countries (some more than others) were reliant on cheap energy bought from a Russian dictator. Taking into account artificial industrial productivity boosts by cheap energy and major costs savings on defense, it is questionable if these levels of public spending could be sustained with much higher budgetary demands.

    Having said that, life in the US is still insanely good on a global scale. The poor in the US are considered middle income by global standards. It's often easy to forget that when comparing ourselves to our peers we're still standing way above the vast majority of humanity.

    • Quality of life in the US is exceptionally high. People in the US live in much larger housing often of higher quality. They drive newer, more expensive, larger cars. Consumerism spending is unhinged and discretionary spending is unrivaled as highest in the world. I know a lot of people who live paycheck to paycheck while earning good money and it's no wonder when I see how they spend. Look at any European or Asian nation and you'll expect to see people living in spaces 1/4 the size of Americans, much lower rates of vehicle ownership and much older and smaller cars. Older durable goods and just generally much lower levels of spending. If Americans were to live like Europeans do, a lot of their problems could probably be ameliorated by the noticeable increase in disposable income they'd have. American's just don't realize how rich they are in the scheme of things and how much they can afford with all of that extra income.

    • Tradeoffs in Healthcare. While this is a difficult subject to defend the US on, Americans do enjoy higher access to specialists and cutting edge care than many in other countries. A lot of Americans would find the sight of a public specialist's waiting room unacceptable.

    • Choice and convenience. Some Asian nations have the US handily beat on this but Americans are among the highest rated countries in the world when it comes to convenience. If you want an easy life, where easy is equated to convenience, then the US is a great place to be. I was surprised how many other nations require a level of involvement in their daily lives that I haven't seen in the US since the 1990's but was something I personally came to enjoy. Americans also have choices when it comes to entertainment, lifestyles, food, nature, products, etc that are unrivaled in most if not all of the world.

    • Solutions based culture. There is a cultural attitude in the US to get you what you want or need and find a way forward, even extending to bureaucracy that is impossible in other nations. Most places have a take it or leave it attitude to things and this can make life more difficult for those trying to get things done. Cultural affinity for flexibility can go a long way while still preserving enough functionality as a somewhat orderly rules-based society.

    • Energy costs are very low in the US which helps offset other areas where cost of living may be higher

    • Opportunity and economic mobility. This may no longer be the American Dream of the early 1900s but people who desire to achieve more or want to raise their standards of living will find a much easier time of it than in other western nations. Incomes are vastly higher and taxes lower, a job-hopping culture can help people find better opportunities or roles that fit their desires better. This is often a point made by Europeans who appreciate life in the US more than in their home countries. This is of course offset by the higher inherent risks of lower job protections but it is a trade off. If you are the type of person who values a stable but "middling" life, then many European countries will be a better fit for you. Life will be good and livable but you should not really expect to excel economically, even when you are a hard worker. Laws and protections for starting businesses in the US are also unrivaled in comparison with most other western nations and even though small businesses are nowhere near as prevalent as they used to be, they are still much easier to get off the ground and have a higher chance of success if guiding your own economic life is what you're interested in.

    • Culture and diversity. Many other nations are multi-cultural but many of them merely tolerate multiculturalism. The US actually does an immensely good job of celebrating foreign cultures and incorporating those cultures into the fabric of American life and people generally have an easier time of integrating into mainstream society.

    • Infrastructure in the US is actually pretty decent. I bemoan the lack of good public transit in the US but at least this trend seems to be slowly reversing in large American metros. Auto, freight, and airline infrastructure is however world-class and sometimes more efficient and/or available than many other countries.

    • Charity. The US has a strong charitable and volunteerism culture that is lacking in a lot of more social service underpinned societies. I think this is an area the US excels in, where there is a general attitude to help thy neighbor, even though this is sometimes more of a necessity due to more limited public support.

    • Public support. Even though our social support systems are not as robust than our European counterparts, we do still have extensive systems. My viewpoint is that many European philosophies are that "We will not let you fall very far," while the American philosophy is more akin to "We will catch you just before you hit the ground." Our Social Security system pays much more than other countries equivalent pensions, our unemployment insurance is much less generous but is still in place, legal protections exist to protect people's jobs in certain situations of absenteeism, both short and long term disability insurance exists to help people facing medical issues, public medical insurance is available to the elderly and poor, food benefits exists to help people subsist on relatively healthy diets. Many people, even some Americans, falsely believe that these systems just do not exist in the US. Anecdotally, I had to take eight months of medical leave once and received 2/3 of my salary for all but the first two weeks and then I returned to my legally protected job when I was better - these systems won't protect anyone forever but they are still there to help people who really need it. I have a close relative who is mildly mentally disabled, she has maybe worked only a few years in her entire life. She lives in an apartment larger than most single European people in a HCOL state and receives welfare benefits that adequately support her life.

    While the above list explores some "Advantages" that the US may have compared to other countries, what I was really getting at is that the false narratives that I take exception to are also widely believed by Americans themselves. The US can be a very difficult place to be poor and we should strive as a society to correct that, but life is just not as bad in the US for about 3/4 of the population as many seem to believe. It took me moving abroad to realize that when you look at the way an average American lives and compare it to the lifestyle the average wealthy westerner lives abroad, Americans have it pretty damn good - it's only that our priorities are often warped and blinded by the culture that surrounds us.

    And believe it or not, a lot of the same problems associated with poverty do exist in the other wealthy nations. Using Germany as an example because I live here and it is among the richest western nations: homelessness and poverty rates are comparable with the US and despite strong social systems, a significant portion of the population does face struggle in their daily lives.

    There are definitely scary stories out there of people losing everything because they don't have insurance or because they were treated out of network (hopefully corrected by surprise medical billing legislation passed in the last few years), of people unceremoniously losing their jobs, etc. but we have to keep in mind that even in a country like the US these stories are not the norm. Americans are culturally willing to trade off a level of security for flexibility and opportunity that just doesn't exist in other countries. Conversely, many Europeans trade flexibility and opportunity for guarantees of a more secure life. I think that instead of fighting with each other over which system is better, while the vast majority of people in the world do actually suffer real adversity and poverty, we could probably learn more from each other about what works best and what fits our own cultural sensibilities best to make all of our systems more just and better.

    14 votes

  5. Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    It's funny because I used to see this from the exact opposite perspective. I was an American in the US who questioned why we can't have all the nice things that places like Europe have. Then I...

    It's funny because I used to see this from the exact opposite perspective. I was an American in the US who questioned why we can't have all the nice things that places like Europe have. Then I actually lived abroad for over a decade - in a third world island-nation, in a hyper-capitalist Asian capital, and now many years in the heart of Europe and I realized just how bad things were in other parts of the world and just how good Americans actually have it even when they themselves don't realize it.

    There are ways to combat narratives of American Exceptionalism without being toxic and without perpetuating stereotypes that people really do not understand are untruths. Anecdotal but I can't count the number of Europeans I've met that won't travel to the US because they genuinely believe all the false propaganda, like above, that it's a shithole. My favorite part? Showing up to a party only to have people parrot whatever nonsense they saw on TikTok about my terrible homeland. Um, hi, I'm just here to have a good time and nice conversation with people

    It doesn't excuse any of it

    Exactly. Everyone can be doing better and maybe start by injecting a little reality and civility into their conduct

    Many Americans may believe that the US is the best country in the world, and is often the only one they’ve ever been exposed to, but there’s a gulf of difference between naive belief and openly and aggressively attacking someone’s country with falsehoods. I don’t see a whole lot of Americans attacking telling Europeans how terrible their countries are for example but I can sure easily find exactly those types of comments on virtually any thread about the US and even have to face it in real life conversations with people.

    People forget the human on the other side of the screen. These narratives are becoming so pervasive online that many people are starting to internalize them. It's crazy to say it but I've experienced bigotry for being American all based on this toxic online culture. Bashing Americans is fun and games when you're behind a keyboard but did you ever consider you're making real life worse for a lot of people who literally never did anything wrong? And of course this happens to other peoples and often at the hands of American media but two wrongs don't make a right after all

    8 votes

  6. Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link Parent
    Thank you for your well thought out response. I think that we're mostly saying the same things but just in different ways. I definitely like how you use the word challenge instead up suffering,...

    Thank you for your well thought out response. I think that we're mostly saying the same things but just in different ways. I definitely like how you use the word challenge instead up suffering, it's a much better fit.

    I appreciate your framing of the problem with a lack of purpose and/or motivation. That's a topic I've thought about a lot myself but I've never connected the two phenomenon together like this and, honestly, it's quite brilliant. You've definitely nudged my thinking in ways that I'll have to think about over the weekend.

    Now I'm thinking about how conditions in the past probably made it pretty easy to find purpose in their lives. When life really isn't so comfortable or you aren't exposed to endless choices via the internet, just making ends meet and supporting a family probably gave people enough drive to overcome alienation and is a ready-made well of purpose.

    Thank you for being generous with my intent. You're right, I don't intend or want to deride others for presumed laziness - and this is an area that I am myself immensely guilty in - but I do consider it a failing of modern society that people find themselves so without purpose. If all of this societal and technological advancement has brought us here, then how beautiful could humanity be if we found purpose in something other than sitting on the couch. But I fully acknowledge your arguments and agree that there is a disconnect that's driving this and that it's, for the most part, not inherently anyone's fault.

    I do become worried from a mental health standpoint. How much of our modern psychological problems are a result from a lack of purpose? Take any intelligent animal and put them into a low-stimulation environment and see how they begin to scratch and gnaw at themselves out of nervous boredom. Of course, we have endless television and video games to take the edge off but what is purposelessness doing to our psyches?

    To be clear, I am not advocating that we inflict suffering on unwilling participants just to inspire purpose - the person OP was speaking with may well be deranged if that was their meaning - we'd lose much more than we've gained to even contemplate rolling back any of our societal and economic achievements. The question I'm now trying to answer for myself is how do we bridge that gap? In the face of an ever-forgiving modern society, where real challenge is so rarely found (in comparison with all other times of life in the western world) how do we overcome the barriers to challenge and growth? How do people (and myself) become invested in leading a more fulfilling life?

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link Parent
    Oh great, more baseles America bashing. At this point I'm really struggling to see what people get out of it. Is it just the cool internet points or do people really need a raw hit of smug to make...

    Oh great, more baseles America bashing. At this point I'm really struggling to see what people get out of it. Is it just the cool internet points or do people really need a raw hit of smug to make them briefly feel superior? For the actually sensible people in the crowd, these situations do happen in the US but they're edge cases. Not excusing that the US has severe problems to address, and what country doesn't, but the vast majority of Americans are doing just fine and live lives roughly analogous to our other Western counterparts (cultural differences aside). Take the first smack, Americans working three jobs: around 5% of Americans are working more than one job and almost all of those are multiple part-time jobs. Not many Americans are running around working multiple full-time jobs. How many Germans work more than one job for comparison? 4.5% and hey, even though they're better paid, European minimum wage workers also struggle to make ends meet in larger cities. At this point the memes about the US being a third world country are immensely insulting to people who actually do live in terrible conditions of the third world and I think is pretty telling of the superiority mindset of the people who parrot these ridiculous claims.

    Context is important. It's easy to bash a country to make yourself feel better about whatever it is but it's pretty intellectually lazy and a little cringe at this point

    9 votes

  9. Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    (edited )
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    To address the suffering bit in relation to Trump's econominc policies I'm going to assume this is mostly related to the tarrifs. The theory is that the short term pain caused by weening America...

    To address the suffering bit in relation to Trump's econominc policies I'm going to assume this is mostly related to the tarrifs.

    The theory is that the short term pain caused by weening America off of cheap imports will eventually lead to greater gain in the future. I largely agree with the theory and will attempt to break it down in a number of points below, what I don't agree with is the methods Trump is using to bring the theory to fruition. Biden started the process through the Chips and Inflation Reduction Acts and while I completely support those initiatives, I do think a little more muscle was needed to reduce cheap imports, having said that I think the Trump strategy is completely unnuanced and way too extreme.

    1. Bringing back domestic production should lead to higher incomes for those workers who would otherwise be in low paying service industries
    2. Manufacturers want access to cheap land and will predominantly set up shop in well-connected economically blighted areas
    3. Higher wages from manufacturing will help the economic revival of these areas as workers have disposable income to support both local and national economy. Knock-on effects should create a rising tides effect for overlooked cities
    4. Repopulation of certain blighted areas should help relieve housing prices in larger cities, where the disenfranchised flock to in search of higher paying work
    5. Higher manufacturing costs will lead to higher product costs but some of that will be absorbed by higher wages induced by a larger economic share of manufacturing jobs
    6. America is addicted to cheap imports and largely has a spending problem. 72% of Americans report that they are economically doing fine, the ~ quarter of Americans who are not will be disproportionately affected by higher costs but they are also the target group to fill manufacturing jobs. This will help alleviate some of that pain.
    7. The US is so vastly rich, even taking inequality into account, than even our nearest competitors. The level of consumption is astonishing in comparison to even other rich Western nations. Most Americans can pay higher costs for goods and reduce consumption and will be completely fine. Those higher costs will then support higher wages for formerly impoverished people, creating a cyclic effect that will, in my opinion, make society as a whole better off. Consumers will lose out in the short and medium term but those working in production will win massively.
    8. This cycle will lead to higher tax revenues (how high, I don't know). Theoretically allowing for greater social investment
    9. Even though it would never be supported by this administration, the fraction of the ~25% of Americans who will truly suffer from these trade policies should be supported
    10. The results of the Biden policies are already showing nascent signs of this cycle taking place
    11. The rest of the world is freaking out because access to the insane spending power of Americans drive a lot of foreign economies, both rich and poor. These tariffs are reciprocal, we have to ask ourselves why trading partners actively block American imports but become anguished when the same is done to them. Whatever economic damage the US weathers, the results will be even worse for all other countries involved. I'm trying not to experience any sense of schadenfreude over this but the feeling does at least show me that the US will emerge from this ok. Even if the entire above theory is wrong, and it very well may be, the country can and will recover

    To talk about suffering in more philosophical terms, I would personally disagree with your assertion that the end goal of societal and technological achievement is a soft life. Many in the West have become lotus eaters, we are susceptible to sloth and this in itself can lead to all sorts of mental and physical illnesses. A whole and complete life involves hardship and challenges, the dream of a soft life is beautiful to think about but sadly the nature of life itself is to include suffering and toil. We may no longer need to break our backs in the field but it's no surprise to see how many fitness freaks there are these days who subject themselves to physical strain in order to avoid breaking their backs from sitting in a chair all day.

    While I don't fully agree with your conversation partner, I do empathize with his premise. Even though we are provided historically luxurious and comfortable lives, many people do inject self-imposed suffering into their lives whether intentionally or not. Suffering is a larger part of a whole and beautiful life and as said many times above by others, short term suffering that leads to longer term gain can be a virtue. And to be more nuanced, there are many types of suffering. I would never wish suffering for it's own sake on anyone, that is immoral, but to see someone struggle within reason and knowing that it will lead to better outcomes for them or their community can often be a virtue.

    7 votes

  10. Comment on How a Chinese battery factory sparked a political meltdown in a small Michigan town in ~finance

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link
    @mycketforvirrad request article is moved back to ~finance. The details focus much more on international business relations and local US business politics than any transportation implications. The...

    @mycketforvirrad request article is moved back to ~finance. The details focus much more on international business relations and local US business politics than any transportation implications. The nature of the plant being for EV batteries is only incidental to the major themes of the story

    8 votes

  11. Comment on How a Chinese battery factory sparked a political meltdown in a small Michigan town in ~finance

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link
    From the article: The Gotion factory highlights the challenges Chinese companies face in the U.S., particularly during a climate of deep political polarization, nationalism, and growing suspicion...

    From the article:

    • The Gotion factory highlights the challenges Chinese companies face in the U.S., particularly during a climate of deep political polarization, nationalism, and growing suspicion toward China.

    • A grassroots “No Go” movement, fueled by fears of communism and environmental concerns, successfully stalled the project in Michigan, leading to the ouster of local officials who supported the factory.

    • The Gotion case shows the disconnect between national economic goals and local concerns, especially in communities wary of globalization and foreign investment.

    4 votes

  13. Comment on The partnership: the secret history of the war in Ukraine (gifted link) in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link
    From the article: This is the untold story of America's hidden role in Ukrainian military operations against Russia's invading armies.

    From the article: This is the untold story of America's hidden role in Ukrainian military operations against Russia's invading armies.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on The partnership: the secret history of the War in Ukraine in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link
    From the article: This is the untold story of America's hidden role in Ukranian military operations against Russia's invading armies.

    From the article: This is the untold story of America's hidden role in Ukranian military operations against Russia's invading armies.

  16. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (March 2025) in ~health.mental

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Haha small talk is also very non-existent here! The store clerk was Iranian and found out I was American because she wasn’t comfortable in German and wanted to switch to English. It is always...

    Haha small talk is also very non-existent here! The store clerk was Iranian and found out I was American because she wasn’t comfortable in German and wanted to switch to English. It is always refreshing to meet other cultures who do appreciate a little small talk, even when the subject may be something I don’t want to talk about. Have to find the positives I guess :)

    Edit: Just saw your edit. It’s not really so bad as I’ve portrayed it, I think the frustration has just reached a new high and it’s the first time I’ve ever voiced something like this. Even a good German friend mentioned something about how often I’m asked to answer for the US and stopped bringing up the subject, so at least I know I’m not crazy. My friends are good people, I think they just can’t take my frustrations seriously when they probably imagine I’m very privileged as an American and I can acknowledge that. And thanks for offer, it is nice to commiserate with people who understand where you’re coming from. I may take you up if I ever find myself near Berlin

    4 votes

  17. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (March 2025) in ~health.mental

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link
    I‘m just venting. Today was really rough. Despite my outspoken views on the now infamous Oval Office Exchange I woke up feeling deeply ashamed of how a guest of my home country was treated and how...

    I‘m just venting.

    Today was really rough. Despite my outspoken views on the now infamous Oval Office Exchange I woke up feeling deeply ashamed of how a guest of my home country was treated and how it comes off to the world.

    A colleague and I talked about it and he agreed with my assessment of the news then came by so we could grab a coffee together. He’s also American so of course we were speaking English and I confided in him that this is the first time in my life that I not only felt shame for my nationality but also that it’s the first time since living in Germany that I actively didn’t want anyone to know that I was American. We had a hard conversation about the uncertainty of it all and our place here in our host country, of course all of it done in hushed tones so as not to draw attention. The mood was pretty dour, I think I understand now how my Russian friends felt in the aftermath of the invasion.

    I had to run some errands and it was all done in a daze, I came home and called two friends in the States and we had hours long conversations - that helped.

    On a tangentially related note, i’m exasperated. Everywhere I go I’m expected to answer for my country, it’s been like this for years. Friends and strangers alike ask me all sorts of questions from poignant to completely asinine as if this were a mini UN and I were the American ambassador. I haven’t lived in the US for over a decade now, of course I’m a citizen but stop shitting on my country and asking me to answer for it - I am so disconnected from what’s going on there and the lives of everyday people, and that’s its own separate form of torture.

    The other week a random store employee discovered I was American and asked me how I liked Germany, I quickly realized she was leading me into a conversation about how dangerous the US is compared to here. I was like, the US is a gigantic country you can’t just generalize like that. Is it objectively more dangerous on a one to one comparison? Yes. Does it also depend on where you’re talking about? Yes. Where I come from in the US it’s actually quite nice and not notably more dangerous than here. And wasn’t there literally another car attack in Munich just yesterday? Of course the second half of that was all taking place in my head, the truth is I just wanted to shop and not be the American target/ambassador yet again.

    I told a couple close European friends once about how tough it is sometimes being singled out on by others, friends and total strangers alike, just because of my nationality and they made fake crying noises and laughed. These are not bad people at all but that’s just the level of bigotry I have to deal with on a regular basis. Boo hoo, you’re getting picked on for being American, get over it. Sure, others nationalities have it worse but I always keep in mind what a therapist once told me, no one has a monopoly on suffering.

    And I’m trying not to be completely unfair, I understand that most people are just excited to talk about very consequential things with an actual live American but the baggage is just frustrating when you play such a small part in it and you’re just trying to live your life in a foreign land. I’m sure once the dust settles things will be fine again. I hope.

    9 votes

  18. Comment on US President Donald Trump cuts short talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Oval Office blow up in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    If this is directed at me, I don't disagree and don't see how anything in my comment shows otherwise. As I said, Vance's views and disregard for Ukraine are very well known - him trying to bait...

    I don't think Vance's baiting was an accident -- I think that was entirely the point.

    If this is directed at me, I don't disagree and don't see how anything in my comment shows otherwise. As I said, Vance's views and disregard for Ukraine are very well known - him trying to bait Zelenskyy, which is obvious that it was deliberately done, is no surprise. What is surprising is that Zelenskyy as a head of state would not be prepared for this and walk right into that trap.

    I don't want to spend too much time talking about the Minerals Deal because I'm not sure how much I personally support it or not but I don't think it's fair to say that it offered Ukraine nothing. Investment by US firms would provide a lot of revenues to the Ukrainian state and having the bulk of those revenues directed towards rebuilding the country's infrastructure is not what I would term a raw deal. Sure, there were no explicit security guarantees given and I can definitely understand Ukraine's concerns there but you can't ignore the reality of the implicit security guarantees that such a deal would provide. The last fifty years have shown us how entangling economic interests provides stability and peace, here we could have seen it at work on a small scale. And, as much as it shames me to say it, we all know how much the US loves to adventure overseas when it comes to protecting American business interests.

    While I don't think this type of international relations behooves the US and is not in my opinion morally completely morally sound, I can understand Trump's basis for the Minerals Deal. He's essentially saying that Ukraine has already received a lot of help for free, if you want to keep receiving help then you need to give us something for it. That logic is unfortunately sound and I can see how a lot of Trump's supporters could get behind it.

    Trump's continued references about Zelenskyy "not having the cards" gave the game away -- he doesn't care about Ukraine, only about its resources.

    I think that this ignores the context. Zelenskyy was a fool to start lecturing the two top government officials of his biggest (by far) benefactor. Even Biden famously had serious troubles at times with Zelenskyy, who he felt was being too ungrateful and/or outspoken about US support, but at least he had the decency to keep it off camera. Trump's "not having the cards" statements were in reference to Zelenskyy's lecturing, the Ukrainian president has no position to tell the US how it is when his country is already losing the war even with US support. As I said, bad form on the part of all three of them but even when I don't agree with how it's being said both Trump and Zelenskyy had fair points to make.

    3 votes

  19. Comment on US President Donald Trump cuts short talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Oval Office blow up in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link
    I watched the full video. I won’t condone Vance‘s words and attitude toward Zelensky, he’s known to not care about the country at all, but very stupid on Zelensky‘s part. Why he took Vance’s bait...

    I watched the full video. I won’t condone Vance‘s words and attitude toward Zelensky, he’s known to not care about the country at all, but very stupid on Zelensky‘s part. Why he took Vance’s bait I can’t understand and to be completely fair to the situation, Zelensky really shouldn’t have been speaking that way in a televised meeting in the first place. Bad form on the part of all three of them, all Zelensky had to do was play nice and sign the minerals deal - tough for me to swallow when his country‘s life is on the line

    3 votes

  20. Comment on US President Donald Trump threatens to impose 25% tariffs on EU goods in ~society

    TreeFiddyFiddy
    Link Parent
    From my observations of what's going on in the EU, I don't think that's a realistic outcome. Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference were actually right, no matter how much I root for him...

    This will be good for cohesion in the EU - nothing quite as unifying as an external threat, and Trump is quite an unsympathetic one at that.

    From my observations of what's going on in the EU, I don't think that's a realistic outcome. Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference were actually right, no matter how much I root for him to be wrong. European countries are themselves lurching to the right and by trying to ignore and firewall the rising extreme right parties, I fear that they will only end up emboldening them. European center and left parties need to take a serious look at what is driving support for the far right and change tactics to answer the concerns of those voters. Any party or person who really thinks the majority of far-right support can be boiled down to racism and misinformation are blind to what is really going on and that blindness, however unwilful or not, will only allow the problem to metastasize.

    4 votes