"One of the things I'm proudest that we've done in this administration is we've told Europe that if you want to buy weapons, you can, but the United States is not buying weapons and sending them to Ukraine anymore," Vance said.
If we get rid of oil and gas, we couldn’t care less how ridiculously expensive it is globally. That’s why renewable energies are doubly important.
Drones are already being manufactured in mass by many companies, especially in the Baltic countries and in Finland. We also have companies that produce processors, although not for private customers. And everyone’s favourite example, ASML. No ASML, no NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, or even TSMC.
Things could always be better, but only because we won’t ever be 100% independent doesn’t mean that we should just give up. 90% independent is still better than 0%. As a taxpayer, I am sick and tired of giving the Americans my money. How about we take all of this money and do something productive with it?
Because we have not a better alternatives. EV cars are nice, but you need to be able to charge them everywhere and that is still not true (leaving aside the time to recharge since it can be at night) especially in older apartment buildings or homes. Not taking into consideration the ones who would oppose the installation of charger just because. And you need to produce the electricity to charge them.
We have better alternatives for transportation and fuel.
In the big cities yes, you have a (somewhat) decent public transportation system as alternative.
In a small town any sort public transportation system would be not cost-effective and not time-effective.
When the time you spend to commute daily using a public transportation system is longer than the one with the car, the car is the obvious choice with all its problems.
But even leaving aside the commute to work problem, solvable working from home, a small town has not all the services (like higher grade schools, hospitals, malls, specifics shops) you need and while sometimes you can use a train or a bus, most of the time using a car is way faster.
I think hybrid cars are an overlooked bridge here - can take advantage of electric infrastructure (and motivate its expansion) but also still rely on existing infrastructure during the transition.
I always find the EV argument bizzare, that it’s either you can’t charge them in public or you can’t charge them at home. Even if you cannot charge it at home, it still is possible literally everywhere else. Plus you can plug it in into literally any wall outlet, even in the Americas where they only have 120 volts. The argument is mute, because literally every place ever has electricity. You don’t need your own power plant to charge your EV. A wall outlet you charge your phone from is sufficient. Plus, where I from, every bigger supermarket has at least two charging stations. It is possible to charge a vehicle from any wall outlet, be that public or private. Just like with a phone. Why not with cars? Add to that, most trips are less than 50 kilometers anyway, so there is also no range argument. Why stick to obsolete technologies if there’s a better alternative, a sovereign alternative.
Stopping to pay the Americans for defence and LNG are a start, because this money can then be productively used inside of the European household, to advance domestic energy production or modernise railway, for example.
But we need LNG and weapons for Ukraine now. And it’s the decision of politicians who support US politics. People say Trump is the reason for US behaviour but I think the US expected the rift years ago and prepared.
We do need those things, but instead of being held captive by the Americans forever, we are slowly but surely phasing them out and transitioning to sustainable European alternatives.
I will forever be thankful for President Donald Trump because his erratic and insane behaviour has woken Europe up. But we need to learn the lessons of this dependence and move on. No one says that we should do it by tomorrow, we will get there, given time. That’s why a sustained political will by the general population is important.
If we reach strategic autonomy by 2030, we will already have reached a whole lot. Because that means we cannot be blackmailed anymore. And the remaining trade with the Americans can happen as partners instead of vassals. The EU has already built bridges with new continents and reached new partners who believe in the exact same democratic rules-based order the EU does. Well, the USA are still considered to be of vital importance on the world stage. I think that is changing. Because why be beholden to a conqueror, raider, and master if you can have equal partners cooperating towards the same goal? And I think it’s exactly this mentality that China and the USA can never provide because they rely on intimidation and threats while the EU relies on mutual benefit and cooperation. Why choose a tyrant if you can choose a friend?
Why does the EU push internet surveillance but doesn’t support Lemmy and Mastodon with all its institutions? The US is not Trump and is not stupid. The change in policy has been researched and is on purpose. The EU will support the US even if a big part of the population doesn’t.
I highly doubt that, as the Americans have behaved nothing but destructive in the past few years. Ever since the Munich Security Conference with JD Vance, there was a very big policy shift and no one’s going back to the Americans. That consensus has been reached, luckily. Things could be better, they could support Foss more, yes, but only because they fail at that doesn’t mean they suck up to the Americans. And as the EU is a democratic institution, if the general population doesn’t want that, they will elect differently. Just look at Hungary. Even there it was possible.
Mastodon would not be about Foss but about creating an independent social network. The EU doesn’t try so they leave the control to the US. I believe they suck up.
Hungary was a 75% success against all the available propaganda. It gives me hope but I can’t believe that it was entirely organic. The financing of the war depended on it. There must have been EU influence.
Who should pull their weight if the elites of the US and the EU want to work together? The EU and US are good cop and bad cop. The EU countries have condemned Iran’s reaction but not the US attack.
Yes, the responses to the Iran raid have been bad from the EU. That doesn’t mean that we should stop working to be independent from the USA. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Again, 90% independence is better than 0%. We should always strive for more. And even if we were “just” 90% independent, we could have condemned them the way it should have been done and sanctioned them.
If we get rid of oil and gas, we couldn’t care less how ridiculously expensive it is globally. That’s why renewable energies are doubly important.
Drones are already being manufactured in mass by many companies, especially in the Baltic countries and in Finland. We also have companies that produce processors, although not for private customers. And everyone’s favourite example, ASML. No ASML, no NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, or even TSMC.
Things could always be better, but only because we won’t ever be 100% independent doesn’t mean that we should just give up. 90% independent is still better than 0%. As a taxpayer, I am sick and tired of giving the Americans my money. How about we take all of this money and do something productive with it?
Edit: on Mars -> in mass
Unluckily not every use of oil can be replaced with renewwable sources, from oil you get a lot more than gasoline and petrol.
Yes, we do need oil for other very valuable things. So why are we setting it on fire? We have better alternatives for transportation and fuel.
Because we have not a better alternatives. EV cars are nice, but you need to be able to charge them everywhere and that is still not true (leaving aside the time to recharge since it can be at night) especially in older apartment buildings or homes. Not taking into consideration the ones who would oppose the installation of charger just because. And you need to produce the electricity to charge them.
In the big cities yes, you have a (somewhat) decent public transportation system as alternative.
In a small town any sort public transportation system would be not cost-effective and not time-effective.
When the time you spend to commute daily using a public transportation system is longer than the one with the car, the car is the obvious choice with all its problems.
But even leaving aside the commute to work problem, solvable working from home, a small town has not all the services (like higher grade schools, hospitals, malls, specifics shops) you need and while sometimes you can use a train or a bus, most of the time using a car is way faster.
I think hybrid cars are an overlooked bridge here - can take advantage of electric infrastructure (and motivate its expansion) but also still rely on existing infrastructure during the transition.
I always find the EV argument bizzare, that it’s either you can’t charge them in public or you can’t charge them at home. Even if you cannot charge it at home, it still is possible literally everywhere else. Plus you can plug it in into literally any wall outlet, even in the Americas where they only have 120 volts. The argument is mute, because literally every place ever has electricity. You don’t need your own power plant to charge your EV. A wall outlet you charge your phone from is sufficient. Plus, where I from, every bigger supermarket has at least two charging stations. It is possible to charge a vehicle from any wall outlet, be that public or private. Just like with a phone. Why not with cars? Add to that, most trips are less than 50 kilometers anyway, so there is also no range argument. Why stick to obsolete technologies if there’s a better alternative, a sovereign alternative.
How do you get access? The media is US friendly and thus also the politicians.
Stopping to pay the Americans for defence and LNG are a start, because this money can then be productively used inside of the European household, to advance domestic energy production or modernise railway, for example.
But we need LNG and weapons for Ukraine now. And it’s the decision of politicians who support US politics. People say Trump is the reason for US behaviour but I think the US expected the rift years ago and prepared.
We do need those things, but instead of being held captive by the Americans forever, we are slowly but surely phasing them out and transitioning to sustainable European alternatives.
I will forever be thankful for President Donald Trump because his erratic and insane behaviour has woken Europe up. But we need to learn the lessons of this dependence and move on. No one says that we should do it by tomorrow, we will get there, given time. That’s why a sustained political will by the general population is important.
If we reach strategic autonomy by 2030, we will already have reached a whole lot. Because that means we cannot be blackmailed anymore. And the remaining trade with the Americans can happen as partners instead of vassals. The EU has already built bridges with new continents and reached new partners who believe in the exact same democratic rules-based order the EU does. Well, the USA are still considered to be of vital importance on the world stage. I think that is changing. Because why be beholden to a conqueror, raider, and master if you can have equal partners cooperating towards the same goal? And I think it’s exactly this mentality that China and the USA can never provide because they rely on intimidation and threats while the EU relies on mutual benefit and cooperation. Why choose a tyrant if you can choose a friend?
Because they make you.
France in Africa is not a story of friendship.
Why does the EU push internet surveillance but doesn’t support Lemmy and Mastodon with all its institutions? The US is not Trump and is not stupid. The change in policy has been researched and is on purpose. The EU will support the US even if a big part of the population doesn’t.
I highly doubt that, as the Americans have behaved nothing but destructive in the past few years. Ever since the Munich Security Conference with JD Vance, there was a very big policy shift and no one’s going back to the Americans. That consensus has been reached, luckily. Things could be better, they could support Foss more, yes, but only because they fail at that doesn’t mean they suck up to the Americans. And as the EU is a democratic institution, if the general population doesn’t want that, they will elect differently. Just look at Hungary. Even there it was possible.
Mastodon would not be about Foss but about creating an independent social network. The EU doesn’t try so they leave the control to the US. I believe they suck up.
Hungary was a 75% success against all the available propaganda. It gives me hope but I can’t believe that it was entirely organic. The financing of the war depended on it. There must have been EU influence.
Who should pull their weight if the elites of the US and the EU want to work together? The EU and US are good cop and bad cop. The EU countries have condemned Iran’s reaction but not the US attack.
Yes, the responses to the Iran raid have been bad from the EU. That doesn’t mean that we should stop working to be independent from the USA. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Again, 90% independence is better than 0%. We should always strive for more. And even if we were “just” 90% independent, we could have condemned them the way it should have been done and sanctioned them.