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EU tells Trump’s America: We have other options (www.politico.eu)

submitted 11 hours ago by [email protected] to c/world

21 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Summary

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the EU’s vision as a global economic leader during the World Economic Forum, contrasting Trump’s "America First" policies.

She highlighted Europe’s advantages, including its large single market, social infrastructure, and commitment to the Paris climate accord, while emphasizing new alliances with Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Avoiding direct criticism of Trump, von der Leyen underscored the EU’s stability and rules-based approach.

Her speech signaled a pivot away from U.S.-centric relations and a focus on global trade diversification.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

To be honest I'm N Irish and we voted against Brexit but are deemed irrelevant due to England. But yeah it absolutely pisses me off to see the English politicians sucking Trump off when we would have been way better off not just being morons and staying in the EU.

Its infuriating to see the UK falling apart when every country except England voted against Brexit but somehow their vote counts double or something.

UK is a wreck and we should just start from scratch and also I can't see America as anything but an enemy right now (they are obviously siding with both Russia and Israel) both sides I disagree with honestly.

[–] kikutwo 45 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I wish us Americans did.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

I wish about half of us weren’t smoothbrain fuckwits.

[–] grue 7 points 6 hours ago

Two thirds, you mean.

You gotta count the authoritarian followers and the ones top stupid to vote at all.

[–] mycelium_underground 22 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

The US is not statistically very different from the rest of the world.

The oligarchs want us divided. And have been working on it for decades. Blame them, not your neighbor, even if your neighbor is a smooth brain fuckwit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago

Blame them both for different but still similarly terrible things. Fucking morons don't escape culpability because they refuse to acknowledge how fucking dumb they are.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 hours ago

I’m fully aware of the oligarchs, and blame them for being oligarchs. And by the same fucking token, I blame my smoothbrain neighbors for being smoothbrains. The latter doesn’t get a pass if they enthusiastically vote in favor of the oligarchs. Both get their respective blame.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

Some parts of the culture are smoothbrained. Diversity is things like 'black white latino asian' whereas in more wrinklybrained cultures it's more like 'somali finnish trini chilean thai'. Economics is freedom vs communism instead of reality etc. And geography, well, good luck.

[–] Zorque 18 points 9 hours ago

Man, if only you had decided on this before the US elected a giant orange wannabe-fascist... for the second time.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 10 hours ago (3 children)

Just imagine if we take her by her word and really strengthen our economical relationship with Africa. That is a huge market with huge possibilities. Africa could easily replace China as a manufacturing powerhouse. If we could somehow shake off the colonial baggage and work together, America could go packing!

[–] Gold_E_Lox 1 points 2 hours ago

Africa could easily replace China as a manufacturing powerhouse.

If we could somehow shake off the colonial baggage

They're the same thing.

[–] grue 3 points 6 hours ago

That is a huge market with huge possibilities. Africa could easily replace China as a manufacturing powerhouse.

And China knows it, which is why "belt and road" is a thing.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 hours ago

In principle, I agree. However, in detail there are the same issues and more as when everything was outsourced to China:

While there are stable and democratic states in Africa, a lot of the resources for manufacturing ~~might~~ will come from not so stable parts. I am looking at Congo as an example in particular.
If you think about it, it is Colonialism 2.0: Cheap labourers turning basic resources into goods that are too expensive for them to buy themselves, which in return are sold for cheap in relation to local production costs in other countries.
Exporting the environmentally harmful jobs elsewhere makes us look good on paper, but has drastic consequences for locals.

While China has until recently and to a significant extent been able to turn the second point around, the environment is where this whole plan might come apart before it even can be put into practice: The African continent is possibly most directly impacted by climate change. In the past, present and future. Don't get me wrong: We are all going to suffer. But the African combination of geolocation and political and social stability is a powder keg.

Don't get me wrong, I do not want to leave Africa and its people in the dust. If we can build a relationship on a basis of mutual trust and long-term benefit, let's go for it. However, I am highly sceptical that in our current political climate the EU and its countries or, let alone companies, would be going to invest more than the absolute minimum to get any form of production going. And investing the absolute minimum to extract the most benefit equals colonialism 2.0.

[–] kreskin 9 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

the EU’s stability and rules-based approach.

Great, but countries violating their own ICC laws to host netenyahu, promising him they wont apprehend him for war crimes is not a "rules-based approach" at all.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago

You will notice that only countries which have to suck up to the USA (for reasons) did the Bibi thing.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 hours ago

Pan-continentality is nice

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

I sure fucking hope we do.

[–] Donjuanme 1 points 9 hours ago

Seems like that flag breaks a commandment or two. But I don't expect anyone to have actually read the damned things

[–] [email protected] -2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

This is more circlejerk from Von der Leyen. Before Trump became president, she was talking about de-risking from China, reducimg economic reliance on other countries, including Russian energy, and now somehow, all of a sudden, she is boasting the EU's ability to trade with Mexico and China?

Seriously, the EU can't compete with the US because it cares about its people. Its superior economic, human, social, and civil rights come at the cost of strictly regulating businesses, which kills off innovation and profit making by big businsses. The American syatem rewards monopoly, the lack of labor rights, and increasing wealth inequality by not regulating enough. That breeds big tech, big pharma, big tobacco, big oil, and Wall Street, but that's what's driving the American economy. The EU is too ethical for that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago

Its superior economic, human, social, and civil rights come at the cost of strictly regulating businesses, which kills off innovation and profit making by big businsses

I agree that it stifles profit; but it in no way stifles actual innovation. Just look at all the innovative ways they come up circumventing regulation to continue harming people.