this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2025
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[–] Scott_of_the_Arctic 54 points 3 days ago (1 children)

We've been living without American security help for a while. We just didn't realise it until recently. Meanwhile a hostile military force has been camping out in our continent.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

It did not “beat COVID”. COVID is not over. People are dying and being disabled by it every day.

Beating COVID would have mean actually taking it seriously, maybe eradicting it, atleast having the vast majority of people vaccinate, mask and properly ventilate.

If anything we’re worse than the start of the pandemic now. A third of europe believes in anti-vaccine conspiracies.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 days ago (1 children)

COVID will stay here because we can't kill a virus like this without a major world-wide vaccine like we did with Smallpox and Measles.

We still have the bubonic plague. It only impacts 20 people a year, but it's still a disease, centuries after the black death. We still haven hundreds of thousands of people die of Tuberculosis every year, namely in countries that are under Neo-colonalism.

COVID cannot be beaten unless we hyperfocus on it. And we probably never will. Governments both "better" and evil ignored it and started not documenting/publicly showing the infection rates because it looked bad for re-election/government action.

Europe didn't beat COVID, because it's not up to one country or a continent to beat it, it would have to be a major world focus with the WHO.

Anyone saying otherwise is a fool who wants to ignore public health problems because it makes them money or thinks they'll be immune to health problems that doesn't care who you are, just your species.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

you would think that millions of dead and millions suffering from long-covid would be enough incentive to actually focus on providing available vaccines to everybody, even for bourgeois "democracies"...

[–] NOT_RICK 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Did Europe not provide COVID vaccines to their citizens? Even in the healthcare hell that is the US the vaccines were free.

[–] nogooduser 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They also needed to provide COVID vaccines to those countries that couldn’t afford to buy them themselves in order to successfully eradicate it.

But they couldn’t do that because it would look bad with the voters if there weren’t enough vaccines to use at home.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

This, plus, the vaccines were mostly developed with public money/university grants, but for the last 10-20% companies took the rights, made it for-profit and put it under patent to prevent the world from gaining immunity.

The example of the polio vaccine should be standard procedure

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

If they could read any critcism of Europe/liberalism without treating it as a personal attack, they might understand that we got rid of polio due to a lack of profit from the inventors. COVID will probably never have that until millions more are dead from it.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 days ago

Beating COVID would have mean actually taking it seriously, maybe eradicting it, atleast having the vast majority of people vaccinate, mask and properly ventilate.

By all of those metrics, save for total eradication of course, Europe largely DID beat covid, or rather the most critical phase of it, unlike the US.

Last I checked, covid infections are below pre-covid flu infections in most of Europe, as is seasonal flu. Again, unlike the US.

If anything we’re worse than the start of the pandemic now

The entire world is, due mainly to the by now worldwide resurgence of fascism.

A third of europe believes in anti-vaccine conspiracies.

See above.

[–] ms_lane 4 points 3 days ago

It didn't ditch Russian energy either.

[–] RedditWanderer 19 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's going to be tough, but good changes for the world overall. Enough with the post-ww2 power dynamics. I'm hoping Canada will be pushed to rely less on the U.S

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

They certainly are being pushed. The polls are showing that support for the fascists there has dropped 25% since they've seen the Trump/Musk presidency to the south. The problem is, they don't have the infrastructure such as huge ports to conduct international trade on the scale of the US.

I wish them luck, because we, their neighbors, seem doomed.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

It’s sad. I think the EU is an extremely valuable partner as a whole and to think we just would abandon them. The US is Russia 2.0 and it hurts to see

[–] Cryan24 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, its a double edged sword.. The EU looking after its own security also means the US loses influence over the EU. Combine that with the EU being a larger market may mean a shift in gdp ratios as the EU looks within more Instead of buying services from the US.

I hope we are still on good terms once the dust settles.

[–] keimevo 16 points 3 days ago

And additionally, China takes advantage and the EU starts doing more business with them.

China tried to keep itself very neutral in the Ukraine/Russia war (at least on the outside), and it even distanced itself from Putin in the last months. It would be a perfect chance for them to strengthen their economic ties with the EU.

Trump has really freaked up the soft power balance of the world. It was slowly decaying before, but he really pushed the Turbo button.

[–] IphtashuFitz 17 points 3 days ago

I recently attended a talk by Admiral James Stavridis, who among other thing was the 16th NATO Supreme Allied Commander. He feels the EU will be able to defend itself if the US abandons NATO, etc. Between the manpower the European members has to draw on, their existing defense & manufacturing industries, their shared mistrust of Putin, etc. they have a lot going for them.

[–] hark 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Europe ditched Russian energy the same way they ditched colonialism: they didn't, they just do it on the down-low now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Eh, colonizing is nothing like it was in the past.

Unpopular opinion, but I'd like to bring it back with improvements. The point shouldn't be to enrich the investors, but to improve the world.

Ex: The US could colonize Haiti and invest in making it a livable place.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Who's gonna colonize the US and make it liveable first?

[–] visnae 2 points 2 days ago

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the States of America