pigeonburger
3d ago
Easy to say when there aren't any concrete dollars on the table yet, and not necessarily a bad strategy to claim it if you want the offer to be as high as it possibly can if it comes. But not really indicative of a real preference, especially if, as you point out, their principles seem to be subordinate to their material conditions.
When the Greenlanders turn down a real (not a poll) direct payment of 200 000 american dollars per person to join the US (not to sell their land and leave, to join a wealthy country that will likely invest in building up their island!), I'll consider they've actually rejected it. And even then, it might be negociating for a higher number.
pigeonburger
3d ago
Fun fact: I am not, actually, American. I just recognize that there is still some vitality left in US, unlike Western Europe and the other Anglosphere countries, who have nothing to contribute and make every decision they can seemingly with the goal of smothering their economy, of replacing their culture and demography. Maybe it doesn't always do so in the wisest way, but the american beast still moves and thrash about. Western europe is inert, it hasn't moved in a long time. At this point we should really check for a pulse and just call it.
pigeonburger
4d ago
I think the point is to delegitimize the regime, he will declare soon who that "New Regime President" is and the hope is that iranians are going to go along with it.
pigeonburger
5d ago
It's okay, you're allowed to call them "clankers" here, yes, even with a hard R.
I feel a lot of it, from Europeans and also from the other anglosphere countries (Canada and Australia), is what we refer to as "coping". Mostly coping with feeling less agentful and capable than americans are. Japan and China seem to be more positive because Japan learned a long time ago (and China in the last half-century) that the more productive reaction to being humbled by someone else is not to find excuses but just to learn what gave that person an edge over you and then doing that even better than them. Europeans and (and other anglos) seem to be averse to doing that, they seem to want to double down on what kept them inferior, and wear that inferiority as some kind of weird badge of honor.
Now, there's a lot of contempt for america in europe, but from what I've seen there's also admiration, especially among the working class. My wife and I went to New York last december and my Spanish in-laws were quite jealous. They wanted as keepsakes american one dollar bills and statue of liberty merch. I think that's because despite all they hear on the news, the US remains a place they admire. Maybe for the people who can afford to visit it, it has less cachet, but from other europeans I know that have visited, I still see that they, on some level, admire it. The USA they hate is a construct created by the news media (both theirs, and the US blue tribe media).
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