"it’s that he actively recoiled at striking the Houthis because doing so might happen to benefit the Europeans."
That is just not true. Vance was opposed to the strikes because in his view they would almost entirely and exclusively benefit the Europeans, and there wasn't much other reason to do it. He has a point. Why can't rich Europe take the lead on something like this? Are they children and we are the dad?
The other point I would add is, I have been shocked by what a bellicose posture toward Russia the NATO allies have taken, despite having allowed their own militaries to atrophy to the point of near worthlessness. If you can't project force, you don't get to decide anything!
Excuse me, Russia is the bellicose one attacking us -- and strongly backed up by China & North Korea. They are the bellicose ones. Invading your neighbor over the explicit pleading of the UN secretary general -- how more bellicose can you get? .
Russia is attacking Ukraine, not NATO. Unless you are in Ukraine, Russia is not attacking you.
The UK, Germany, France and others demand a maximalist intervention on behalf of Ukraine from the United States, after decades of having spent a pittance on their own militaries, and that is worthy of ridicule.
Nonsense. You have not read the news. Russia is directly attacking us, at this point using hybrid warfare. If you give Putin Ukraine, we are next. That's one reason why we joined NATO. That's why we must stand with Ukraine and defeat Russia. (The other being, we still want the UN charter).
"Us" means Europe as a whole: Everyone knows that Russia is conducting hybrid warfare all over, supported by China and that if we let him have Ukraine, we are next. Everyone can see it is the main immediate threat to Europe. As for NATO, my country Sweden joined after Russia's massive illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022. We did so in concert with our closest friends, Finland. Both came to the same new analysis of our security needs. My country previously had deep misgivings and suspicions about the US -- suspicions which have sadly but naturally deepened dramatically this year, as we've watched the US make new outrageous threats to its own NATO allies, threatening them with attack and invasion, which is unprecedented and deply ominous since everyone can see that this is consistent with the US attitude to Russia: suggesting Putin could keep what he takes, letting him continue his war with appeasement after appeasement, instead of making sure he is roundly defeated -- as we should have done, yesterday, to safeguard our democracies and our freedom, -- also, by extension, to prevent China winning in Europe, and then in Asia with their own continued land grabs, in Russia's image. --The deeply unfortunate shift in the US is of a piece with the unfortunate rise in US contempt for international order, which suggests they now want to go back to 19th century "might is right," back before we had any UN and international law, -- all of which is of course the exact opposite of what we in Europe stand for.
As Yasha Mounk mentioned, the Americans even sent their VP to the Munich security conference to give a speech, in the midst of the war -- without even mentioning the top number one current security issue, Putin's war! He could only smear Europe and bolster the extremists in our midst who want to sell out to Putin. That was it: We get it. So now, we in Sweden, like our fellow Europeans, bolster our defenses, send troops to help arm up our Baltics neighbors who are next in line; make and send as many arms as we can to Ukraine; and provide all sorts of other support for them, in their valiant war for their and our freedom; also meanwhile, we watch American developments intently and prepare for the worst.
The listing of issues seems complete and accurate; however, the most weighty ones related to political and demographic destruction of Western culture are significantly more important than the personal ones…a distinction progressives and Europeans seem to ignore, at great peril to all.
I recall during Trump's first term, a G7 meeting in Canada, where Justin Trudeau set the agenda weighted very heavily to social justice issues. It was clear Trump and only Trump thought global security was more important. Face it, Europe has gone far left with its anticolonialist / social justice agenda (maybe save for France). This is the critical distinction and the root of Trump's disdain for the West's intellectual leadership. This is not a lovers' quarrel.
Trump hates Europe because Europe hates everything Trump's populism stands for; over the past few years alone, every European leader has gone to great lengths to avoid having to govern with a national populist party. Doesn't that say enough?
"hate", "hostility" These words are generally thrown out by those plagued with a woke "words are violence" indoctrination. The EU is elite liberal controlled. It is bad Democrat on steroids. Trump does not hate them, and Vance did not deliver words of hostility. Both men join the majority of informed and rational Americans convinced that EU elite globalist left-liberal cabal is just another version of the collectivist authoritarian power grab responsible for the two world wars. And the US has paid dearly to prevent it for 80 years, while the Europeans grew entitled, lazy and looter... only to again play their stupid elite destruction games.
The US under Trump is only providing the tough love that the spoiled children of Europe need. Italy, Poland, Hungary get it. And some of the Scandinavian country are starting to wake up.
Totally agree. There is very little about European leaders that deserves an ounce of respect. Hate maybe the way it feels to them, but it's more of a head-shaking disdain.
I love the Dutch farmers and the French in yellow jackets. They breathe some life into an otherwise complacent system bathing in luxury beliefs. But, you are right, many have chosen the path to demise.
I have appreciated Professor Mounk's take on many important issues, in part because he is one of the few political commentators who provides as comprehensive an account of complicated conflicts as you'll find on the best podcasts. This article is no exception to his very useful descriptions and explanations of the great divide between Trump's assessment of what's wrong with Europe in opposition to those simplistic conclusions that Trump is simply crazy. Democrats frequently champion the latter accounts which in fact fail to understand his motives and policies.
If I had a quarrel with Mounk's article, it is that I wouldn't have bothered with the "personal animus" that Mounk attributes to Trump in explaining what some are pleased to call hatred. Mounk devotes much more of his explanation to the obvious socio-economic conditions of many countries in Europe, conditions that are undermining much of what the West has stood for historically. So while Trump may harbor some resentment of the treatment he's received as a member of an underclass they loath, one can hardly explain the failing states in Europe by thinking Trump hates them. He should disagree strongly and be hostile to their recklessness and inactions. They are failing to defend the best traditions of Western Civilization and do not make the sacrifices that the United States has made in defending our interests and our values.
So it makes much more sense to be armed with a more complicated assessment of Europe's blunders, antidemocratic, and often authoritarian inclinations as justifications for Trump to criticize their fecklessness and irresponsibility. The amount they have provided, a mere 2% of their budget on their own defense while providing more than liberal benefits to their people should be resented by American presidents who see that as a dangerous development for any country to permit, especially since it may have been in part because of the generosity of the military umbrella we provide.
Thus explaining complicated foreign policy of the United States through a socio-psychological account of resentment reminds me of one line the legacy media's use to explain the Iraq war: George Bush junior invaded Iraq because of some historical insult to his father, George Bush senior. If that didn't sound right to you then, it shouldn't now.
Great writing as always, Yascha. I'm an immigrant that has lived in France, Germany, US and Spain and have become a big supporter of Trump (none of us are perfect). It's not so much hate as it is disdain, Yascha. And it's not a phobia, there is nothing to fear about the EU. For the last 40-50 years, Europe has been wrong about almost everything, including joining the U.S. in Iraq.
My point is that Trump must be asking himself the same question that I asked myself sometimes. How can a continent that almost conquered the whole world, that created societies to help humans flourish, whose ancestors fought so hard, invented so many things, and ushered in such a long period of peace, screw up the future so much? How can Europe forget that there are enemies out there? Yes, there are always enemies when you have something that others want. The disdain Trump has for Europe is like recognizing that your supposedly big brother has been useless. How do you get your big brother to wake up after being in such a long period of slumber? Some will argue here that the U.S has to do something about Russia. Where has Europe been this whole time? I highly recommend that everyone to pick up any book by Robert Gates. Trump is just the final boss who has said "enough". He doesn't hate Europeans, he just doesn't like your helplessness and, particularly, the fragile politicians you elect. Has anyone been to Hamburg, Germany lately? You can argue that the city has been lost, London has been lost, and very soon, a few other cities will be lost. The supposedly intellectual are so smart that they have broken everything. Merkel handed her country to Russia, China, and the U.S.. It is the European way to abdicate responsibility while still wishing to wield authority.
Trump hates Europe the Supra-national entity in the way he hates the UN, the WHO and many other such bodies. And he is right. These organizations have turned proud nation states into puppet states unable to exercise their own systems of law, taxation and security.
If you see this as nothing more than Trump’s psyche you are showing early signs of Trump derangement syndrome. The man has on his first year of presidency announced and acted on more initiatives of policy than any leader in the free world. And his overriding wish is to demolish the forces of globalization and cultural relativism that have been embraced by Starmer, Macron, Merkl and other left of centre liberals.
"Both Trump and Vance’s forebears hail from Europe. Both believe that European civilization provided the indispensable historical basis for the American experiment."
I'm not sure how this is a "belief." Without Holland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Germany, there is no America. If leftists are disputing this, we are very, very far from reason and a clear-eyed view of history.
I think you give Trump and Vance way too much credit for what you surmise is the root of their hatred of Europe in your last paragraph. I think what you said earlier on is closer to the truth: he has contempt for his intellectual and moral superiors. He feels the same about American elites.
Both are the poster children for both anti-intellectualism and amorality. A continent that takes pride in intellectual rigor and morality will inevitably bring their ire—especially Trump, who lacks the intellect and ability to create a framework for his disdain beyond what emanates from his id. There is no frontal lobe engagement…like every decision, everything is reptilian, because that’s the only part of his brain that’s engaged.
Vance knows better, but his quest for power and his inherent amorality lead him to play the role of subservient sop to the man that holds his future in his hands.
Yes of course, the intellectualism that can bring one to believe that people can be born in a body of the wrong sex. Or that invisible systemic mechanisms govern society and create social injustices. Or that members of a Group are responsible for the actions of all members of that Group, and directing privilege to current members of a Group ameliorate past injustices to different members of that Group. Or that the US Constitution, with its built in amendment formulas should be interpreted as a living document. Or that ignoring problems like the expansionist desires of several countries arond the world, means you don't need a strong military. Yes that intellectualism.
I like the distinction made by a substacker not long ago which divides the world into virtuals, people who spend their time working with ideas, and physicals, people who spend their time working with physical things. I see the problem as the virtuals have spent too little time working with physical things and living only in the ideasphere where their minds have become polluted.
While I have no love for Trump, the problems of the intellectual class are clearly obvious and worthy of disdain.
European leaders are not intellectual and moral superiors. They are just better posers. They sound more sophisticated but their policies are terrible. Trump's are somewhat less terrible and in a few cases quite good.
The idea that the Trump regime hates Europe because it sees us as squandering a common culture is intriguing, but is there any proof that would be its main motivation? To me it looks like the regime hates Europe because we stand for liberal and democratic values that it rejects. Trump likes dictators because they recognise the legitimacy of his self-image as “boss”, whereas we will always see him as ideologically illegitimate and legally suspect. That familiarity breeds contempt is certainly very true; you can only really resent and even hate someone whom you understand and offers a plausible countermodel. The best comparison is Russian Europhobia. What is also pretty self-evident and you do not remark upon, is that MAGA looks very Eastern European and is ironically a major turn away from American (and to a slightly lesser extent Western European) political tradition. In a sense the US right is more understandable to us than the US left and its identity politics, as the transatlantic confusion over the word “liberal” demonstrates. Trump might turn out to be the indispensable wake-up call that Europe needs. It is true that the power differential has grown and we need to address it urgently. But even at the present moment we are uniquely placed to harm the US economically and politically. The more pressure Trump puts on us, the less reason there is not to. In other words the real question is not the power differential but the Trump regime’s ability to take pain. That seems actually pretty limited, as the Chinese have demonstrated.
I'm compelled, at some level, to believe that the "chicken" of exploitative colonialism are coming home to roost in much of Europe. North Africans and Algerians in France are a direct result of the horror of French occupation. German exploitation of Turkish, and by extension middle Eastern peoples, while refusing them opportunities of citizenship, Great Britains' deluge of West Indian and South Asian immigrants are all part of the legacy of resource theft and exploitation.Preserving "European heritage" in the face of that disgraceful history is fraught with peril. And the people who will pay the bill for those actions are the sons and daughters of the benighted foot soldiers of western hegemony and exploitation.
Trump and America are facing a similar legacy. The conscious and deliberate destruction of the resources, agriculture, and labor forces of our neighbors have left them with little choice but to move where opportunity presents.
When did we “consciously destroy” Canada or Mexico? Europeans made the Americas much wealthier and more productive. And the way to deal with desperate, resentful people is to shut the border and take care of your own, not to act like the “chickens coming home to roost” are inevitable and we just have to live with it.
It's very hard to take a comment like this seriously as it evidences such a profound lack of knowledge of history, geography, politics, and economic exploitation. suffice it to say we have many more neighbors, we are not experiencing economic migration from Canada, and desperate people are in that condition for a reason; in this case because of deliberate American action. But your attitude does explain two things: 1. why we are saddled with the most incompetent and dangerous leadership in our nation's history, and 2. why we are hated across the globe.
I think ignorance is believing that wealth and peace are the default conditions of the world. That is the left wing belief but it is entirely wrong.
I also never understand the sweeping generalizations made about national guilt by left wingers. Could you genuinely answer this?
Are all American tax payers in debt to all Mexicans or Chileans? Even those Latin Americans who descend from Spanish and Portugese settlers? Is that a reason for colleges to discriminate against white Americans in favor of any “person of color” throughout the entire world? Even if those people come from incredibly immoral and dysfunctional societies (North Korea, Egypt, Pakistan)? Even if those people are the children of Japanese billionaires or Brahmin Indians? Why don’t you campaign IN AMERICA for some govt. subsidized housing to lift Native Americans off reservations? Why does the left have to hand all power to globalized bodies and oikophobic women in college admissions departments? Focus on doing good to individual people descended from poor American families. Don’t hide behind Manichean declarations and then pursue divisive and self-destructive policies.
Your characterization of educational diversity efforts is not only wrong and cliched but deliberately ignores the widespread practice of active discrimination in favor of wealth and privilege. Harvard for instance has more students from the top 2% of the American economic strata than the bottom 50%. So please, desist in false claims on behalf of poor Americans. No college in America discriminates against white Americans. That's nonsense and you know it. Now if you want to slip in Asians you might be onto something.
Xenophobia will only get you so far in the larger civilized world. Just look what it's done for the Muslim world.
I think you can relax your bundled undies about national guilt by reading a little history, but that might take some effort on your part. The sad fact is that those who profited most from colonialism and economic exploitation are never the ones who pay the bill. But aggrieved white supremacists like yourself are easily manipulated into thinking their privilege will somehow accrue to you. And it won't. Racism only grants you entrance to the atrium. You'll never make it to the stage
One absolutely key element is missing here: These guys are discarding core values of "Western civilization", such as rule of law, equality before the law, freedom of speech etc., and that is a key reason why they hate the Europe which holds on to those values -- and, loves Hungary and such places with illiberal dictators that turn instead to China and Russia. No coincidence that Hungarians, too, are also revanchist nationalists that want to redraw Europe's borders, like Putin, Xi, etc.
You are mistaken in suggesting that Europe holds freedom of speech as a core value. Look at the recent legislation in the UK, Ireland and perhaps other EU states where you can be jailed for "harmful" speech with an expanded definition of "harm". As far as rule of law and equality before the law, you'll have to provide examples to back that up.
Im not sure where in weurope you live but freedom of speech and equality before the law must be a joke. The EU doesnt believe in humans/people thats why it does evrything possible to transform Europeans into domething obedient by overregulating, overprotecting and somethering them into helpless robots. If moral cowardice applied to a continent, then it will begin here.
Wanting to withdraw from this kind of romance is understandable, but it's not a relationship you leave in six months, and it's not a job you quit so suddenly.
There is so much desire on the far left for hate. More demand than supply. So, whenever I hear this rhetoric, I assume that I am learning more about the heart of the author than reality.
"it’s that he actively recoiled at striking the Houthis because doing so might happen to benefit the Europeans."
That is just not true. Vance was opposed to the strikes because in his view they would almost entirely and exclusively benefit the Europeans, and there wasn't much other reason to do it. He has a point. Why can't rich Europe take the lead on something like this? Are they children and we are the dad?
The other point I would add is, I have been shocked by what a bellicose posture toward Russia the NATO allies have taken, despite having allowed their own militaries to atrophy to the point of near worthlessness. If you can't project force, you don't get to decide anything!
Excuse me, Russia is the bellicose one attacking us -- and strongly backed up by China & North Korea. They are the bellicose ones. Invading your neighbor over the explicit pleading of the UN secretary general -- how more bellicose can you get? .
Russia is attacking Ukraine, not NATO. Unless you are in Ukraine, Russia is not attacking you.
The UK, Germany, France and others demand a maximalist intervention on behalf of Ukraine from the United States, after decades of having spent a pittance on their own militaries, and that is worthy of ridicule.
Nonsense. You have not read the news. Russia is directly attacking us, at this point using hybrid warfare. If you give Putin Ukraine, we are next. That's one reason why we joined NATO. That's why we must stand with Ukraine and defeat Russia. (The other being, we still want the UN charter).
Who is "us" - Sweden, which couldn't be bothered to join NATO until five minutes ago? How many divisions is Sweden prepared to field in the Donbas?
"Us" means Europe as a whole: Everyone knows that Russia is conducting hybrid warfare all over, supported by China and that if we let him have Ukraine, we are next. Everyone can see it is the main immediate threat to Europe. As for NATO, my country Sweden joined after Russia's massive illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022. We did so in concert with our closest friends, Finland. Both came to the same new analysis of our security needs. My country previously had deep misgivings and suspicions about the US -- suspicions which have sadly but naturally deepened dramatically this year, as we've watched the US make new outrageous threats to its own NATO allies, threatening them with attack and invasion, which is unprecedented and deply ominous since everyone can see that this is consistent with the US attitude to Russia: suggesting Putin could keep what he takes, letting him continue his war with appeasement after appeasement, instead of making sure he is roundly defeated -- as we should have done, yesterday, to safeguard our democracies and our freedom, -- also, by extension, to prevent China winning in Europe, and then in Asia with their own continued land grabs, in Russia's image. --The deeply unfortunate shift in the US is of a piece with the unfortunate rise in US contempt for international order, which suggests they now want to go back to 19th century "might is right," back before we had any UN and international law, -- all of which is of course the exact opposite of what we in Europe stand for.
As Yasha Mounk mentioned, the Americans even sent their VP to the Munich security conference to give a speech, in the midst of the war -- without even mentioning the top number one current security issue, Putin's war! He could only smear Europe and bolster the extremists in our midst who want to sell out to Putin. That was it: We get it. So now, we in Sweden, like our fellow Europeans, bolster our defenses, send troops to help arm up our Baltics neighbors who are next in line; make and send as many arms as we can to Ukraine; and provide all sorts of other support for them, in their valiant war for their and our freedom; also meanwhile, we watch American developments intently and prepare for the worst.
The listing of issues seems complete and accurate; however, the most weighty ones related to political and demographic destruction of Western culture are significantly more important than the personal ones…a distinction progressives and Europeans seem to ignore, at great peril to all.
Sounds like someone really wants a run of bad luck.
This is a quote from a wacky '70s science fiction writer.
Thay anyone takes it seriously staggers me.
I recall during Trump's first term, a G7 meeting in Canada, where Justin Trudeau set the agenda weighted very heavily to social justice issues. It was clear Trump and only Trump thought global security was more important. Face it, Europe has gone far left with its anticolonialist / social justice agenda (maybe save for France). This is the critical distinction and the root of Trump's disdain for the West's intellectual leadership. This is not a lovers' quarrel.
Trump hates Europe because Europe hates everything Trump's populism stands for; over the past few years alone, every European leader has gone to great lengths to avoid having to govern with a national populist party. Doesn't that say enough?
"hate", "hostility" These words are generally thrown out by those plagued with a woke "words are violence" indoctrination. The EU is elite liberal controlled. It is bad Democrat on steroids. Trump does not hate them, and Vance did not deliver words of hostility. Both men join the majority of informed and rational Americans convinced that EU elite globalist left-liberal cabal is just another version of the collectivist authoritarian power grab responsible for the two world wars. And the US has paid dearly to prevent it for 80 years, while the Europeans grew entitled, lazy and looter... only to again play their stupid elite destruction games.
The US under Trump is only providing the tough love that the spoiled children of Europe need. Italy, Poland, Hungary get it. And some of the Scandinavian country are starting to wake up.
Totally agree. There is very little about European leaders that deserves an ounce of respect. Hate maybe the way it feels to them, but it's more of a head-shaking disdain.
Presumably you also have little respect for Europeans since they voted for these leaders.
I love the Dutch farmers and the French in yellow jackets. They breathe some life into an otherwise complacent system bathing in luxury beliefs. But, you are right, many have chosen the path to demise.
I have appreciated Professor Mounk's take on many important issues, in part because he is one of the few political commentators who provides as comprehensive an account of complicated conflicts as you'll find on the best podcasts. This article is no exception to his very useful descriptions and explanations of the great divide between Trump's assessment of what's wrong with Europe in opposition to those simplistic conclusions that Trump is simply crazy. Democrats frequently champion the latter accounts which in fact fail to understand his motives and policies.
If I had a quarrel with Mounk's article, it is that I wouldn't have bothered with the "personal animus" that Mounk attributes to Trump in explaining what some are pleased to call hatred. Mounk devotes much more of his explanation to the obvious socio-economic conditions of many countries in Europe, conditions that are undermining much of what the West has stood for historically. So while Trump may harbor some resentment of the treatment he's received as a member of an underclass they loath, one can hardly explain the failing states in Europe by thinking Trump hates them. He should disagree strongly and be hostile to their recklessness and inactions. They are failing to defend the best traditions of Western Civilization and do not make the sacrifices that the United States has made in defending our interests and our values.
So it makes much more sense to be armed with a more complicated assessment of Europe's blunders, antidemocratic, and often authoritarian inclinations as justifications for Trump to criticize their fecklessness and irresponsibility. The amount they have provided, a mere 2% of their budget on their own defense while providing more than liberal benefits to their people should be resented by American presidents who see that as a dangerous development for any country to permit, especially since it may have been in part because of the generosity of the military umbrella we provide.
Thus explaining complicated foreign policy of the United States through a socio-psychological account of resentment reminds me of one line the legacy media's use to explain the Iraq war: George Bush junior invaded Iraq because of some historical insult to his father, George Bush senior. If that didn't sound right to you then, it shouldn't now.
Great writing as always, Yascha. I'm an immigrant that has lived in France, Germany, US and Spain and have become a big supporter of Trump (none of us are perfect). It's not so much hate as it is disdain, Yascha. And it's not a phobia, there is nothing to fear about the EU. For the last 40-50 years, Europe has been wrong about almost everything, including joining the U.S. in Iraq.
My point is that Trump must be asking himself the same question that I asked myself sometimes. How can a continent that almost conquered the whole world, that created societies to help humans flourish, whose ancestors fought so hard, invented so many things, and ushered in such a long period of peace, screw up the future so much? How can Europe forget that there are enemies out there? Yes, there are always enemies when you have something that others want. The disdain Trump has for Europe is like recognizing that your supposedly big brother has been useless. How do you get your big brother to wake up after being in such a long period of slumber? Some will argue here that the U.S has to do something about Russia. Where has Europe been this whole time? I highly recommend that everyone to pick up any book by Robert Gates. Trump is just the final boss who has said "enough". He doesn't hate Europeans, he just doesn't like your helplessness and, particularly, the fragile politicians you elect. Has anyone been to Hamburg, Germany lately? You can argue that the city has been lost, London has been lost, and very soon, a few other cities will be lost. The supposedly intellectual are so smart that they have broken everything. Merkel handed her country to Russia, China, and the U.S.. It is the European way to abdicate responsibility while still wishing to wield authority.
Trump hates Europe the Supra-national entity in the way he hates the UN, the WHO and many other such bodies. And he is right. These organizations have turned proud nation states into puppet states unable to exercise their own systems of law, taxation and security.
If you see this as nothing more than Trump’s psyche you are showing early signs of Trump derangement syndrome. The man has on his first year of presidency announced and acted on more initiatives of policy than any leader in the free world. And his overriding wish is to demolish the forces of globalization and cultural relativism that have been embraced by Starmer, Macron, Merkl and other left of centre liberals.
"Both Trump and Vance’s forebears hail from Europe. Both believe that European civilization provided the indispensable historical basis for the American experiment."
I'm not sure how this is a "belief." Without Holland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Germany, there is no America. If leftists are disputing this, we are very, very far from reason and a clear-eyed view of history.
I think you give Trump and Vance way too much credit for what you surmise is the root of their hatred of Europe in your last paragraph. I think what you said earlier on is closer to the truth: he has contempt for his intellectual and moral superiors. He feels the same about American elites.
Both are the poster children for both anti-intellectualism and amorality. A continent that takes pride in intellectual rigor and morality will inevitably bring their ire—especially Trump, who lacks the intellect and ability to create a framework for his disdain beyond what emanates from his id. There is no frontal lobe engagement…like every decision, everything is reptilian, because that’s the only part of his brain that’s engaged.
Vance knows better, but his quest for power and his inherent amorality lead him to play the role of subservient sop to the man that holds his future in his hands.
Yes of course, the intellectualism that can bring one to believe that people can be born in a body of the wrong sex. Or that invisible systemic mechanisms govern society and create social injustices. Or that members of a Group are responsible for the actions of all members of that Group, and directing privilege to current members of a Group ameliorate past injustices to different members of that Group. Or that the US Constitution, with its built in amendment formulas should be interpreted as a living document. Or that ignoring problems like the expansionist desires of several countries arond the world, means you don't need a strong military. Yes that intellectualism.
I like the distinction made by a substacker not long ago which divides the world into virtuals, people who spend their time working with ideas, and physicals, people who spend their time working with physical things. I see the problem as the virtuals have spent too little time working with physical things and living only in the ideasphere where their minds have become polluted.
While I have no love for Trump, the problems of the intellectual class are clearly obvious and worthy of disdain.
European leaders are not intellectual and moral superiors. They are just better posers. They sound more sophisticated but their policies are terrible. Trump's are somewhat less terrible and in a few cases quite good.
The idea that the Trump regime hates Europe because it sees us as squandering a common culture is intriguing, but is there any proof that would be its main motivation? To me it looks like the regime hates Europe because we stand for liberal and democratic values that it rejects. Trump likes dictators because they recognise the legitimacy of his self-image as “boss”, whereas we will always see him as ideologically illegitimate and legally suspect. That familiarity breeds contempt is certainly very true; you can only really resent and even hate someone whom you understand and offers a plausible countermodel. The best comparison is Russian Europhobia. What is also pretty self-evident and you do not remark upon, is that MAGA looks very Eastern European and is ironically a major turn away from American (and to a slightly lesser extent Western European) political tradition. In a sense the US right is more understandable to us than the US left and its identity politics, as the transatlantic confusion over the word “liberal” demonstrates. Trump might turn out to be the indispensable wake-up call that Europe needs. It is true that the power differential has grown and we need to address it urgently. But even at the present moment we are uniquely placed to harm the US economically and politically. The more pressure Trump puts on us, the less reason there is not to. In other words the real question is not the power differential but the Trump regime’s ability to take pain. That seems actually pretty limited, as the Chinese have demonstrated.
This seems altogether more convincing that SM's vaguely oedipal geopolitical analysis.
Europe is lefty ans Trump isnt - thats just party politics. Europe loved Obama - thats reason enough for TrumP
Aside from that, Europe is stuck in its old ways. Who would love a partner who lives in the past and cannot carry their own weight?
I'm compelled, at some level, to believe that the "chicken" of exploitative colonialism are coming home to roost in much of Europe. North Africans and Algerians in France are a direct result of the horror of French occupation. German exploitation of Turkish, and by extension middle Eastern peoples, while refusing them opportunities of citizenship, Great Britains' deluge of West Indian and South Asian immigrants are all part of the legacy of resource theft and exploitation.Preserving "European heritage" in the face of that disgraceful history is fraught with peril. And the people who will pay the bill for those actions are the sons and daughters of the benighted foot soldiers of western hegemony and exploitation.
Trump and America are facing a similar legacy. The conscious and deliberate destruction of the resources, agriculture, and labor forces of our neighbors have left them with little choice but to move where opportunity presents.
There's no going back.
When did we “consciously destroy” Canada or Mexico? Europeans made the Americas much wealthier and more productive. And the way to deal with desperate, resentful people is to shut the border and take care of your own, not to act like the “chickens coming home to roost” are inevitable and we just have to live with it.
It's very hard to take a comment like this seriously as it evidences such a profound lack of knowledge of history, geography, politics, and economic exploitation. suffice it to say we have many more neighbors, we are not experiencing economic migration from Canada, and desperate people are in that condition for a reason; in this case because of deliberate American action. But your attitude does explain two things: 1. why we are saddled with the most incompetent and dangerous leadership in our nation's history, and 2. why we are hated across the globe.
In your case I guess ignorance is bliss.
I think ignorance is believing that wealth and peace are the default conditions of the world. That is the left wing belief but it is entirely wrong.
I also never understand the sweeping generalizations made about national guilt by left wingers. Could you genuinely answer this?
Are all American tax payers in debt to all Mexicans or Chileans? Even those Latin Americans who descend from Spanish and Portugese settlers? Is that a reason for colleges to discriminate against white Americans in favor of any “person of color” throughout the entire world? Even if those people come from incredibly immoral and dysfunctional societies (North Korea, Egypt, Pakistan)? Even if those people are the children of Japanese billionaires or Brahmin Indians? Why don’t you campaign IN AMERICA for some govt. subsidized housing to lift Native Americans off reservations? Why does the left have to hand all power to globalized bodies and oikophobic women in college admissions departments? Focus on doing good to individual people descended from poor American families. Don’t hide behind Manichean declarations and then pursue divisive and self-destructive policies.
Oikophobic! Nice.
Your characterization of educational diversity efforts is not only wrong and cliched but deliberately ignores the widespread practice of active discrimination in favor of wealth and privilege. Harvard for instance has more students from the top 2% of the American economic strata than the bottom 50%. So please, desist in false claims on behalf of poor Americans. No college in America discriminates against white Americans. That's nonsense and you know it. Now if you want to slip in Asians you might be onto something.
Xenophobia will only get you so far in the larger civilized world. Just look what it's done for the Muslim world.
I think you can relax your bundled undies about national guilt by reading a little history, but that might take some effort on your part. The sad fact is that those who profited most from colonialism and economic exploitation are never the ones who pay the bill. But aggrieved white supremacists like yourself are easily manipulated into thinking their privilege will somehow accrue to you. And it won't. Racism only grants you entrance to the atrium. You'll never make it to the stage
One absolutely key element is missing here: These guys are discarding core values of "Western civilization", such as rule of law, equality before the law, freedom of speech etc., and that is a key reason why they hate the Europe which holds on to those values -- and, loves Hungary and such places with illiberal dictators that turn instead to China and Russia. No coincidence that Hungarians, too, are also revanchist nationalists that want to redraw Europe's borders, like Putin, Xi, etc.
You are mistaken in suggesting that Europe holds freedom of speech as a core value. Look at the recent legislation in the UK, Ireland and perhaps other EU states where you can be jailed for "harmful" speech with an expanded definition of "harm". As far as rule of law and equality before the law, you'll have to provide examples to back that up.
Im not sure where in weurope you live but freedom of speech and equality before the law must be a joke. The EU doesnt believe in humans/people thats why it does evrything possible to transform Europeans into domething obedient by overregulating, overprotecting and somethering them into helpless robots. If moral cowardice applied to a continent, then it will begin here.
Wanting to withdraw from this kind of romance is understandable, but it's not a relationship you leave in six months, and it's not a job you quit so suddenly.
There is so much desire on the far left for hate. More demand than supply. So, whenever I hear this rhetoric, I assume that I am learning more about the heart of the author than reality.