I’m absolutely with you on that point. The primary concern for the vast majority of people will always be for themselves and their loved ones. It’s the reason fatalistic compliance is so common in dictatorships. I’m convinced that in most countries, including modern day Germany and the modern day United States, people can be led into fatalistic compliance. In France on the other hand I wouldn’t be so certain. Imagine a scenario in which Marine or one of her stooges wins the presidential elections and tries to pull off the same march into fascism as we’re currently seeing from the party formerly known as the Republicans, there would be a general strike and major upheaval in no time.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the US for work about a decade ago, mostly in the midwest. I’m fully aware of the spread out nature of the country. Even “cities” often feel like a patchwork of suburbs outside of the urban core and population density is generally quite low. Nonetheless, things like strikes require people to actively not do anything, which should be possible. Even the yellow vest movement in France was most successful in the rural and suburban areas, more similar to the US in density. I believe it’s more about a culture of compliance, complacency and fatalism.

The French would have general striked and yellow vested the country to a grinding halt by now. Folks in the United States either lack the courage or confidence or interests or all of the above combined.

It’s hard to make that distinction. Even in Germany under the jackboot of National Socialism there were still good people, some even dared to take action while others dragged their feet as much as possible without endangering themselves and their loved ones. This is where the difference between guilt and responsibility arises. In my opinion not all US Americans are guilty, just like not all Germans were, yet all US Americans share a responsibility to rid themselves of their political polarisation and the hatred at its root, just like the good people of Germany managed to do in the decades after the war.

Since most European businesses already own a letterbox in Ireland or Luxembourg, I suppose they can use those for their exports in such a scenario.

That’s what I was thinking as well. If the Americans are as incompetent as they look we’ll see a surge of European exports from Poland or Spain rather than Germany or France. It may suffice to just drive the same goods to Gdansk and ship it from there…?

I don’t understand. What is better about US English? The vast majority of nations where English is an official language tends to use the British version.

He should just retire. Probably the worst Labour leader of my lifetime, he managed to somehow endorse Brexit and lose against Theresa May.

The greatest trick the United States ever pulled was convincing the countries in its sphere of influence that they were allies on equal footing.

One thing I know for certain is that I want both parties to lose in a US-FIFA conflict.

Do it like Turkey did a decade ago. That will reduce the number of Russian incursions significantly.

Is Slovakia beyond saving at this point or does it seem possible to still turn things around peacefully, ideally at the ballot box?

It’s amazing. Somehow China is currently managing to keep both Pakistan and India onside. I wonder how that came about…

Thanks for the insights!

Won’t they have the same issues though? It’s inherently difficult for large organisations (such as DHL, UPS, FedEx, …) to change processes to comply with regulations at very short notice. With de minimis exceptions stopped, that should affect all parcels coming into the United States no matter which company carries it.

Can someone who actually has the misfortune of living or having lived in Russia recently explain how widespread the use of this messenger is? I was under the impression that Telegram, despite also being a deeply problematic service, was the most popular chat tool there, even if the regime has been trying to discourage it recently. Can anyone give a first hand account?

My parents, who are now in their seventies, got life long multiple entry visas for the US back in the 1980. They were traveling through the Pacific and had a few beers with some people they met and mentioned that they needed to stop over in American Samoa. As it turns out one of these guys was the American ambassador to this minor Pacific nation, who granted them life long multiple entry visas. They haven’t been to the United States ever since but I guess these visas are now likely to be up for review…

As a Dutch person living abroad (even though only in neighbouring Germany) it’s true that our directness is sometimes seen as impoliteness. Most Dutch people I know mean absolutely no offence and just say out loud what they are thinking. Somehow many other countries prefer to skirt around uncomfortable direct communication.

I even understand much better why Germany fell prey to fascism at the time. Germans had gone through two million KIA, major territorial losses, a once in a century pandemic, hyperinflation, crippling economic war reparations and a once in a century economic depression in the span of less than twenty years and yet only a third of them voted for the fascist in the last free election. Keep in mind that democratic tradition was not firmly established in Germany by that point. Meanwhile US citizens have gone through a major economic crisis in 2008/9, a major pandemic and and increase in egg prices and suddenly more than half of voters there chose the fascist.

So we’re now at the stage where people risk being arrested without a charge by goons unwilling to properly identify themselves and then being killed because of that?

The current situation in the United States is eerily similar to 1930s Germany in my opinion. We’re probably just a few months away from political opponents being picked up on made up charges or even disappeared straight up.