DandomRude

I'm not saying that European climate policy in recent decades hasn't also been disastrous. I'm just tired of reading these whataboutism comments that try to shift the blame somewhere else instead of simply admitting responsibility for one's own actions and decisions. This isn't about national pride, which I generally consider to be dull-witted by the way, but about a future worth living.

Neither do I, because the US citizens elected Trump, who will both betray our friends in Ukraine and withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. These are just two of his future misdeeds, which are completely foreseeable. Thank you dear allies from the US, you are really very helpful.

Are you also relying on Europe to get its shit together when it comes to climate change? I think you still don't understand how fucked the world is because US citizens did not get their shit together and voted for Trump.

I mean climate change

Unfortunately, this particular leopard will eat everyone's face.

Yes, that's why we're doomed if we don't manage to cooperate instead of competing. Especially with the election of Trump as US president, I unfortunately think that's completely hopeless. So...

Europe is increasingly losing influence in the global economy, which is why I do not think that the euro is a likely candidate for an alternative reserve currency. If at all, it is more likely to be a dispute between the US and China or an eastern bloc imo. Or perhaps a system that is more decentralized and no longer requires a central trading currency in the sence of a national currency. Either way, I think an attack by the USA on Europe is out of the question - for many reasons, but if only because the US benefits from NATO and France is also a nuclear power.

What I mean is unbridled self-enrichment, corruption, greed, hubris and hedonism (in the negative, not the philosophical sense) of the elites of a given empire, which often had a certain share in the decline of formerly effective administrative and economic structures, legal systems etc. The excessive abuse of power by the powerful for selfish purposes. For a long time the ancient Romans were very aware of the creeping danger that came with considerable power in the hands of just a few. For example the expression "memento mori" (remember that you will die) likely comes from this context: The Romans used to say that to generals when they returned from a successful campaign as to remind them that they are not almighty gods but just mortals like everyone else. The late Roman elite however seems to have forgotten this as they became more greedy and selfish instead of being somewhat humble servants of their empire - they became decadent. But yes, if anything, that was of course just one factor among many in the decline of former empires. My point is just that even today, the excessive greed of a few very powerful people threatens not only their own power base, but even the survival of humanity as a whole. I simply think that we need to change fundamentally and urgently if we want to mitigate the foreseeable consequences of climate change to some extent - Trump is not going to do that at all.

Yes, most empires have perished because of their decadence. This is certainly also a danger for the USA, especially under Trump. If it comes to that, we can only hope that the US will not drag us all into the abyss with them. They will certainly use all means at their disposal to maintain the status quo - even with nuclear weapons, which the Romans, for example, did not have. I hope it goes well. In any case, the world would be better off if we did not continue to destroy our common habitat with our eyes open because of the excessive neoliberalism of the US.

If the dollar were no longer the international reserve currency, the US would be in serious economic trouble, if not bankrupt. However, I don't think that will happen because the US will probably not shy away from preventing it by force with its gigantic military machine. I don't think that's very far fetched, considering what happened to Iraq after Saddam announced in 2000 that he would sell oil in euros instead of dollars. It is of course difficult to prove that this was actually the reason for the US invasion of Iraq - but weapons of mass destruction, the alleged existence of which was put forward as a reason for the war by the US, were in any case demonstrably non-existent.

Life as a shorty shouldn’t be so rough.

I don't really want to accept it, but you're probably right.