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Very reasonable, but unfortunately not feasible with the chancellor of my home country, Germany. Friedrich Merz is nothing but a US lobbyist and definitely not a representative of the people. How can we get rid of corrupt politicians like that? I fear that things will even get much worse in Germany soon, because the fascist AfD, which in my opinion is nothing more than a front for US billionaires, will probably be the strongest force in our country, since the same social media platforms are at work here as in the US - with the same owners. But first, here is an excerpt from the CV of the current German chancellor, which should illustrate what I mean:
Friedrich Merz (born November 11, 1955, in Brilon), tenth Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany since May 6, 2025, CDU federal chairman since 2022, former business lawyer and long-time top lobbyist, has held leadership positions in a number of companies and business-related interest groups and networks. [1] Until the end of 2021, Merz was vice president of the CDU’s business lobby group, the Economic Council, and a guest member of the presidium of the Small and Medium-Sized Business and Economic Union (MIT). In 2022, the MIT welcomed Merz’s election as CDU chairman and stated that he was the first chairman to be a member of the MIT.[4] Armin Peter, most recently deputy press spokesman for the Economic Council and press spokesman for the then Economic Council Vice President Merz, has been deputy spokesman for the CDU and personal press spokesman for Merz since February 2022.[5] [6] Merz continues to be a member of the following organizations: Founding member of the New York section of the CDU Economic Council,[7] lobby organization Society for the Study of Structural Policy Issues,[8] Ludwig Erhard Foundation network, which brings together lobbyists and top politicians. Merz worked as senior counsel for the law firm Mayer Brown LLP until the end of 2021; prior to that, he was a partner for nine years.[9] During his time at Mayer Brown, he advised clients on corporate law, M&A transactions, compliance, and banking and finance law. According to research by CORRECTIV, he represented BASF as a lawyer on several occasions in 2010 and 2011. [10] He was a member of the board of directors at BASF Antwerp for almost a decade, where he headed the “Paints & Pigments” division of the BASF Group. From 2009 to 2019, Merz was chairman of Atlantik-Brücke [11] and from 2016 to 2020, he was chairman of the supervisory board of the German branch of asset manager BlackRock, for which he mediated relationships with important clients, authorities, and government agencies in Germany. [12] He was active in the Market Economy Foundation as a member of the Political Advisory Board of the Tax Code Commission. [13] In connection with his candidacy for the CDU party chairmanship, Merz ended his role as chairman of the supervisory board of Blackrock at the end of the first quarter of 2020.[14][15] At the 2021 CDU party conference, he lost a digital runoff election to his rival Armin Laschet. At the party conference on January 22, 2022, he was elected chairman of the CDU with 94.62% of the delegates’ votes. [16] On September 23, 2024, Merz was officially nominated as the CDU and CSU’s candidate for chancellor in the next federal election. [17]
[Translated from German | Source with source references]
The situation is pretty much identical in France. It should be noted that European Union was pretty much designed by the USA so its propensity to favor US positions and to fail to unite and thrive is by design.
Yes, I agree, but I currently see limited hope of reopening the issue in our interest. For the situation in Germany, however, there is actually a chance: the party name AfD illustrates that, it stands for Alternative for Germany. The main reason why people vote for this Neonazi party is this: they present themselves as an alternative to the corrupt, established parties, and they sell themselves well with the support of billionaires (Zuckerberg, Musk, an the like). Although this is just a facade for even more neoliberal, even more US-centric politics, the core of their success could be utilized: people long for different politics. This is where a European party could come in, a party that represents the interests of Europeans and their values - for example no more support for genocide in Palestin. This is, of course, just an example, and I am aware that there are already European parties, but I think they could actually be the alternative to US lobby politics that people apparently want, a real alternative to the usual nationalist politics that bring us nothing but lobbying and dependence on supposed but unscrupulous allies.
Interesting. I don’t know German politics and parties well. Here in France the far right has abandoned anti-eu positions much like Meloni in Italy. They try to appeal simultaneously to the french who are against EU (due to its weaknesses, corruption and anti democratic nature), and to the business and finance which is pro EU. It is contradictory but they act in favor of the latter and build the opposite image with the help of billionaire owned media.
Here’s the Grokipedia article:
Friedrich Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025 and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022.[1][2][3] Born in Brilon, North Rhine-Westphalia, to a family with judicial and political ties, Merz studied law at the universities of Bonn and Saarland, qualifying as a judge before entering private practice as an attorney specializing in corporate and mergers-and-acquisitions matters.[1][2] His professional career included senior roles at the international law firm Mayer Brown and chairmanship of the supervisory board at BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG, positions that underscored his expertise in finance and business regulation.[4][2] Merz joined the CDU as a teenager in 1972 and advanced through its ranks, serving as a Member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1994 and representing the Hochsauerlandkreis district in the Bundestag from 1994 to 2009, during which he led the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 2000 to 2002.[1][2] After departing electoral politics in 2009 to focus on corporate leadership, he re-entered in 2018, securing a Bundestag seat in 2021 and assuming CDU chairmanship amid the party’s post-election introspection, positioning it as a proponent of market-oriented reforms and transatlantic security cooperation.[3][2] Leading the CDU/CSU to a plurality in the 23 February 2025 snap federal election following the collapse of the prior coalition, Merz negotiated a governing alliance and was elected chancellor in a second parliamentary ballot on 6 May 2025—the first such instance in postwar German history after an initial failure to secure an absolute majority.[3][5][6] Merz’s tenure has emphasized fiscal discipline, bolstering NATO commitments, and addressing migration pressures through stricter enforcement, reflecting his long-standing conservative stance on economic competitiveness and rule-of-law priorities.[3][7]
Still 2 vs 1.
It’s 1v1v1.
As an American, someone please smash the USA cube into a million pieces
Guess who that someone is
I feel them same but also feel guilty advocating for it because I live in a food producing state with lots of clean water (for now) and we would probably fare better than a lot of places because of that.
I don’t want anyone to suffer but I also don’t know that there is a way through all that’s going on where suffering on a large scale isn’t inevitable.
UK resident here. So very many of is voted for Brexit. If we don’t succumb to Garages bullshit (as a nation), please accept us back into Europe. Cameron, Johnson and all their cronies are finally getting called out by many of those who voted to leave.
I had a look at some stats regarding how EU citizens perceive the EU. I found this recent EU survey which interestingly shows that EU citizens trust the EU more than they trust their national governments:
Also that link says that “74% say that, taking everything into account, their country has benefited from being a member of the EU”. So perhaps the EU will survive and strengthen, despite its critics like those in the Trump administration.
Ugh, I need more good stats like these. Thanks!
Soviet Union then. Been there, my parents starve, fuck this shit. If ever Europe gives up their countries sovereignty I am fucking moving out as fast as I can because there won’t be discussion if we want scan chat messages or not. Everything will be pushed against people who will mean nothing like they mean nothing in those two other countries. Go fuck yourself and your megalomania.
Why would you think that the European Union would be become like the USSR? It appears to be a frustrating bureaucracy at times, but I never got the impression that member states had to give up any significant amount of sovereignty.
That’s the WEF agenda. One tax system, one European army, one Europan country. Ein Reich. Name it like you want.
We have this in the US but the states have a significant amount of sovereignty in law making. Most laws are local. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying I don’t think it has to go down that route.
In all European countries I know laws are local too. The difference in European Union right now is that currently all countries need to agree to pass new law. EU parliament have no decision. It’s always consensus. That means discussion. Consensus is good. Drop discussion you will end up with big countries that pass the laws against smaller countries. Why ? Because number of people in EU parliament from your country is determined by your country population size. Look up table and amount of seats. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_European_Parliament_election You need just top 5 countries to get majority of votes.
That’s ironic, in a way, that there’s no Ukraine among those flags. Adding it would actually make the EU much stronger. A real life modern war experience (literally the most experienced country on the planet), plus the biggest country in Europe. With quite a large international community of emigrants (due to harsh historical circumstances). Plus experience filtering Russian propaganda, which is quite strong and influential (for those unaware).
Putin also knows how strong Europe would be with Ukraine, which is likely why he is so hell bent on destabilising the bloc and taking Ukraine for himself. The sad part is it seems to be working for him. Even if he doesn’t get Ukraine the way he hoped, the campaign to destabilise the bloc is worrying.
I agree that Ukraine would be a good addition to the EU (I hope that both the war and the EU join process will finish), but this meme is just about the EU not being a federation yet, so there’s no reason to add the Ukrainian flag now.
I’m not sure on the federation thing (I just don’t understand how it would work for the EU), but I’m 100% sure when Russia would become a set of independent states (and not a federation it pretends it is), global terrorism would just go incredibly less, within one day, literally. They contribute to global chaos quite a lot. Especially backed by PRC and the US (administration) being a Russian puppet.
What do you Mean? It won’t work without federalisation. With a federal EU, we would have a united military force, united economics, united international politics. Actually having a say in the global world as it is changing/collapsing. This is what canada, Mexico and australia is envy at us right now… We have the chance to be a 3rd superpower, instead of 27 sepperate nations, competing on who can suck trumps Dick the most.
With a federal EU, we would have
Even more centralized control by France and Germany. No thanks.
Nothing against better cooperation though.I think this is too easy to say. We can create our own federal system, thqt makes all countries have a vote. But ofc, the biggest communities/populations should count for more. I mean, wouldn’t be fair to compare 6 million People voting power (denmark) to 80mil+ germany. I seriously don’t see this as a problem. We have to be democratic about this, and trust the process.
the biggest communities/populations should count for more
Screwing over the smaller ones.
No thanks.
I’m kinda curious, why not?
I don’t challenge that point, all I mean is that I have no idea how this is going to work, meaning details of that. Europe is united already, isn’t it? With the exception of the Russian puppets like Orban or Fico. That’s why I see little actual difference. The EU is already the superpower, isn’t it?
No. Unlike the US or China, the EU is made up of very different countries. Some things can’t be fixed easily (i.e. different languages) but others can and should be (single military, unified laws, etc.)
I’m not quite sure where a federation would differ from what we already have? Would it be a unified codex of laws? Unified economy? Unified military?
I’m not convinced unified laws will ever work due to cultural and environmental differences. e.g. Sweden isn’t necessarily going to agree to Italy’s ideas on trafic laws, or incarceration methos.
If it’s a unified economy, how do we differentiate between the different needs? Do we all adobt Poland’s health care system? If we don’t, and just continues doing healthcare however we want, is it fair if Belgium needs more money per person for healthcare then Spain in the unified economy?
I can sorta see a unified military work, but that might very well just be because a complete lack of knowledge, and there may be some big differences around.
I think we are still way too different in culture to just accept anything more than what we have right now. It would just lead to massive divides like we see in USA, where massive cultural differences and differences in values are literally tearing the country apart.
They want what the US has. Each state has their own laws for things like traffic and healthcare, and the federal government is supposed to deal with issues that affect multiple or every state, like common defence and interstate commerce.
The US is a bunch of murican states glued together.
The EU is a bunch of very different countries glued together.
We are not the same.I don’t know if you are American, but the states are very different, economically and culturally. You can lump them together to form regions but they are essentially a few little countries stitched together.
That’s precisely what I meant. Thanks for putting that in words!
Yiu think the current veto system works?
So when the US trained and armed terrorists all over the world under every previous administration, was it still due to orders to the Kremlin? Or did the Kremlin order the Trump administration to do the thing we’ve been doing for a century?
Putin: Agent Trump, we need you to genocide Muslims, overthrow governments in South America, prepare for war with communists, and oppress brown people back home.
Trump: Don’t tell me how to do my fucking job.
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I want a Europe that is strong and stands for European values.
If the USA also follows those values we work together.
If they don’t, we can do it without them.
But only if we in Europe are united!
European values.
That’s a myth.
There may be baseline values like, dunno, humanity, other than that you can’t have broad common values east to west north to south, countries are too different.Removed by mod
I only just caught up on that. Absolutely disgusting. I continue to be deeply disappointed in current European leadership.
Vote Volt!
Different context, same judgement:
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I honestly don’t know how you can think Volt would support Trump’s illegal invasion of anything. Let me break it down piece by piece.
You call Volt centrist, others call it radical. Volt may not be a traditional socialist or liberal party, but they are definitely not centrist on:
- opposing fascism
- regulating big tech, big agri and big oil
- universal basic income
- making innovative startups succeed in Europe
- any progressive/conservative issues really
- making Europe strong and independent
Volt oppose the current increase in military spending, instead wanting a single big European Army instead of 27 small ones. Overall military spending in Europe was already OK, the reason we are not as strong as the US militarily is because 27 small armies are not the same as one big army.
I don’t know what your opinion on these topics is, but it seems evident to me that in order to stand up against the USA, Russia and China, we need to have a military deterrent. If you consider that, or supporting Ukraine, militaristic, then I don’t mind you calling me militaristic.
Volt has always opposed fascism in all its forms. AfD, Netanyahu, Trump, US Big Tech influence in Europe, etc. They will never support Trump illegally invading a sovereign country.
Are you confusing military alliance with unions? Isn’t US essentially a union?
Where are the strong political condemnations from the EU or economic sanctions to the US for the invasion of a foreign country?
Are you seriously asking why EU sides with US instead of Maduro regime?
So far I see only Russia, Iran and China defending Maduro.
Colombia and Brazil are defending Maduro.
And yes, I’m asking why Europe sides with the US in the glaringly illegal abduction of a foreign president
People (note that I’m saying people, not whatever authoritarian figure you simp for) are celebrating this, from Brazil, to Colombia, and in Venezuela. Get a grip.
Get a grip.
Get better sources.
Hahahaha Lula da Silva and Gustavo Petro, the democratically elected prime ministers of both countries, are authoritarian figures. Average European lmfao
Then maybe obviously I meant it as “authority”, not “dictatorship”? What people want versus what the higher ups want. Police is also authority. That word has multiple definitions my dude. Context matters.
Hmmm, why would it be Europe and two imperialist powers…is there…a commonality between them all? 🧐
Could you explain?
Oh, I thought it’d be clear sorry. The EU is imperialist like the entities it is being compared to here.
How is China imperialist?
Besides the subordination of other spaces groups to the benefit of a centralised system of power? Do you have any idea how many distinct cultures exist within Chinese borders, willingly or otherwise (Tibet and Hong Kong). The Belt and Road Initiative utilises capitalistic tactics to strategically acquire vital colonial assets and in particular here, reformulates colonial spaces toward its interests. 53 countries in Africa have developed infrastructure projects that are always oriented toward economic benefit to the metropole.
Imperialism is not “big guy invades small guy,” it is a system of power that disproportionately benefits a dominating group of people. Europeans rarely have to invade the countries they seek to colonize, they can simply secure their interests through selective investment and legal decision.
Second biggest economy in the world by GDP and PPP.
Yeahhhh, no…
so you want them to have more dogs
Yes, and smaller
27 dogs ranging from chihuahua to labrador vs 1 bear
trvke
Most eurolibs would happily allow European imperialism and justify it by arguing if they didn’t do it someone else would
ha ha
it’s true
Is this “European imperialism” in the room with us right now?
No but its in northern Africa and the Middle East, I have been to Palestine personally. Those starving children don’t care that a couple of EU members have strongly worded statements when the weapons flow freely.
I don’t care what eurolibs have to say, their actions speak significantly louder
It’s in every room in Africa. But they’re not white so the media ignores it.
We are white and they ignored us too. It’s not about races. It’s a random fact if you are black or tanned-skin. Basically, North of Mexico and South of the continent are full of white persons.
Colonialism doesn’t respect humans (no one).
Of course the very statement “in the room with us right now” clearly states the intent, that’s somewhere else to people of a different skin color so clearly it doesn’t matter. The average eurolib has no sympathy to the starving and oppressed of the global south.
In the past the eurolib argued that they were “civilizing” them with Christianity, that has not changed yet the justifications have (now its “women’s rights”, “democracy”, and “human rights”)
Yep, they love to just change the meanings of those words to suit themselves.
I would love for them to have more equality and protections for minorities of all kinds, but just enforcing that from our country or any other country is using political manipulation for a vague gain. If the shoe was on the other foot, they’d scream about election interference.
Well I would also love that too but butchering women wont make them more free, bombing hospitals doesn’t increase the sanctity of human life, burning children alive with Incendiary weapons wont teach them to love the west, installing dictators wont make them more democratic, and funding brutal civil wars doesn’t make minorities safer.
Eurolibs will insist only Americans did this but the records don’t lie, the EU was a participant and Eurolibs supported it
Sure? I saw fear. They are afraid of USA.
“Look someone had to rape every single brown person and steal their stuff. So why not Europe? They swore they don’t do that anymore.”
Oh yeah and we know they totally stopped after WW2, yup no neocolonialism or backing foreign military occupations. Just look at how Europe is treating the Palestinian occupation, they sent them unlimited weapons very strongly as an act of condemnation. Look their feelings are hurt and that’s close enough to real action.
China’s wet dream or what?
At this point, I’m so miserable, that I agree, and accept our new Chinese overlords. We lost the fight for humanity long ago, I at least want to live a bit.
Nope, the EU population is larger than the US, where we are lacking is in our military power.
And are ramping up, faster than I would have believed possible 5 years ago.
Then you deserve to feel Trump’s fury hit Europe. If you’re so full of yourselves regarding your power, let’s hope you don’t end up regretting it.
Trump’s fury
lol
You mean “Trump’s tantrum”
The US has lost many long term conflicts with less capable foes in the last decades.
They haven’t faced a foe with comparable tech and infrastructure since WWII.
It’s almost like people have forgotten history. Europe isn’t a newcomer, I just hope it won’t go to our heads, and that’s where being 27 countries together makes sense for me so hopefully only “good” things will come out of it all.
Mongolian were newcomers when they conquered China, Middle East, Europe and other regions.
OK so you are a evronationalist militarist, nice to know there are so many right-wingers on Lemmy now… ( ,⩌‘︿’⩌,)
Well, you kinda need military power, even if you don’t use it, you can’t expect countries to not attack you and just be diplomatic. Also, don’t accuse people of being [insert here ideology], it’s just childish and not better than attacking them
How many of those weapons are going to end up in Israel’s hands?
Weird strawman…
It’s not a “strawman.” I understand that most people on here don’t want the weapons going to Israel, which is why I made the point. But the reality is that, once a weapon is built, it’s in the hands of politicians to give to whoever they like. If those politicians are pro-Israel, then even if you want the weapons for the purpose of defense, there’s a significant likelihood they’ll be used to perform genocide.
It absolutely is a strawman, no one mentioned Israel in the discussion before you, it is also not a reason to stop increasing defense spending right now that we need to defend against Russia.
Well, you kinda need military power
First of all, no. The whole idea of globalization is that if you have economic entanglement the wars will not be profitable.
Also there are other ways of keeping military strength without having very big military see Switzerland and all guerrilla groups successfully repelling much bigger opponents like the US.
Also, don’t accuse people of being [insert here ideology], it’s just childish and not better than attacking them
I mostly agree, but the meme created does represent this ideology and you can attack problematic ideologies.
@JustJack23@slrpnk.net wrote:
Also there are other ways of keeping military strength without having very big military
You’re right! Europe can just defend itself with thougts and prayers. Why didn’t all the bureaucrats from Brussels think about this? Omg, you’re a genius!
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Good for them!
military strength without having very big military see Switzerland
Switzerland has mandatory military service. If you include reserves, it has a bigger military than Germany, Poland, or the UK. Not per capita, just straight up more people. If you only include active personnel it’s still comparable per capita to most European countries
Only out of necessity, Russia has shown that they are done playing the diplomatic game (though they have been playing it quite badly), the US has fully shat it’s pants and is rolling around in it and China has the carving knife ready for when Russia colapses, if Europe is to survive we need to federalize.
At an absolute minimum, we need to build a unified military under one leadership throughout the EU, military personal from the south must be expected to defend Europe in the north, and vice versa.
I don’t see this as being right-wing, I see it as it being a reality we need to face.
I’ll even share a detail about my general political views, out of all ideologies, I strongly believe that Social Democracy is the best, as it combined a strong government with a regulated free market.
Friend, you need to understand: USA could turn off your F-35.
Simply, you aren’t prepared for USA turning around.
No they can’t.
Sweden doesn’t have F-35’s.
Neither does France.
Europe as a whole also have plenty of Eurofighters.
The US hasn’t really fought any nation with comparable tech and infrastructure since WWII.
I don’t think they’ll have an easy time doing that.
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I am living in Sweden, I have done so for the last 38 year after being born.
I have witnessed the all of that.
I stand by what I said, including the part of regulated free markets which you didn’t bring up.
I absolutely disagree with how Socialdemokraterna moved away from the ideology of Social democracy.
However, this does not change my views of the ideology, only the politicians who has failed it.
Social democracy requires strong leaders who can withstand trends pulling in either direction.
“I’ve seen with my own eyes social democracy failing simultaneously everywhere in Europe and ruined millions of lives. However, I still support it”.
No, I have not seen social democracy failing, I have seen politicians failing to uphold social democracy.
bullies use arms, you need to defend yourselves
Ironic comment because almost all anti-EU people in Europe are far-right.
Really? How interesting…
Most people in the smaller EU countries are very keenly aware that without the power of the group to face the World’s large countries they would be nothing more than footballs for the big powers, same as before the EU.
It’s not by chance that the only country to ever leave was big-sized (in Europe terms, but mid-sized in World terms) one with nationalistic delusions of grandeur leftover from the time when they headed an Empire.
Hey guys, got a room for a Canada in there?
Bring the maple syrup.
It would be hard to build a railway tunnel there
Always do. Always do!
Why else do you think Putin and now his puppet wants it broken up?
Apes together strong
“Individually we are weak, like a single twig, but as a bundle we form a mighty removed!”
The Latin for “bundle” is fasces and this is the origin of the term “fascism”.
It’s also the root of the term myofascia, a type of muscle tissue. But that doesn’t make all motile organisms fascist.
Playing with semantics to prove a point is merely sophistry
Playing with semantics to prove a point is merely sophistry
I’m sorry you think I’m trying to make a point, I think it’s just fun word knowledge. In any case, fascism is populism, coopting language on symbols that have been used for centuries before. US symbolism is full of symbols of the fasces.
I see. I wasn’t sure if you were trying to say it’s fascism to band together, which it certainly isn’t. Fascists do band together, but the only way to defeat them is to band together as well. Fascists also eat food and drink water, but that doesn’t mean eating food and drinking water is inherently fascist.
Also, not all populism is fascistic. Fascism is right-wing, authoritarian, militaristic, nationalistic populism. If it’s missing any of those characteristics, it’s something else, although maybe still something bad. And most of those characteristics usually come together anyway, in a bundle. Typically also with reactionary sensationalism.
One can theoretically have a left-wing populism that’s pacifistic, cosmopolitan, and democratic (or perhaps anarcho-syndicalist). That would be an example of non-fascistic populism.
And yes, fascism does co-opt language and symbols, which is one of its biggest disgraces (though not its biggest atrocity). But that doesn’t make those language and symbols inherently fascistic. A Zen temple displaying the manji or a Hindu home with a swastika doesn’t make them nazis. That symbol belongs to those cultures, it was stolen (appropriated) by the fascists and corrupted into a symbol of hatred and violence, but that doesn’t erase the thousands of years of history and culture that that symbol has in the East.
Likewise, fascists were obsessed with ancient mythologies (Greek, Norse, etc.), even Hebrew mysticism, and appropriated a lot of symbols and concepts from those. But that doesn’t make those mythologies inherently fascist, and it’s entirely possible to have an interest in and study them while also abhoring everything fascism stands for.
People like to accept simplistic definitions of fascism, because it is difficult to define, but that does a disservice because they might overlook the essential components while fixating on auxiliary ones. That’s how people end up shunning someone for having an interest in ancient mythology, while simultaneously falling for the personality cult of a right-wing jingo-nationalist. It misses the point entirely.
A Fasces was also a symbol of Roman authority. Usually a bundle of twigs bound by metal rings used by soldiers to beat people.
Why are the cubes similar in size, that is very misleading.
In terms of GDP they’re roughly equivalent
