this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2024
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[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone -3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There’s not much point to a military alliance if they don’t have the stuff to military properly.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The whole point is to make the vassals dependent on the US militarily which allows the US to control the politics of these countries.

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone -4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I guess that’s why the US has been pestering us to spend more on defense all these years.

But let’s not let reality get in the way of a nice conspiracy theory.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If the US actually wanted you to spend on defense then you'd be spending. It's that simple. Libs not being able to distinguish between what's actually happening and what's being said to them will never cease to be amazing.

The reality is that Europe hasn't been spending and the US has been fine with it. And in fact, when Trump started making noises about forcing Europe to spend, that's when the hysteria started in the US.

But let's not let reality get in the way of nice liberal fantasies.

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Of course, there comes the double reverse conspiracy theory.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The only conspiracies are the ones in your head. I'm literally just describing the events that happened in the real world.

[–] SaltySalamander@fedia.io -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The only conspiracies are the ones in your head

The irony actually hurts

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 2 points 17 hours ago

a self referential comment if I ever saw one

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That seems rather at odds with the opening paragraph of the article, which is explicitly saying NATO wants Canada to have better domestic production and planning

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Skua@kbin.earth 0 points 1 day ago (2 children)

If Canada were to increase domestic military production, how would that make it more dependent on the US in your view?

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone -5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Because it’s a smoke screen to hide the fact that really don’t!!! WAKE UP SHEEPLE!!!!

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

are you ok there little buddy?

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone -4 points 1 day ago

I will be all better in two seconds.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Canada is not exactly going to be breaking away from the US regardless how much military production it does. The countries that might get ideas of becoming independent are in Europe, and as long as Europe doesn't have a serious military industry of its own it will stay dependent on NATO which is run by the US.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 2 points 1 day ago (3 children)

If NATO was disbanded tomorrow, Canada would still have to work with the fact that its neighbour is a lot bigger than it. It seems to me that even if it cannot meaningfully escape American influence altogether, at least not for so long as America has as much power as it does, there are still always degrees of independence. So how is NATO wanting an increase in Canadian domestic military production a move to make Canada more dependent on the US? Or, if in your view it makes no difference whatsoever, how is this request relevant to it at all?

[–] stringere@sh.itjust.works -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Canada would still have to work with the fact that its neighbour is a lot bigger than it.

Canada occupies a total area of about 3,855,100 sq miles making it the second biggest nation in the world while the United States occupies an area of approximately 3,796,742 sq miles.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 1 points 1 day ago

By "bigger" here I should have more explicitly made clear that I meant in population and economic terms. A bunch of largely empty land is not that significant in regards to the international balance of power in North America.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's my whole point, Canada is already entirely dependent on the US. That can't change because Canada has a far smaller population than the US or Russia. No other countries are in a position to threaten Canada. The point isn't to make Canada more dependent on the US, the point is to keep Europe dependent on the US as I've already explained in the previous reply and you ignored.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I ignored the part about Europe because the position of "NATO exists to keep Europe dependent on the US" is just as much at odds with the article's opening of "NATO says it wants its members to develop national plans to bolster the capacity of their individual defence industry sectors" as it was when it was about Canada.

You said "The whole point is to make the vassals dependent on the US militarily which allows the US to control the politics of these countries." I don't think it's unreasonable for me to be asking about how this relates to Canada when you said "these countries" on an article that is primarily about Canada, and you're now saying "The point isn't to make Canada more dependent on the US"

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And now I've clarified for you specifically what I meant. The original comment I was replying to was asking how a military alliance could function when all members aren't pitching in. And I've explained what that translates to in practice. If you have hard time understanding that, then I really can't help you further.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This only leads us back to my initial question. If the point of NATO is to keep the smaller members dependent on the US, why do you think NATO is asking the smaller members to increase domestic production? If you think that any Canadian effort can only possibly be inconsequential, fine, that's a matter of opinion, but according to you that is not necessarily the case for Europe (or at least, some European countries). So is NATO intentionally undermining its own purpose by doing this?

[–] GarbageShootAlt2@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I think the simple answer is that the state of relative demilitarization the US has kept its subjects in is good for cultivating power when the first world has definite peace (and how could it not be, with all the US military bases in those countries?), but now that that peace is crumbling, NATO is forced to militarize more of its countries to deter/attack its enemies. That is, at least, an interpretation consistent with the headline and what Yog is saying, I think.

[–] yogthos@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

Yup, that's what I think is happening. Now that the US can't shoulder the entire burden of the MIC for NATO, the other members need to start pitching in.