• plyth ( plyth@feddit.org ) Banned from community
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      10 months ago

      Why would US billionaires hand over control of their country to Russia? They can’t be that incompetent and elections are not free enough that it could happen against their will.

      It’s not coincidence, but I doubt the Russian influence.

      • floofloof ( floofloof@lemmy.ca ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        10 months ago

        They can’t be that incompetent

        Have you seen these billionaires? They absolutely can. The myth of their competence is pure propaganda.

        Also, they like corruption because it offers many opportunities for those with enough money to pay. And they like oppression of workers because it provides a ready pool of cheap labour to exploit.

        They’ll be looking at Russia and liking what they see, because they don’t see themselves being the ones working for pennies and being sent to die in Ukraine. And they all think they’re the smartest guy in the world (“why else would I have so much money?”) so they don’t see themselves being fucked over by Putin either. For them Russia is the promise of doing whatever you want, taking advantage of whomever you want, and getting whatever you want.

        • plyth ( plyth@feddit.org ) Banned from community
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          10 months ago

          Have you seen these billionaires

          Only videos, but they don’t seem to be stupid.

          They’ll be looking at Russia and liking what they see

          Even if they do, why hand over the country? They control the US.

          For them Russia is the promise of doing whatever you want, taking advantage of whomever you want, and getting whatever you want.

          What can’t be done in the US?

          • CileTheSane ( CileTheSane@lemmy.ca ) 
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            10 months ago

            Only videos, but they don’t seem to be stupid.

            Elon Musk and Donald Trump have proven that intelligence, competence, and charisma are not important factors in someone becoming obscenely wealthy.

                • plyth ( plyth@feddit.org ) Banned from community
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  10 months ago

                  Some are, but without hard evidence I don’t believe that they knowingly have let a Russian asset come to power who hands over the US to Russia.

                  Other things are happening and Trump’s Russia connections are a distraction.

    • Hirom ( Hirom@beehaw.org ) 
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      10 months ago

      Hungary leaving the EU may not be the best outcome. I fear they would become like Belarus, a proxy for Russia’s hybrid warfare, for instance weaponizing migrants to cause havoc at the border, allow them to operate jammer and drone operation from their terrirory.

    • zehnkirchen ( zehnkirchen@feddit.org ) 
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      10 months ago

      I guess the majority of eu citizens hate hungarians by now. what a douche country. i wonder what drives these small dick energy countries forward. look at serbia. same small dick energy like “oh we hate diversity. lets get butt fucked by russia” instead of growing their own balls.

      so yeah, fuck the hungarians!

        • Aceticon ( Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          10 months ago

          My only problem with Hungarians is that they keep re-electing Orban, and even then I understand that given his control of the Press over there, most who do it are just being daily brainwashed to do it.

          That said, a Hungary Leave might just be the jolt that’s needed to change things there (and it would isolate the rest of us from their problems plus would seriously dampen the prospects of any Orban-similar far-right in the rest of Eastern Europe), though there is a risk for Hungarian that the place turns into a hard autocracy controlled by Russia like Belarus and thus can’t actually get back to Democracy for at least several decades.

            • Aceticon ( Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              10 months ago

              Well, since I don’t know enough in that front, I didn’t mention it either way and hoped for somebody more familiar with it to comment!

              That said, the “it will give Hungarians a jolt” theory still applies, tough in this case is for more “assertive” actions than merelly voting differently (which in a situation were elections aren’t “free and fair” would be their only option to stop autocracy, even inside the EU) which does have a greater risk of things just getting worse (or maybe not: theoretically the end of money from the EU and of easy access to the EU should push the Hungarian Elites which are “fine with a little autocracy as long as we keep making money” to turn against Orban).

              • dubyakay ( dubyakay@lemmy.ca ) 
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                7
                ·
                10 months ago

                There are tons of protests.

                What’s your beef here? Some personal vendetta against Hungarians? You missed out on cheap Lake side property around Balaton or something?

  • Zwuzelmaus ( Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org ) 
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    16
    ·
    10 months ago

    Poland, Hungary. Could he really imagine that they would ever serve HIM? (and not his boss in the east)

    Austria LOL. Delusional. They dream of the swiss way.

    Italy. They may be right wing, but never that stupid.

      • cnstvr ( cnstvr@leminal.space ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        10 months ago

        I agree, the stupidity of some people can be shocking. Just look at brexit. In Poland there are some minor voices for polexit, but for now it is ridiculed by majority. In 10-15 years imho it can change, since thanks to disinformation campaign done by russia we see that many people changed their opinion about Ukraine. It’s heartbreaking.

      • Valmond ( Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        10 months ago

        Americans were only portrayed as strong and smart, like soviets socialism realism art movement portrayed soviets as strong and hard working “good” people. Nice propaganda eh.

        I mean we all grew up with those badass americans in movies and books, a huge bias IMO.

        Europeans have a huge cultural edge here IMO but I’m biased on that front ofc. We’ll see, interesting times…

  • Aceticon ( Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    That would be great!

    Let’s start with kicking out saddly (*sniff *, *sniff*) having to see the departure of Hungary.

    I mean, just look at Brexit: one side got seriously fucked up (instant fall of 20% of their currency and slowly dropping further behind economically ever since - the dream of a Economic Powerhouse Britain are gone and burried now: just ask even the most rabid Brexiter to list their Brexit Dividends) whilst the other basically just went over a small speed bump. I’ll leave it as an exercise for the readers which side got which consequences.

    PS: That said, having seen the consequences of Brexit is exactly why no EU nation is likely to ever take Donald on this - after that shit show the far-right in Europe went really silent really fast on the whole “we must leave the EU” they were so loudly demanding just a few months before.

    PPS: Also as a person from a small EU country, lets just say we’re very much aware of just how the big boys would fuck us up if we left the safety of the pack - unlike in Delusions Of Grandeur Britain the public opinion in little nations doesn’t want a return to the way things were in 70s when they were the “punching bag of the big boys”. Meanwhile the larger EU countries - which are all merelly mid-sized in World terms - after having seen what happened to Britain post-Brexit know with absolute certainty they have far greater influence being in the EU than they would outside, which is why even Italy with a well entrenched far-right government hasn’t distanced itself an inch away from the EU. Only some totally out of control shit-show of a nation in the thrall of the nuttiest of nutter far-right would even just consider this and, frankly, them leaving the EU would be great for the rest (not least because, as it happenned with Brexit, it would at least temporarilly dampen the far-right in all the other countries)

    • deHaga ( deHaga@feddit.uk ) 
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      10 months ago

      UK is doing just as badly as the rest of Europe.

      The actual benefit is being out of the environmental disaster that is the Common Agriculture Policy.

      • Aceticon ( Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Actually Britain is doing 6 to 8% worse that the rest of the EU and that’s just in reduced Economic Growth.

        Its influence in international affairs has also fallen steeply - one thing is to be a mid-sized country with a significant ability to move a block of 540 million people, a whole different thing is to be just another mid-sized country.

        Having lived there at the time, I keenly remember how Britain was supposed to become once again an Economic Powerhouse (with Return To Past Greatness implied, rather than openly stated as in the US). Such fanciful bollocks is now well dead and burried.

        • deHaga ( deHaga@feddit.uk ) 
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          Actually Britain is doing 6 to 8% worse that the rest of the EU and that’s just in reduced Economic Growth.

          Actually it isn’t. You’re talking about synthetic counter factual models which are bullshit

          Compare the UK against it’s actual doppelgangers, France and Germany, and we are all very much in the same boat. No growth and lots of debt.

          The UK’s systematic productivity problems all occurred while in the EU, not after it left.

          And no our soft power hasn’t been hurt at all https://brandfinance.com/insights/global-soft-power-index-2025-the-shifting-balance-of-global-soft-power

          The UK is now free to regulate under common law, not the innovation smothering, precautionary principled yawn fest that is Roman civil law

          • Aceticon ( Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            10 months ago

            Sure mate, the Brexit Dividend Is Just Around The Corner And Will Begin At Any Moment Now and The Fall Of The British Pound Just Makes Britain More Competitive.

            Meanwhile in the real World back in 2016 you could get 1 EUR for 0.7 GBP and now it costs 0.87 GBP so the World thinks everything Britain is worth 24% - British inflation hasnt been higher than Euro Zone inflation so the fall in the GBP hasn’t been offset by an increase in GBP valuations - and my old savings when I lived and worked in Britain (which were transfered out of the GBP just before the Leave Referendum results) are worth 24% more in EUR than they would if they stayed in GBP (purely from betting against the British Pound, not counting actual investment returns since).

            Mind you, Europe is fucked. It’s just that Britain is even more fucked. It’s like most countries in the EU doing some stupid post 2008 Crash shit that fucks them up and Britain going “Hold my beer!”

            • deHaga ( deHaga@feddit.uk ) 
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              10 months ago

              Lol, the fall in the pound made our services exports even more competitive.

              Come back when you’ve learned something beyond the headlines

              • Aceticon ( Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                4
                ·
                10 months ago

                That “strangely” specific metric you quote conveniently forgets the trade balance in goods which more than offsets services so now with a currency which is 24% weaker - which makes everything Britain worth less and supposedly is better for trade - the UK’s total trade balance is actually worse than in 2016 (source)

                I see that the Brexiter tendency to blindly believe in self-congratulating nationalistic Sun newspaper headlines and not actually googling for easilly available economic figures has remained unchanged in the last decade.

                Good old Brexiter cherry-picking is alive and well.

                Also it’s hilarious that you pretty much parroted my “The Fall Of The British Pound Just Makes Britain More Competitive” charicatural Brexiter line based on actual Leave Campaign bollocks. Our exchange reminds me of the old days!

                • deHaga ( deHaga@feddit.uk ) 
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  10 months ago

                  Yawn, UK goods exports to the EU has been in decline for decades. 0.29% of UK companies stopped exporting to the EU. Big fucking deal.

                  Meanwhile services are up 75% since 2016.

                  What would you rather have? Polluting high carbon goods trade or high margin low carbon services?

                  As I said, the benefit was leaving the CAP. If you knew anything about it, like it takes the largest slice of the budget, is subject to political capture by wealthy landowners, and has destroyed our environment with terrible incentives.

                  If you actually understood the impact currency changes have you wouldn’t post this tripe In a Weird Trump Initial Caps Style That Makes You Sound Like A Retard

  • SabinStargem ( SabinStargem@lemmy.today ) 
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    10 months ago

    Maybe a sort of psuedo-Brexit approach would be best when it comes to Hungary? Specifically…

    1: Hungary effectively leaves the EU in nearly all ways.

    2: Hungarians still have free movement, so people can leave Hungary and seek a better life in the EU.

    This allows the more libre people and youth of Hungary to leave, while the conservative elements instinctively shelter in place. Plus, Hungarians who go back, will relate their outsider lives to Hungarians who stayed. In effect, the disparity in lifestyle and wealth will become increasingly obvious with every Christmas gathering. Given time, the remaining Hungarians will ask themselves “Why don’t we live good lives?” and start looking at Orban with contempt for mismanaging their nation.

    Toss in a provision to allow the EU to vote on whether to let Hungary resume being a full member every ten years, and maybe an optional special vote after a regime change. This gives a lot of flexibility to the EU.


    Whether this kind of approach can work…🤷‍♂️

    World’s complicated and annoyingly random.