• 13 Posts
  • 212 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 27th, 2023

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  • It is easy to say this when you are just a rando on the internet. But these politicians are responsible for the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Keeping the tariffs because a manchild is in charge of the most powerful country, would have had significant negative effects on those lives.

    The only thing we can do is pivot the EU away from the US, slowly, while building its military/IT capabilities. Trump(and the US) will suffer eventually. Treating the global economy like a shitcoin has severe long term consequences, consequences that will not be reversible for decades, if not centuries.

    But in order to do this while causing as little damage as possible to Europe, it will take time(at least a decade or two).


  • Crypto has shown us that valuation isnt connected in any way to reality, all you need is good vibes and belief. There are enough musk fanboys and musk has enough access to capital that if he wants, he can pump the stock to the moon.

    We are at end game capitalism, capital is consolidated to such a degree that the market is no longer a market, it is a casino. And the people with the capital are no longer participants in the market, THEY ARE THE MARKET. And the house never loses.

    Our only hope is them turning on each other but ultimately the endgame of capitalism is consolidation, not competition. Maybe if trump dies or becomes immensely unpopular, things will get interesting.






  • It is a little princessy(what stealth aircraft isnt) but it doesnt cost that much to run. It only requires specialized facilities.

    F-35 readiness is on par with other comparable planes and will only get better (superior to other fighters) the more infrastructure is built. You would be shocked if you saw the readiness levels of other planes but that doesnt sell.

    It is important to note that much of the bad reputation of the f-35 is because

    1. Outdated data from early development of the plane. The F-16(or any plane), the (currently) cheap, reliable and available workhorse had an even worse start.
    2. Because there is free press in the West, you hear about everything that goes wrong. This is not the case for planes from authoritarian countries.
    3. A lot of the misinformation comes and/or is amplified literally from enemy state propaganda.
    4. A lot of the issues of the F-35 are about the vertical takeoff variant(F-35B). Or about a new updated version(block) of the F-35 that is still in testing.
    5. “F-35 bad” is(though less so nowadays) an internet meme. I am still waiting for the internet to explain how this terrible fighter can do 20 to 1 kill ratio vs non stealth planes in exercises.

    Ask yourself why is the F-35 the best selling fighter. Why is noone buying F-15, F-18 or F-16. Those planes still sell but on much more limited quantities and mostly because F-35 production cant catch up with demand(or because not all american allies are allowed to buy the F-35).

    Now obviously if America is hostile to Europe, shit is gonna get really weird. While the Rafale and Gripen are capable planes, they cannot replace the F-35.

    Look what is happening in Ukraine. The air space is extremely hostile to non stealth planes. This is the kind of environment that the F-35 can fight in, though ideally you want B2 to bomb most antiair defenses. Non stealth aircraft can fight too but it is infinitely risker and with significantly reduced capabilities.

    The F-35 is the start of a new doctrine(for non american airforces), not just a plane.



  • Nuke capability is irrelevant for most countries(rafale has a nuke capable variant, though only for French nukes). Take a look at its operators

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II_operators

    Everyone who can get it(allied to the US), has already ordered it or will soon. The only exceptions are Sweden and France, who wanted to maintain some degree of strategic independence and not lose their jet fighter building capability. And Spain, though Spain was also kinda thinking of getting F-35 too(before Trump).

    Canada was like Sweden and France, they could manufacture capable planes. But this is immensely expensive. Thats why Canada(and most countries) stopped doing it. This is why the F-35 is cheap, economies of scale, and why countries are willing to wait 5+ years to get it(while rafale and Gripen are basically readily available).

    Europe wanted to coast through 5gen planes by using the F-35 while skipping ahead and developing, 2 completely different apparently, 6gen planes by 2040ish.