E.U. Prepares Major Penalties Against X

This would turn out very interestingly, because Elon Musk enjoys a level of access to the US executive branch that other companies only dream of. The fury and retribution from POTUS would be terrible, if the company of his close friend was fined by his mortal enemies

Mortal enemies? That's a bit dramatic. Whether Trump understands it or not, the EU is his ally and Russia his an example of an "enemy" (i.e. geopolitical competitor).

We're ready for a fight.

> Elon Musk enjoys a level of access to the US executive branch that other companies only dream of

In short, he's an oligarch. Over here we don't react kindly to that level of political corruption.

Yeah, if they’re not careful, he might slap them with tariffs and threaten to take some of their territory.

> An actual fight showed up at their doorstep and they were too addicted to their fossil fuels

As an American that doesn't sound too unfamiliar to me either. Remember "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq?

That's cute.

Spreading Russian conspiracy theories now?

Musk is not Trump's "close friend". He is someone who holds him by the balls with some iron-clad leverage.

Germany/Europe are just the same kind of capitalist societies as anywhere else. If somebody is offering to sell you stuff for cheaper than another you most likely will buy unless other aspects override the advantage.

Germany enjoyed at least 10 years of cheap Gas. Politicians believed it would help Russia become integrated and dependent on the money flowing.

Putin was more crazy than we thought.

Which makes it so weird to watch Trump being so subservient to Putin.

Nothing wrong with buying the gas for cheaper. But when the guy literally invades, and they sat there with their thumbs up their bums, I think it isn’t that convincing that they’re “ready to fight”.

And yes, Trump is ruining America without a doubt.

Nah Putin is exactly the guy we’ve been saying he was for literally decades. Wishful thinking from Merkel is not an excuse.

> He is someone who holds him by the balls with some iron-clad leverage

What leverage? Musk is a useful, rich idiot who is serving as a heat shield and distraction while the GOP blows out our deficit.

Problem solved. We now produce more oil than anyone else. Germany isn’t going to get there. They can’t make nuclear at the national level and they can’t do wind at the state level. Leaves solar in a country with less insolation than New England.

Trump doesn’t strike me as loyal to anyone. Including Musk, he could just stop taking his calls one day and he would just be fine.

No we're not. Our military and our economy is a shadow of US.

We could be ready to fight if we got rid of dumb politicians and endless bureaucracy, but in current state without US we are nothing.

Europe is full of oligarchs, and has less class mobility than the US. The history of Europe is a history of oligarchs throwing peasants at each other.

A middle-class lifestyle when one doesn't have to spend on the military might fool you into thinking that Europe is egalitarian (everybody looks healthy), and looking egalitarian can look like a lack of corruption if your glasses are dirty. Meanwhile, there are families that have been controlling that continent for hundreds of years.

The funny thing about the European rearmament bluff is that any weapons bought by Europe are eventually going to be aimed at other Europeans. It isn't that Europe needs to defend itself from the outside, it's that Europeans need to be protected from each other.

> and has less class mobility than the US.

So, interestingly, this is something that Americans tend to believe, and that Europeans tend to believe, but it is empirically not true.

Americans in the bottom income quintile are less likely to make it to the top quintile than people in the major European economies, but they are more likely to _believe_ that they can: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/02/14/american...

With Musk upstaging Trump in White House interviews, you'd expect him to be ejected long time ago. Hence the existence of the leverage. Something on the level of helping Trump rig the election. That sort of leverage that would completely destroy Trump if it ever goes public.