Europe has a higher industrial output than the US. In Unterlüß a town of 3500 people, Rheinmetall makes about 50% as many 155mm shells as the entire US makes annually. There's a reason your trust fund metaphor takes place in Brooklyn.
You might also want to remember that article 5 was invoked once, and it wasn't by Europe.
Uhhh it isn't Europe taking all its bad news out of its museums, friend. That's the good ol' U.S.A. attempting to hide from its own history.
> Europe is a 24-year old trust fund kid working in a vegan commune while living in a $2M Brooklyn apartment paid for by her dad who is an executive at Exxon.
What a very ... American analogy.
Kidding aside, if Europe is this hidden powerhouse as you claim, then its even more odd to be begging the Americans for defense support/leadership from across the Atlantic, and still be importing natural gas from the "evil" Russians while supposedly in a fight with them. Seems to undermine your point no?
If I'm wrong though, the irony that the European tech community has to resort to a US message board to voice their opinions, only serves to further underline my point.