Steve Powell

@HansMahncke Leftists have turned whining into an art form. It is as predictable as the sun rising in the east. It is also as trite, tiresome, and uninformed as a 2 year old crying for candy. The proper adult response is to simply say no, explain why, and hope they will grow up with time.

You conveniently avoided my point about Europe being more geographically vulnerable to the Soviet threat than the US. I’ll also remind you of the Soviet attempted blockade of Berlin broken by US air power. Not Europe. As for the economic question, you conveniently skipped decades of European dependence on US foreign aid suffering continual economic hardships and failure. As for purchases of US military hardware, our products were superior at a lower cost. As for Poland, you again conveniently skipped over decades of Euro economic failure to a newly minted free Poland (courtesy of a US victory of the Cold War) that adopted US style free market economic policies. But I strongly hope you try again.

@jspowell @johnkonrad The US benefited. For example, by selling a lot of military eq to Europe to this day. Wouldn't have recovered? Like Poland? Tariffs were about equal before Trump. In the EU everyone has to follow local regulations. US companies just have a hard time doing it. Don't try again.

NATO is in far bigger danger than anyone realizes. And the reason has nothing to do with defense budgets. The real danger is psychological. It’s cultural. Europeans didn’t just free-ride on American security for 80 years. They built an entire identity around the idea that they evolved past the Americans protecting them. That identity is now the single biggest obstacle to Western survival. And the darkest irony is: we helped build it. After World War II, Europe wasn’t just economically shattered. Its culture was in ruins. The cities, the universities, the concert halls, the museums. Rubble. The Marshall Plan rebuilt the economy. But culture wasn’t a priority. Not at first. Then the Iron Curtain dropped. And suddenly culture became a weapon. American diplomats, academics, artists & scholars flooded Western Europe. We funded their universities. Supported their orchestras. Rebuilt their museums. Promoted their intellectual life. Not because European culture needed saving for its own sake. Because Eastern Europeans were struggling for Maslow’s mist basic needs. We needed the view from the other side of that Wall to be intoxicating. So America built Western Europe into a showcase of self-actualization. Art. Philosophy. Cafe culture. Long vacations. Universities where people studied literature instead of surviving. We were manufacturing jealousy. And it worked. The Wall came down. But here’s what no one accounted for. When you give a society self-actualization on someone else’s tab long enough, they forget it was a gift. They start believing it was organically theirs. And when they look at the country that funded it all, a country busy building aircraft carriers and semiconductor fabs and shale fields instead of reaching the Maslow’s pinnacle. An overweight American in a ball cap who can’t tell Monet from Pissarro. Who eats fast food. Who drives a truck. Who builds strip malls instead of piazzas. And to a culture trained in aesthetics but stripped of strategic awareness, that American looks uncivilized. So the arrogance takes root. And once a culture decides another is beneath them, they stop listening. Americans say wars are sometimes necessary: crude. Oil is the backbone of prosperity: unsophisticated. Kids build companies in garages that reshape the planet: crass. Wall Street finances the global economy: vulgar. Europe has no world-class technology sector. No military capable of strong defense. No energy independence. No AI capacity. What Europe has is culture. The culture we paid for at the expense of us reaching Maslow’s pinnacle. For decades that was fine. We funded the museums, protected the sea lanes, and tolerated the sneering because the arrangement worked. Then Europeans stopped keeping the contempt private. They started saying it to our faces. In their media. In their parliaments. At every international forum. “Americans are stupid. Americans are violent. Americans are a threat to democracy.” We could have moved the Louvre to NY. We could have built a Venice here. We could have stolen your best artists, designers, philosophers and more… like your conquering armies did for centuries. Instead we funded them. And all we asked for in return was to let us visit. You don’t have the military to defend your borders. You don’t have the technology to compete. You don’t have the energy to heat your homes without begging dictators. What you have is an 80-year superiority complex FUNDED BY AMERICANS, protected by American soldiers, and built on the false belief that self-actualization is civilization. It isn’t. Civilization is the ability to sustain itself. By that measure, Europe isn’t a civilization at all. It’s a dependency with better wine. That’s not a threat. It’s a weather report. Build a Navy. Or don’t. But stop lecturing the people who made you “better than us” Our “crudeness” our “stunted liberal education” our “ugly strip malls” are because we sacrificed our culture to support yours.

Thanks. You have made my point in your reply. You wrote: “they were calculated US power projection to contain the Soviets and build markets.” Who benefited most from containing the Soviets? Europe sharing common borders or the US an ocean away. The remaining reference to building markets is a big stretch. At that time Europe, including the US allies literally didn’t have a pot to piss in and wouldn’t have recovered without importing goods to the US market. Americans purchased clothing, wine and especially autos critical to rebuilding the European economies. And how did the EU respond? Tariffs and regulations blocking sales of US products in the EU. They’re still doing it today. Try again.

@jspowell @johnkonrad I read it. It’s an emotional essay about "arrogance" with zero data. The Marshall Plan and NATO weren’t charity to fund European cafes; they were calculated US power projection to contain the Soviets and build markets. Still waiting for a single concrete fact from you.

@Michaliszyn10 @outofthebo74978 @darkgranitegrey @EdgarFelly @WallStreetMav How much does the Czech Republic contribute in comparison? Also, how many combat ready troops do you have stationed in other nations? Same for naval military vessels and aircraft.

@jspowell @outofthebo74978 @darkgranitegrey @EdgarFelly @WallStreetMav The US contributes ~16% of NATO common budgets. So, what is your point?

Los Angeles has a GDP of $1.3 trillion. Prague in the Czech Republic has a GDP of $120 billion. What went wrong?

@Real_WeGe @JoelTheDane @SarasvuoJari Now tell me how many active combat ready troops are stationed in countries other than their own.

@JoelTheDane @SarasvuoJari Idiotic stat. Does not really tell you anything relevant. GDP % 2025 Top 10 1 Poland 4.48% 2 Lithuania 4.00% 3 Latvia 3.73% 4 Estonia 3.38% 5 Norway 3.35% 6 Denmark 3.22% 7 United States 3.22% 8 Greece 2.85% 9 Finland 2.77% 10 Sweden 2.51%

NATO 2026 BUDGET CONTRIBUTIONS 1. Germany 🇩🇪 767,282,600€ 2. USA 🇺🇸 767,282,580€ 3. United Kingdom 🇬🇧 531,690,651€ 4. France 🇫🇷 520,086,609€ 5. Italy 🇮🇹 411,469,885€ 6. Canada 🇨🇦 338,983,229€ 7. Türkiye 🇹🇷 324,388,082€ 8. Spain 🇪🇸 297,473,292€ 9. Netherlands 🇳🇱 180,259,075€ 10. Poland 🇵🇱 174,076,087€ 11. Belgium 🇧🇪 106,650,111€ 12. Sweden 🇸🇪 101,867,433€ 13. Norway 🇳🇴 86,505,205€ 14. Romania 🇷🇴 82,875,724€ 15. Denmark 🇩🇰 66,257,334€ 16. Czechia 🇨🇿 59,842,677€ 17. Portugal 🇵🇹 55,090,888€ 18. Finland 🇫🇮 47,852,519€ 19. Greece 🇬🇷 47,507,590€ 20. Hungary 🇭🇺 44,315,706€ 21. Slovakia 🇸🇰 25,632,888€ 22. Bulgaria 🇧🇬 23,146,307€ 23. Croatia 🇭🇷 18,147,405€ 24. Lithuania 🇱🇹 15,475,489€ 25. Slovenia 🇸🇮 12,829,314€ 26. Latvia 🇱🇻 9,045,387€ 27. Luxembourg 🇱🇺 8,818,867€ 28. Estonia 🇪🇪 7,361,926€ 29. Albania 🇦🇱 5,575,501€ 30. Iceland 🇮🇸 4,370,822€ 31. North Macedonia 🇲🇰 4,175,190€ 32. Montenegro 🇲🇪 1,863,648€ #NATO

@maybe2good4u @WallStreetMav Tell me, specifically with facts, what you perceive to be the difference between your type of Republicans and MAGA Republicans.

@jspowell @WallStreetMav Yes. US citizen, GOP voter for 20+ yrs. But those were real Republicans, at the time, not the trailer idiotic MAGA cult.

@PStorkan @WallStreetMav Yes. They are primarily responsible for the intentional near destruction of our Republic. If you’d like specifics read more conservative post and text on this site.

@jspowell @WallStreetMav Then tell me, Steve, why Donnie blames Democrat for literally everything. Are they devils?

@JSParkAgain @WallStreetMav I don’t respond to these types of replies. It’s like trying to reason with with a squirrel.

@jspowell @WallStreetMav Steve. Steve. You are a dumb cunt.

@maybe2good4u @WallStreetMav But you lived in CA in the past ?

@jspowell @WallStreetMav No. I actually live in Prague.

@FFurkyfurk @WallStreetMav You don’t get away with an unsupported assertion about fear underlying Conservative policies. Do you have a source?

@jspowell @WallStreetMav Great idea! Here's 2025. Same deal. I'll remind you right wing America is driven by fear based psychology (due to being conservative). So, I'd argue that a fear of being slaughtered is compelling rhetoric when pressed with the use cases of other countries.

@maybe2good4u @WallStreetMav Since you live in CA, you know there are zero Republicans of any stripe running the once “Golden” State.

@jspowell @WallStreetMav No. It's actually the other way around. No dumb MAGA like rednecks in Prague.

@ErikSteef @JimboSlice470 @WallStreetMav Did someone mention communism? I don’t think I did.

@JimboSlice470 @jspowell @WallStreetMav Get some good education (hard to get these days in the US) and learn about communism. There is no communism in Western Europe.

@FFurkyfurk @WallStreetMav Your linked article is 6 years old. I prefer more current facts. You might consider using Grok. I find it helpful. And I’ll remind you that livestock usually live happy lives until being slaughtered.

@jspowell @WallStreetMav As much as they need to, I would assume. It is interesting how social democracy is demonized by many in America, but the countries that do it are faring better openculture.com/2020/12/the-un…

@FFurkyfurk @WallStreetMav Curious. What percentage of the Czech Republic is spent on defense?

@jspowell @WallStreetMav The Czech Republic provides universal healthcare, free or low-cost higher education, and extensive parental leave, which are often considered socialist or social-democratic policies in the U.S

@WesternLensman (Apologies in advance. This happens so often I now have a copy and paste response. It saves a lot of time.) Democrats will do or say ANYTHING to retain power.

In 2024, Chris Van Hollen was “absolutely confident" that Biden was fit to lead the country another four years.

@pepemcfrog420 @outofthebo74978 @darkgranitegrey @EdgarFelly @WallStreetMav Sorry to have confused you with facts. But I find them useful.

@jspowell @outofthebo74978 @darkgranitegrey @EdgarFelly @WallStreetMav You know nothing about the geopolitical in Europe and you’re asking grok to spoon feed you the information that you want. Shut the fuck up about my country and worry about your dictator of a president starting ww3 to cover the Epstein shit.

@bikerbutter Interesting idea. Sending post to yourself.

@jspowell @WallStreetMav Just putting this out there in hopes that it finds its right person.

@PStorkan @WallStreetMav Untrue. We have a federal system. Individual states are responsible for the administration of majority of social aid programs. This includes the state of California.

@jspowell @WallStreetMav There are no Democrats running the USA. And?

@outofthebo74978 @darkgranitegrey @EdgarFelly @WallStreetMav Ask Grok “What percentage of NATO funding is from the US and what is the annual amount in dollars?”

@jspowell @darkgranitegrey @EdgarFelly @WallStreetMav No they dont

@KrzysztofK1663 @darkgranitegrey @EdgarFelly @WallStreetMav Ask Grok “What percentage of NATO funding is from the US and what is the total annual amount in dollars?

@jspowell @darkgranitegrey @EdgarFelly @WallStreetMav Imbecile. No its other way around. Its nato allies paing for exmaple for equipment and maintance.

@KrzysztofK1663 @delanisko @WallStreetMav Do you pay for your own defense?

@delanisko @jspowell @WallStreetMav Yes it is. Do you have a healthcare and public uni?