As Washington renews tariff threats, Europe is weighing retaliation. Hitting US services would hurt the US the most, but it comes with high risks. #EuropeNews
That’s nice that he knew. But here’s the thing: the quiet but very real strangehold major US monopolies have on everybody’s lives on Earth reached five-bell alarm levels decades ago, yet nobody seems to be even dimly aware of it.
I now live outside the US, and in all the countries I’ve lived in, I kept thinking “If I was this country’s leader, I would be alarmed that a single US tech monopoly can, at the push of a button, at the whim of their CEO or the US administration, effectively stop my country functioning normally.”
Worse, in many countries, the powers-that-be seem really proud to push the internet and promote online services for essential state services, healthcare, taxes and such. Yet all I see is those countries gleefully putting their collective heads into the US lion’s mouth without even realizing it.
Being more independent from US monopolies isn’t just a nice-to-have that has gotten a bit more pressing lately: it’s been an absolute emergency for decades, and nobody gives a flying fuck. This has always been utterly baffling to me.
That’s nice that he knew. But here’s the thing: the quiet but very real strangehold major US monopolies have on everybody’s lives on Earth reached five-bell alarm levels decades ago, yet nobody seems to be even dimly aware of it.
I now live outside the US, and in all the countries I’ve lived in, I kept thinking “If I was this country’s leader, I would be alarmed that a single US tech monopoly can, at the push of a button, at the whim of their CEO or the US administration, effectively stop my country functioning normally.”
Worse, in many countries, the powers-that-be seem really proud to push the internet and promote online services for essential state services, healthcare, taxes and such. Yet all I see is those countries gleefully putting their collective heads into the US lion’s mouth without even realizing it.
Being more independent from US monopolies isn’t just a nice-to-have that has gotten a bit more pressing lately: it’s been an absolute emergency for decades, and nobody gives a flying fuck. This has always been utterly baffling to me.