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This is precisely why the US loves to balkanize big countries.
Balkanize. Bulkanize would probably be the opposite :D Look at that bulky Euro cube!
That’s ironic, in a way, that there’s no Ukraine among those flags. Adding it would actually make the EU much stronger. A real life modern war experience (literally the most experienced country on the planet), plus the biggest country in Europe. With quite a large international community of emigrants (due to harsh historical circumstances). Plus experience filtering Russian propaganda, which is quite strong and influential (for those unaware).
Putin also knows how strong Europe would be with Ukraine, which is likely why he is so hell bent on destabilising the bloc and taking Ukraine for himself. The sad part is it seems to be working for him. Even if he doesn’t get Ukraine the way he hoped, the campaign to destabilise the bloc is worrying.
I agree that Ukraine would be a good addition to the EU (I hope that both the war and the EU join process will finish), but this meme is just about the EU not being a federation yet, so there’s no reason to add the Ukrainian flag now.
I’m not sure on the federation thing (I just don’t understand how it would work for the EU), but I’m 100% sure when Russia would become a set of independent states (and not a federation it pretends it is), global terrorism would just go incredibly less, within one day, literally. They contribute to global chaos quite a lot. Especially backed by PRC and the US (administration) being a Russian puppet.
What do you Mean? It won’t work without federalisation. With a federal EU, we would have a united military force, united economics, united international politics. Actually having a say in the global world as it is changing/collapsing. This is what canada, Mexico and australia is envy at us right now… We have the chance to be a 3rd superpower, instead of 27 sepperate nations, competing on who can suck trumps Dick the most.
I’m not quite sure where a federation would differ from what we already have? Would it be a unified codex of laws? Unified economy? Unified military?
I’m not convinced unified laws will ever work due to cultural and environmental differences. e.g. Sweden isn’t necessarily going to agree to Italy’s ideas on trafic laws, or incarceration methos.
If it’s a unified economy, how do we differentiate between the different needs? Do we all adobt Poland’s health care system? If we don’t, and just continues doing healthcare however we want, is it fair if Belgium needs more money per person for healthcare then Spain in the unified economy?
I can sorta see a unified military work, but that might very well just be because a complete lack of knowledge, and there may be some big differences around.
I think we are still way too different in culture to just accept anything more than what we have right now. It would just lead to massive divides like we see in USA, where massive cultural differences and differences in values are literally tearing the country apart.
That’s precisely what I meant. Thanks for putting that in words!
They want what the US has. Each state has their own laws for things like traffic and healthcare, and the federal government is supposed to deal with issues that affect multiple or every state, like common defence and interstate commerce.
The US is a bunch of murican states glued together.
The EU is a bunch of very different countries glued together.
We are not the same.I don’t know if you are American, but the states are very different, economically and culturally. You can lump them together to form regions but they are essentially a few little countries stitched together.
With a federal EU, we would have
Even more centralized control by France and Germany. No thanks.
Nothing against better cooperation though.I’m kinda curious, why not?
I don’t challenge that point, all I mean is that I have no idea how this is going to work, meaning details of that. Europe is united already, isn’t it? With the exception of the Russian puppets like Orban or Fico. That’s why I see little actual difference. The EU is already the superpower, isn’t it?
No. Unlike the US or China, the EU is made up of very different countries. Some things can’t be fixed easily (i.e. different languages) but others can and should be (single military, unified laws, etc.)
So when the US trained and armed terrorists all over the world under every previous administration, was it still due to orders to the Kremlin? Or did the Kremlin order the Trump administration to do the thing we’ve been doing for a century?
Putin: Agent Trump, we need you to genocide Muslims, overthrow governments in South America, prepare for war with communists, and oppress brown people back home.
Trump: Don’t tell me how to do my fucking job.
I had a look at some stats regarding how EU citizens perceive the EU. I found this recent EU survey which interestingly shows that EU citizens trust the EU more than they trust their national governments:
Also that link says that “74% say that, taking everything into account, their country has benefited from being a member of the EU”. So perhaps the EU will survive and strengthen, despite its critics like those in the Trump administration.
Ugh, I need more good stats like these. Thanks!
Most people in the smaller EU countries are very keenly aware that without the power of the group to face the World’s large countries they would be nothing more than footballs for the big powers, same as before the EU.
It’s not by chance that the only country to ever leave was big-sized (in Europe terms, but mid-sized in World terms) one with nationalistic delusions of grandeur leftover from the time when they headed an Empire.
Would you rather fight 27 country sized eu members or 1 eu sized country?
Do I get prep time?
I’d say “Questions Putin should have asked”, Trebek!
27
That’s why the US tries to deteriorate
A unified front is always stronger than piecemeal.
No it’s not. That’s why WW2 was different than WW1.
Ah yes, because WWII would have totally gone better if the Allies hadn’t been unified… /s
When nations are disunited, they can be picked apart one at a time by a hostile force. When they work together to form an alliance, they can present a stronger resistance to deter or repel the enemy’s invasion before it even reaches allied territory.
That’s why russia hates NATO so much. Putin can’t have Europe as long as European nations stand together in a strong defense coalition.
ohoh i’ve always wanted to say this
it’s the same picture/thing
yayayayayayayay
Why else do you think Putin and now his puppet wants it broken up?
Apes together strong
“Individually we are weak, like a single twig, but as a bundle we form a mighty removed!”
The Latin for “bundle” is fasces and this is the origin of the term “fascism”.
A Fasces was also a symbol of Roman authority. Usually a bundle of twigs bound by metal rings used by soldiers to beat people.
It’s also the root of the term myofascia, a type of muscle tissue. But that doesn’t make all motile organisms fascist.
Playing with semantics to prove a point is merely sophistry
Playing with semantics to prove a point is merely sophistry
I’m sorry you think I’m trying to make a point, I think it’s just fun word knowledge. In any case, fascism is populism, coopting language on symbols that have been used for centuries before. US symbolism is full of symbols of the fasces.
I see. I wasn’t sure if you were trying to say it’s fascism to band together, which it certainly isn’t. Fascists do band together, but the only way to defeat them is to band together as well. Fascists also eat food and drink water, but that doesn’t mean eating food and drinking water is inherently fascist.
Also, not all populism is fascistic. Fascism is right-wing, authoritarian, militaristic, nationalistic populism. If it’s missing any of those characteristics, it’s something else, although maybe still something bad. And most of those characteristics usually come together anyway, in a bundle. Typically also with reactionary sensationalism.
One can theoretically have a left-wing populism that’s pacifistic, cosmopolitan, and democratic (or perhaps anarcho-syndicalist). That would be an example of non-fascistic populism.
And yes, fascism does co-opt language and symbols, which is one of its biggest disgraces (though not its biggest atrocity). But that doesn’t make those language and symbols inherently fascistic. A Zen temple displaying the manji or a Hindu home with a swastika doesn’t make them nazis. That symbol belongs to those cultures, it was stolen (appropriated) by the fascists and corrupted into a symbol of hatred and violence, but that doesn’t erase the thousands of years of history and culture that that symbol has in the East.
Likewise, fascists were obsessed with ancient mythologies (Greek, Norse, etc.), even Hebrew mysticism, and appropriated a lot of symbols and concepts from those. But that doesn’t make those mythologies inherently fascist, and it’s entirely possible to have an interest in and study them while also abhoring everything fascism stands for.
People like to accept simplistic definitions of fascism, because it is difficult to define, but that does a disservice because they might overlook the essential components while fixating on auxiliary ones. That’s how people end up shunning someone for having an interest in ancient mythology, while simultaneously falling for the personality cult of a right-wing jingo-nationalist. It misses the point entirely.
Why else do you think Putin and now his puppet wants it broken up?
Putin would need a strong Europe to persist together against the US. The US needs a weak Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Chessboard
But in the meantime, it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus also of challenging America.
This “grand chessboard” is a game played by people who are too “powerful” to matter. fuck 'em and shoot 'em.
As an American, I want the US to be no more of a superpower than the EU, China, or Zimbabwe. We did this posturing in middle school. Has the whole world not evolved past that yet?!
We’ll be better served when we can be cooperative instead of competitive.
I approve of a strong EU. The more “players”, the less power each has, but also the less each has to gain or lose by being an asshole.
We just need a plan to unite without leaving room for a few idiots to get elected and wreck the whole thing,
Europe is a vassal state of the US, as we’re seeing with Venezuela now.
We even saw this with trade negotiations in 2025, where after Trump applied tariffs to the EU following the Big Bootycheeks Bill and the EU retaliated, that retaliation swiftly went away as Trump forced Europe to buy Americans’ food, technology, cars, and energy, to invest in US businesses, to loosen the EU’s policies towards good corporate governance and sustainable as it applies to US businesses doing trade in Europe, as well as an assortment of other actions.
So while you might believe that a United Europe can stand up to the US and China, you forget how much the EU relies on both of them. Yes, including China, which the EU would be smart to build ties with as the becomes more and more the 4th Reich.
If I want to purchase well made goods, I always look to Europe. The new watch band I got for Christmas came from a European maker (Watch-straps). The headphones I purchased last year came from Europe (Fairphone). The undershirts, underwear, and socks I bought last year all came from Europe (Dedicated).
Europe has some of the best policies in the world for fair trade and good economic production, sans socialism in China.
Just don’t forget where the EU sits on the global stage. It’s not on the same level as the US and China, two superpowers.
China isn’t socialist though, I’m sick of
both tankies and right wingersmany pretending that it is.Edit: being less of a dick about differing opinions.
Seriously, they do capitalism better than the west.
China isn’t socialist though
Just to be clear, we’re distinguishing between socialism and communism, right?
Communism being the end goal of socialism, which is a stateless, moneyless, classless, borderless society, one that only exists only after the entire world also becomes communist and snuffs out capitalism from every country on the planet.
China has a socialist market economy. Just because it has a market economy doesn’t mean that this doesn’t make it socialist. The public sector still dominates, as 24 out of the 25 largest corporations are state owned. There are other examples of socialist characteristics that I’m too lazy to post here.
Also, I’m not a tankie. All states are evil, but China is far less imperialistic that the US and Russia.
I’m not a tankie
Fair enough, I was being a bit obtuse with this one. Apologies.
China is far less imperialistic that the US and Russia.
Agree. Of the 3 China (at the moment) is the least imperialistic.
Just to be clear, we’re distinguishing between socialism and communism, right?
Nope. I mean what I said. The wealth inequality is massive, similar to the US. The work rights are pretty crap, similar to the US (maybe even worse, though I wouldn’t want to say that authoritatively)
Having a capitalist market economy is kinda antithetical socialism, no? Well, at least what they currently have, with the excessive wealth people have been allowed to amass, on the backs of the working class who have shared in a much, much smaller fraction of the wealth they have generated.
They have a lot of state owned and run companies, many of which don’t have the primary aim only to make a profit (love this), but this doesn’t change the fact that the class system is in full swing there, and is permitted by the government.
Pressuring officials and rich people to be less austentatious isn’t exactly taking away the power people have due to their excessive wealth.
It’s been decades, I think they’ve let enough people get rich first (though I disagree that this was necessary - the letting people get excessively wealthy part, not the reform in general), it’s about time they do SOMETHING to curb wealth inequality (they won’t though, because this would cause an uproar from the wealthy, as is the case in other countries)
They don’t have a true union movement, all unions must be part of the party. Strikes are done, but very rarely and in spite of the unions, and they are barely tolerated by the authorities. There is very little, if any, difference between how much workers there have a say in their workplace compared to other capitalist countries.
They don’t have meaningful power over government policy. That’s handed down from on-high from the party elite (yes, with some minor consultation). China is not democratic, and in my view socialism must have workers democracy, by definition, though perhaps some will disagree with this. (But to me saying the word socialism implies rule of the workers, and that is definitely not what is happening in China)
Hope that clears things up about my opinion, and thanks for not responding to my inflammatory comment with more of the same. Sorry for my candor on this one.
I think calling it a vassal state is a bit hyperbolic. Large powers such as the US or China can exert massive political force on any country, even each other. Sometimes it’s better to give up your lunch money than be forced to take out your card and empty your bank account. And because the US has traditionally been an ally of Europe, the two are well connected and thus have many contact points to be pressured in (Especially points that hurt, like defense). Points that the EU might want to keep quiet on until they can bear the pressure, especially since the US is currently led by a felon with the mind of a child that wages wars for tantrums.
The EU has kept it’s direction, which has always been further ahead of the US in terms like voting rights, healthcare, and life satisfaction, but the US has now taken a stark turn diverging from that path. Sure there are politicians in the EU that like to be US bootlickers, but even those are not a particular fan of what Trump is doing. We do have Hungary, and some others, but those are far too outnumbered to be considered to be making a vassal state out of Europe.
Europe definitely has the capacity to be a super power, but indeed we can only do it together. And lets not forget that China and the US also depend on Europe for a lot. If you look at trade, we are effectively equals.
Saying Europe is a US vassal state is a bit much lol. Europe is one of the biggest economic powers in the world together with the US and China. They all export and import a lot of wares between each other and thus depend on each other. The tariff deal the EU got with the US wasn’t that great and the leader of the European commission, Ursula von der Leyen, got some backlash because of that but I guess her tactic was to just appease Trump so they will have more time to transition away from the US in some areas. On the other hand that deal reduced some very annoying tariffs on steel and car parts, so it was partially successful.
transition away from the US
And transition to China 🙂
deleted by creator
If we have to pay the same price for being as big as China and the US, would it be worth it?
Having an elite that is beyond democratic control is not worth fighting for. We could as well join one of the big cubes.
We should try to strengthen democracy and freedom and find ways to succeed with that.
In a global capitalist order, you don’t get to strengthen your democracy without achieving a mostly independent economy first (or somewhat simultaneously.) One that produces the vast majority of the commodities your people need for their daily lives. If you don’t have that, you’d get subordinated by the large capitalist countries as they run out of value they can extract domestically or elsewhere. For example you’d get sanctioned into investing billions into their economy and buying from it at higher prices instead of investing that domestically. Then your democracy gets fucked because it doesn’t deliver the life improvements its subjects vote for.
This is why you need the union, as not a single European country is sufficiently self-sufficient. The union isn’t sufficiently self-sufficient either but it can get there faster and easier than individual countries. And it doesn’t have to develop an unaccountable elite. Mind you it already has one. The opposite, it has to … eat it … in order to make the job easier by stopping the siphoning and misallocation of resources needed for development.
I totally agree, but I don’t think that’s what is being proposed. There is more than one way to become the ‘big cube’, and we should seek for one that embodies the freedom and peace of Europe, not try to imitate that which has been tried unsuccessfully.
China & US have not paid the same price. I believe their paths aren’t required to reach your goal of strengthening democracy and freedom. The alternative appears to be the plight of Venezuela, however.
Well said.
As an American, someone please smash the USA cube into a million pieces
I feel them same but also feel guilty advocating for it because I live in a food producing state with lots of clean water (for now) and we would probably fare better than a lot of places because of that.
I don’t want anyone to suffer but I also don’t know that there is a way through all that’s going on where suffering on a large scale isn’t inevitable.
Guess who that someone is
Apes together strong!
Very reasonable, but unfortunately not feasible with the chancellor of my home country, Germany. Friedrich Merz is nothing but a US lobbyist and definitely not a representative of the people. How can we get rid of corrupt politicians like that? I fear that things will even get much worse in Germany soon, because the fascist AfD, which in my opinion is nothing more than a front for US billionaires, will probably be the strongest force in our country, since the same social media platforms are at work here as in the US - with the same owners. But first, here is an excerpt from the CV of the current German chancellor, which should illustrate what I mean:
Friedrich Merz (born November 11, 1955, in Brilon), tenth Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany since May 6, 2025, CDU federal chairman since 2022, former business lawyer and long-time top lobbyist, has held leadership positions in a number of companies and business-related interest groups and networks. [1] Until the end of 2021, Merz was vice president of the CDU’s business lobby group, the Economic Council, and a guest member of the presidium of the Small and Medium-Sized Business and Economic Union (MIT). In 2022, the MIT welcomed Merz’s election as CDU chairman and stated that he was the first chairman to be a member of the MIT.[4] Armin Peter, most recently deputy press spokesman for the Economic Council and press spokesman for the then Economic Council Vice President Merz, has been deputy spokesman for the CDU and personal press spokesman for Merz since February 2022.[5] [6] Merz continues to be a member of the following organizations: Founding member of the New York section of the CDU Economic Council,[7] lobby organization Society for the Study of Structural Policy Issues,[8] Ludwig Erhard Foundation network, which brings together lobbyists and top politicians. Merz worked as senior counsel for the law firm Mayer Brown LLP until the end of 2021; prior to that, he was a partner for nine years.[9] During his time at Mayer Brown, he advised clients on corporate law, M&A transactions, compliance, and banking and finance law. According to research by CORRECTIV, he represented BASF as a lawyer on several occasions in 2010 and 2011. [10] He was a member of the board of directors at BASF Antwerp for almost a decade, where he headed the “Paints & Pigments” division of the BASF Group. From 2009 to 2019, Merz was chairman of Atlantik-Brücke [11] and from 2016 to 2020, he was chairman of the supervisory board of the German branch of asset manager BlackRock, for which he mediated relationships with important clients, authorities, and government agencies in Germany. [12] He was active in the Market Economy Foundation as a member of the Political Advisory Board of the Tax Code Commission. [13] In connection with his candidacy for the CDU party chairmanship, Merz ended his role as chairman of the supervisory board of Blackrock at the end of the first quarter of 2020.[14][15] At the 2021 CDU party conference, he lost a digital runoff election to his rival Armin Laschet. At the party conference on January 22, 2022, he was elected chairman of the CDU with 94.62% of the delegates’ votes. [16] On September 23, 2024, Merz was officially nominated as the CDU and CSU’s candidate for chancellor in the next federal election. [17]
[Translated from German | Source with source references]
Here’s the Grokipedia article:
Friedrich Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025 and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022.[1][2][3] Born in Brilon, North Rhine-Westphalia, to a family with judicial and political ties, Merz studied law at the universities of Bonn and Saarland, qualifying as a judge before entering private practice as an attorney specializing in corporate and mergers-and-acquisitions matters.[1][2] His professional career included senior roles at the international law firm Mayer Brown and chairmanship of the supervisory board at BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG, positions that underscored his expertise in finance and business regulation.[4][2] Merz joined the CDU as a teenager in 1972 and advanced through its ranks, serving as a Member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1994 and representing the Hochsauerlandkreis district in the Bundestag from 1994 to 2009, during which he led the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 2000 to 2002.[1][2] After departing electoral politics in 2009 to focus on corporate leadership, he re-entered in 2018, securing a Bundestag seat in 2021 and assuming CDU chairmanship amid the party’s post-election introspection, positioning it as a proponent of market-oriented reforms and transatlantic security cooperation.[3][2] Leading the CDU/CSU to a plurality in the 23 February 2025 snap federal election following the collapse of the prior coalition, Merz negotiated a governing alliance and was elected chancellor in a second parliamentary ballot on 6 May 2025—the first such instance in postwar German history after an initial failure to secure an absolute majority.[3][5][6] Merz’s tenure has emphasized fiscal discipline, bolstering NATO commitments, and addressing migration pressures through stricter enforcement, reflecting his long-standing conservative stance on economic competitiveness and rule-of-law priorities.[3][7]
The situation is pretty much identical in France. It should be noted that European Union was pretty much designed by the USA so its propensity to favor US positions and to fail to unite and thrive is by design.
Yes, I agree, but I currently see limited hope of reopening the issue in our interest. For the situation in Germany, however, there is actually a chance: the party name AfD illustrates that, it stands for Alternative for Germany. The main reason why people vote for this Neonazi party is this: they present themselves as an alternative to the corrupt, established parties, and they sell themselves well with the support of billionaires (Zuckerberg, Musk, an the like). Although this is just a facade for even more neoliberal, even more US-centric politics, the core of their success could be utilized: people long for different politics. This is where a European party could come in, a party that represents the interests of Europeans and their values - for example no more support for genocide in Palestin. This is, of course, just an example, and I am aware that there are already European parties, but I think they could actually be the alternative to US lobby politics that people apparently want, a real alternative to the usual nationalist politics that bring us nothing but lobbying and dependence on supposed but unscrupulous allies.
Interesting. I don’t know German politics and parties well. Here in France the far right has abandoned anti-eu positions much like Meloni in Italy. They try to appeal simultaneously to the french who are against EU (due to its weaknesses, corruption and anti democratic nature), and to the business and finance which is pro EU. It is contradictory but they act in favor of the latter and build the opposite image with the help of billionaire owned media.
Hey guys, got a room for a Canada in there?
Bring the maple syrup.
Always do. Always do!
It would be hard to build a railway tunnel there
Nice picture. Thank you, Sunshine.
To further drive the point home, it could have the US and China kicking around and crushing the little countries in the top half.Second biggest economy in the world by GDP and PPP.
Why are the cubes similar in size, that is very misleading.
In terms of GDP they’re roughly equivalent
