• TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    66·
    7 days ago

    What’s the point of him saying anything? What will it achieve?

    It won’t benefit the UK, the people that dislike him will still dislike him, and it won’t make the US return the dictator to Venezuela.

    All it would do is prompt the orange baby to economically cripple the UK in childish retaliation. That means mass unemployment. It means failing public services. It means worse job prospects. It means a worse life for all of us.

    I may not like it, but diplomacy is about picking your battles, and this one is a stupid hill to die on. There’s a reason virtually no leader has kicked off about this.

    The pragmatic thing to do is keep quiet about the US while simultaneously quietly building a closer relationship with Europe so that in the future we’re less affected by US bullshit, and that seems to be exactly what Starmer is doing.

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        32·
        7 days ago

        I’d like that too. I wish the world could all tell Trump to fuck off to a retirement home prison where he belongs.

        But the pragmatic part of me thinks like how I’ve already expressed above. I’ve seen multiple recessions, and it’s always the normal people that get hit hardest and recover slowest. The UK getting into a spat with the US over Venezuela isn’t worth that - particularly not when there’s no way our words will have any impact anyway.

        One of the many examples of realpolitik getting in the way of doing the most righteous thing.

    • HermitBee@feddit.uk
      6·
      7 days ago

      The pragmatic thing to do is keep quiet about the US while simultaneously quietly building a closer relationship with Europe so that in the future we’re less affected by US bullshit, and that seems to be exactly what Starmer is doing.

      The trouble is that if no-one does anything, the US will absolutely take Greenland. They are so dependent upon oil that anyone who keeps oil prices down will keep power. And as they’ve said, no-one will stand up to them militarily.

      My bet is 14 June 2026, Trump’s 80th birthday. Happy Birthday Mr President, we took Greenland for you.

      So I’m not sure. I think the pragmatic/cynical (take your pick) thing to do may indeed be to appease Trump and let someone else deal with him. But if everyone takes that view then things could get much worse than retaliatory US tariffs.