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@Greyparrot
Even if you don't see that world police policies lead to serious long term problems, you have to admit that today NATO is a huge financial liability for America right now
I do admit that several of the NATO members aren't paying as much as they should so the US has to pay more than its fair share, but NATO is worth it.
and has enabled EU countries from taking much needed local responsibility in places like Syria.We can't even get them to take responsibility of the captured ISIS nationals!
That is a problem, but NATO isn't meant to deal with the Middle East, although it would be nice if its members did more to help.
That's some serious EU impotency and irresponsibility NATO has enabled. That's what I mean by atrophy.
Yes, it has allowed other NATO counties to atrophy their militaries (The stupid spellchecker thinks that isn't a word), but it is better than letting them get overrun by Russia. I'm not saying that NATO or police actions are perfect. I'm just saying that NATO is worth the problems it brings and that police actions are frequently useful and necessary. I think we should put "America First," but that we should never allow it to become "America Only." It is a good thing for America to put pressure on dictatorships and conquerors, like what FDR did with the sanctions on Japan. It is a good thing to get involved in wars if we can save lives and bring freedom by doing so. That doesn't mean that sanctions or intervention will always be successful or that we'll never make mistakes, but it does mean that we shouldn't isolate ourselves because we cling too tightly to a slogan.
What's also glaring with the manchild in the basement metaphor is that these policed countries don't want us there and don't want America telling them what their responsibilities are and what they ought to do, but will gladly take our money.
That's an inaccurate generalization. Eastern European countries, Germany, and South Korea definitely want us there.
These 1 sided alliances are not making life better for Americans.
They do, but they're like a fire department. It would be easy for us to look around and say that the fire department doesn't make our lives any better. But if we got rid of the fire department, what would we do when our houses started burning? Like a fire department, defensive alliances like NATO don't appear to do us any good when there are no major wars to fight. But when a war starts, it's easy to see how they help us. Most of the time, NATO doesn't do anything for Americans but add to their taxes. However, the ability of NATO to win and, even more importantly, to deter wars definitely makes our lives better.