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Comment by current_thing | Hacker News Reader

One of the four investment themes: "American Dynamism: Investing in founders and companies that support the national interest".

Haha. No thanks.

Are there any seed funds that invest in "supporting human progress"?

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A patriotic American might say that supporting the national interest actually does support human progress. There’s plenty of evidence against that, but some evidence for it might be the immense number of people pulled from poverty under to the American rules-based international order.

A pacifist European might balk at the a16z brand and support companies funded by a less nationalistic VC, exit their liquidity pools in crypto etc.

Sequoias seed program is SV + London. Very nice.

Pacifist Europeans might do well to realize the long peace was and is enforced by US nuclear weapons. At a certain point you become a protectorate; and some gratitude is reasonable.

A weak America is a dead Europe.

Not just nuclear weapons. NATO, huge military installations all across Europe and carrier groups patrolling all around. That coming after WWII lend-lease, direct military intervention and the Marshall plan.

The pacifist European needs to learn about geopolitics.

Warmongering imperialist country leverages military power to exploit the rest of the world = honorable peace bringer.

Get out with your American exceptionalism.

Please explain how the US exploits Germany.

they prevent them from buying russian gas

I mean, they haven’t stopped.

The thing which is exceptional is the amount of money and effort spent on defense by America compared to NATO allies or the rest of the world. Roughly 2x to 3x on a per capita or percent GDP basis of any European nation. More in total than the next 11 nations combined.

It is not through awesomeness but simple resource dedication which buys peace, which some conveniently neglect or pretend wouldn’t matter if the situation were much different.

Europe relies on this exceptional spending and benefits from it, having a disproportionately strong power encourages peace.

Pax Americana exists for a reason.

It's not just America though, any sufficiently imperialist nation can create a peace; Pax Romana, Pax Sinica, Pax Britannica, Pax Ottomana all exist.

Nah. America is going to get another nationalist president, the EU will go its own way. The future does not look like the past.

It took less than 30 years for the first EU country to leave, and not exactly a small one.

Europe has been around for a hell of a lot longer than the US. Seen countless bloody wars, and almost dang near wiped itself off the map less than 100 years ago. On top of providing the source material for the US to begin its course as a proto-european country. Language, art, culture, engineering know-how, state-craft, law, even religion and guns.

The US is essentially a version 1.2 of Europe.

I mean, sure. That doesn’t change the fact that Europe is largely a protectorate of the US.

Sort of an Eloi-like existence.

Military investment has created things like the Internet, for example.

>but some evidence for it might be the immense number of people pulled from poverty under to the American rules-based international order.

And a 100x times people pushed into poverty, murdered and countries ruined because of it. I always wondered how countries like North Korea thrive and then I look at US which answers all my questions.

By what standard does North Korea thrive?

If that verbiage turns you off, it's likely that both your time, & A16Z's time, has been saved by discovering that incompatibility up front.

I'm not a fan of the US' record in many areas, especially oppressive, murderous aggression in other countries. I view the alternatives and marvel at how terrible human beings are, because they're all worse than the US. So that theme isn't really a deal breaker as far as I'm concerned.

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