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Comment by jupp0r | Hacker News Reader

You're being overly dramatic. Germany has been spending low amounts of money on its military for two and a half decades. Circumstances changed and spending needs to be increased to adjust to the new situation. This is not militarization, it's the state fulfilling fundamental purpose of providing external security for its citizens. Spending is going to be less (relative to GDP) than in the 70s and 80s.

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The agenda after WW2 was to not allow germany to militarize itself again and to keep the soviets out. Now it seems that germany is allowed to take it's safety in it's own hands again. Maybe there is more trust (western values?), maybe americans want to pull out? I still find it an astounding development. Maybe because it is an european project. Becoming adult. And the US has a bigger fish to fry.

I believe it's fine now because there's been another, better, solution that doesn't rely on spending so many $$$ on it; the EU. USA is probably not at all as worried about Germany as a country going crazy again.

Ironically, Hitler wanted to establish a third Reich - basically a new Roman empire that spanned all of... Europe. Funny how these things goes. Old wine in new bottles.

There is definitely more trust toward Germany then toward USA or Russia now. Wither way, even if there was less trust, it does nit matter. Russia is very active threat and America is hostile toward Europe, threatens annexation of part of it ... while being friendly to Russia and other authoritarian regimes.

So, it is nor like there would be another choice.

German is at least teaching about own atrocities as about atrocities. Other countries have massively bigger problem to admit their past might have been ugly.

https://www.dw.com/en/germans-trust-in-state-institutions-hi...

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/01/31/g...

https://rmc.bfmtv.com/actualites/international/on-l-a-fait-e...

The historical german inability to correctly read geopolitical currents, anticipate their domestic dynamics, or understand international perceptions of Germany seems to be intact. It's true that The Atlantic Council and other US cultural-state entities aren't making it easier, but this is egregious.

No one looks to Germany for leadership on rule of law, or human rights, least of all Germans.

I did not said Germans are perfect. They are massively better then USA, they are overall trustworthy enough to trust them.

Your last link is about AfD being supported by Elon Musk. And second about other parties not wanting to cooperate with AfD - and while fascism is up everywhere, in America there is basically no functional opposition.

Sad to meet someone who doesn't care that they're going down the same river and over the same waterfall so long as someone else is going a little faster.

I know exactly what's in the links, what I don't know is why you believe it's logical to assume that every other human being must be a cheerleader for one group of corrupt authoritarians or another. Supporting either government as such is shameful and your descendants will be as ashamed of you as you are of yours.

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