This is a MUST WATCH speech for every European, as well as Australian, Canadian and other US democratic allies.
1) Free Speech is a new US Foreign Policy Requirement
The US is setting out a clear new policy that it expects its democratic allies to have free speech, because it is the bedrock of the US & its allies shared democratic values.
The corollary is clear - No Free Speech - No US Military Protection.
If Europe is no more free and democratic than Russia, why should the US protect Europe from Russia?
Indeed in Russia you may well be arrested for criticising Putin, but you won't be arrested for praying silently.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi backed this up yesterday with specific criticism of UK's draconian anti-free speech laws.
As Vance said "A new Sheriff is in Town".
2) 1st Amendment goes Global
After Elon Musk's tussles with Brazil, the UK and Australia over Free Speech, the Trump Administration has realised that, because of the global nature of communications, the US First Amendment must be enforced globally (at least with democratic allies) lest it be lost in the US itself.
3) HIVE is Alive; Reddit is a censourious cesspool.
On Hive we have preserved free speech through the darkest hours of tyrannical censorship online and all should applaud a return to the classic free speech position of Voltaire:
"I may disagree with you, but I defend to the death your right to say it."
Or in Hive-speak - "I may downvote you but I will never censor you."
Unlike the cesspit of Reddit where a fellow Hivean reposted may last Hive post for it to be taken down with this Orwellian message.
I'm so thankful for Hive and that I've never wasted my time on platforms like Reddit.
I have no problem with others re-posting my blogs there - that is their free speech prerogative.
But I think we are wasting our time engaging with a platform so contrary to our values.
Essentially Vance is warning the Europeans of the same thing. If you don't share a commitment to free speech and free elections then there are no "shared democratic values" worth defending.
Please vote for my Hive witness. (KeyChain or HiveSigner)
They are contrary to our values, I agree, but it doesn't mean we should ignore this opportunity of onboarding people from there. Disappointed Reddit users can join Hive. The Reddit mob sometimes openly expels people for being different. Like, a "discussion" in a gay community "If you voted for Trump, you don't belong here". That's Reddit. Antisemitism drives people away from Reddit too, would be good if they knew Hive is different. Your posts can help with this.
The US Democratic Party is awful. But I feel worried about the international hyperactivity of the Republicans. I hope they won't cause even more trouble in the world.
I love meritocracy, free speech, and immigration policies based on reason. I hope this is where we are all headed. We will soon find out. Ukraine is crucial too. The West has been pacifying Putin for 20 years, turning a blind eye to all his crimes, and this is how we came to the biggest since WW2 European war.
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Good point about letting Reddit users know about Hive.
Sort of like offering the Red Pill to the denizens of the Matrix. :-)
Putin can only be deterred by a muscular Europe that returns to shared democratic values (esp free speech), invests in its military and changes its culture from DEI soyboys to war-fighters. The Trump Admin is trying to get Europe to do this.
I'm sure seeing the head of the Munich Security Conference CRYING over Vance's speech and the audience of generals and politicians applauding is making Putin tremble in his boots.
Geopolitics and war is a rough business and cry babies have no place.
The US can't save Europe from Russia if Europe won't save itself and is so totalitarian it is not worth saving.
This anti-meritocratic and anti-rational ideology is rather common in American culture. Europeans were never as invested in it, although there were political shifts toward DEI here and there, as far as I know. But it's great that Westerners support the rights of people regardless of who they love or what they look like.
Let them be. But I would love Europeans to think on a scale of decades and centuries instead of competing in unsustainable generosity and unsustainable anti-militarism. I like the middle way philosophy. Militarism destroyed half of Europe in the XX century but anti-militarism can be destructive too.
When the USSR collapsed, everyone knew that the West and NATO were the most formidable powers. Then the Europeans spent years convincing Putin that they'd swallow everything and could only express laughable deep concern no matter what happened.
Let's see how American intrigues in Europe and with Putin end. Europe should wake up, that's true: its resources are enough to stop Putin by the hands of Ukrainians. Russia was a European country before the Bolsheviks. If Europe is strong and smart, Russia will return in one or another shape.
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Vance speech has been something epic, eu is a bunch of dumbasses more of a dictatorships than a democratic thing, things don't go as they want? That's not ok for them... And as he said, who voted to get flooded by irregular immigrants?
Absolutely! Very confronting and true speech of VP J.D. Vance