Originally Posted by
velosnow
Do you guys actually travel to Europe much? I do. Things are going well enough, there is always ebb & flow I'd say some doomsday'ing going on here.
To Rick's point, Muslims are not even 7% of the UK. Much of the UK is still focused on NHS, Brexit, housing etc. Just like here, the populist sentiment and easy out is to blame the immigrants. It's a tired trope and even as an ardent atheist who can agree that non-secular values are bad it's just a dog whistle.
France will always be up in some state of upheaval, it's in their DNA. I was at the Yellow Vest protests in 2019, saw things get burned. It's France. C'est la vie.
Fact is, renewables are cheaper than traditional energy these days and many of Europe's residents watching their lands burn (yet again) this summer are hopefully keen on not reversing trends.
Not “doomsaying” so much as just acknowledging the dysfunction. Granted, some of it - that’s just France, but for 80 years the US has been a moderating influence by pouring a huge amount of resources into Europe. With more attention (and money) going to concerns in the Pacific region, Europe is losing some of that moderating influence. Do I think France, Germany, Spain, or the U.K. is going to dissolve into chaos? No. But they appear to be becoming increasingly dysfunctional and the mega trends aren’t looking good for them.