Prevent diseases? As if. Were such a thing possible surely people would be getting nobel prizes for it.

I do agree it’s “not normal,” especially in the West. It does seem to be significantly more common across Asia.

And I hate it. Cash is still king for me for whatever reason.

And just in case you think I’m BS’ing here is an actual government policy explicitly stating that stores can refuse cash payments

https://www.mas.gov.sg/contact-us/faqs/currency-faqs

My friend I’ve been to countries where businesses don’t accept cash and the currency is still considered legal tender.

Like, I’ve (literally) turned up at coffee shops, tried to pay in cash, only to be told “we don’t accept cash, only credit card or digital payment.” (the latter in my experience is often via QR codes and the system sucks because a 10 second transactions a 25 second transaction)

The legal frameworks in such jurisdictions may be very different than Denmark’s.

Edit: Beyond which, does Amazon accept cash? eBay? I’ve never heard of them doing so and don’t recall ever seeing the option.

Can the USA even do that? They’re global companies. As whacky as the United States is right now even attempting to do so would be immensely irrational even by Trump’s standards.

I’d guess that Mastercard and Visa would shift their headquarters to somewhere like Switzerland or Singapore pretty quickly after that.

I imagine OP isn’t saying that there literally is no such thing as cash in Denmark but something more nuanced like “cash is becoming rare.”

No idea about Denmark’s laws but there are companies (edit: I mean “countries” not companies) where cash is yes still the legal tender but payment at some businesses can only be made cashless. Denmark may have a law stating businesses must accept cash, but you can certainly have systems where cash is legal tender but some businesses will not accept it.

Damn. I know mailing actual letters has been going the way of the dinosaur and this outcome is in some ways predictable, but it’s still a big shift.

A robust Europe that could be more assertive on the world stage is good for the world in the long run. I say that as an American. Best of luck to the Germans, EU as a whole, the UK, and everyone else in the region.

yeah it’s almost counter productive because Trump is so thin-skinned and desperate to be seen as coming up with every idea. If they can convince him that it was really his idea though, it might work.

Fair. The whole world is on thin ice and things may snowball quickly. I wish the best for Europe in the months and years ahead.

Oh yeah, substantial change will require a huge overall in political and social views, I fully agree there. Right now, at best, it seems like we might get some occasional bandaids.

A huge war might indeed be one of the few catalysts to instill that change. Major environmental crises might do it too, but those events will probably unfold after too much damage has been done.

Wildfires, hurricanes, and everything else have been pretty crazy in recent years but what we’re seeing now may pale compared to what we see in say thirty years.

tbh a massive influx of foodstuffs we’re short on and ultimately lower consumer prices is probably better than what we’re actually going to get, which is probably a future Trump tower in Moscow or some stupid BS.

sigh

Me reading the first paragraph: there’s no way the USA is going to willingly let Russia…

(Remembers who’s in the White House.)

Ah, yeah, so Russia is going to be in Syria as they as they want to be eh?

I mean, if you were actually capable of reasoning you would have picked up early on that I very clearly stated Europe has world-class technology and potential. As you already noted, along with European leaders and industry analysts, fragmentation is a challenge (among other challenges.)

“the US took the lead there an EU expected support to last”

The USA was clear from the get-go that EU needed to provide a lot of support and that we largely view this is a European war, because, you know, it is a European war.

It’s too bad you were so focused on attacking me from the get-go because we actually probably could have had a great and insightful conversation.

I think they’ll still be relevant for the foreseeable future but whereas traditional air power was once arguably the crucial element in many wars, it may not be the deciding factor in many conflicts going forward, at least if two modern militaries are facing off against each other.

Drones will be key in every war I’d think. And hypersonic missiles will probably be crucial in wars with modern militaries clashing.

decreased economic activity alone I’d think would reduce emissions.

What’s really got me sweating is the fact that we’re living in sorta good times. A lot of people are struggling of course, and serious issues are unfolding, but imagine what the world could look like if we get hit by the next Great Recession or Great Depression. Things could quickly go from very bad to much, much worse.

yeah pretty much every headline could simply be:

Trump/Vance/MAGA Does Exactly What They Told Everyone They’d Do

and the subheader line could be: Traditional Democrats/Media shocked that Trump/Vance/Maga did least shocking thing ever.

Ah yeah I assumed you meant the extreme interpretations of Christian values.

I mean, Japan is one of the more isolationist countries on earth. And racism is a massive issue. Christianity isn’t a major factor, but traditional views on the roles of women and the set up of the household are a major challenge.