[bettysdiagnose]

OK but not wanting our personal records to be arbitrarily sized by the US government is very reasonable. Your government made a law that lets it spy on us... that's your problem.

[wins32767]

I don't think it's reasonable that I'm paying more than my share of taxes for the defense capabilities that allows Europe free access to a stable world market and roughly rules based international order that underpins the export economy of Germany in particular. If Europe would fix that, I'd feel a lot worse about the spying.

[akmarinov]

No one’s making the US do that. Just stop the military spending.

Of course that means the US will no longer be a global superpower, but the US can freely choose that.

[bettysdiagnose]

Complete and utter non-sequitur but I'll humour you.

I never understood American magical thinking that blames Europe for US military spending. In the end, if you want to cut military spending, you can.

Regardless, you're the hegemon. I don't accept that you don't benefit from that position.

[wins32767]

I don't think it is a non-sequitur. The spying is part of the overall defense structure that enables the German export economy to function.

EDIT: It's like saying "This thing you're giving me that allows my whole economy to function, I don't like the consequences of how you're doing it."