During WWII, as a matter of fact. We had agreements with the Continental powers (Bretton Woods) for how the post WWII economy would work (spoiler alert, kinda like NAFTA 50 years early). No one in Europe honored their end of that agreement.
After WWII, we set up the Marshall Plan. We threw money at Europe (except England, because fuck them, amirite?) like drunken sailors in a whorehouse. A lot of this money kept people from starving (by making their agriculture as effective as American ag was) or from turning Communist (by propping up their industry and keeping people at work instead of rioting).
Then there was NATO. U.S. protects the western European powers, on the condition that every member contributes at least 2% of their GDP to their defense budget. Guess what? They didn't.
So, for 80 years, the U.S. has been fixing everyone's economy, either for free, or for very low cost, and in return... we've been told to spend more for NATO, SEATO, and just suck it up about the Chicken Tax, Yankee.
During WWII, as a matter of fact. We had agreements with the Continental powers (Bretton Woods) for how the post WWII economy would work (spoiler alert, kinda like NAFTA 50 years early). No one in Europe honored their end of that agreement.
After WWII, we set up the Marshall Plan. We threw money at Europe (except England, because fuck them, amirite?) like drunken sailors in a whorehouse. A lot of this money kept people from starving (by making their agriculture as effective as American ag was) or from turning Communist (by propping up their industry and keeping people at work instead of rioting).
Then there was NATO. U.S. protects the western European powers, on the condition that every member contributes at least 2% of their GDP to their defense budget. Guess what? They didn't.
So, for 80 years, the U.S. has been fixing everyone's economy, either for free, or for very low cost, and in return... we've been told to spend more for NATO, SEATO, and just suck it up about the Chicken Tax, Yankee.