Most "Buy European" initiatives that I've seen are quite uncoordinated and disorganised. It's very grassroots. That's not bad, but maybe we could do better.
What do I mean by better? Well, imagine if there were ads in public transport, flyers in your mailbox, stickers, t-shirts and other merch, awareness campaigns on social media, a common database for European alternatives, outreach to businesses, partners, and even political affiliations.
I made a sticker, but I'm not a graphic designer. I asked about translations, but we don't have a place to really store that information. We don't have some kind of platform where we can organise stuff without the algorithm just hiding it after a day.
When a US company starts selling stuff in Europe, many people will know about it because of these things. It'll generate chatter and translate into action or purchases. This doesn't just count for products, but political campaigns, and so on. There's a directed, concerted effort, which we lack and probably waiting on some company or politician to get their lips off of a big tech donor's buttcheek will take a while.
Most people I know are barely aware of the Buy European movement. It's either not translated or it's in media they don't follow, but getting a flyer in your mail, seeing an ad on TV or while standing at a bus station, hearing a politician or influencer talk about it, will make people more aware.
Is this something we want? If so, how can we do it? Do we start an NGO? Reach out to a political party like Volt Europa (Although they don't seem to be on the fediverse)
No. Do you seriously think this is the same situation? Do most people in the US have devices running operating systems from a foreign country? Do you think the US has citizens purchasing services from foreign countries? Is most social media in the US owned by a foreign country? Do most US citizens consume foreign media?
And that's just citizens. Businesses and governments in Europe have ceded so much influence and power to the US that the US can tell European businesses (and governments) how to run things. The US continuously also meddles with politics in the EU with their big tech businesses lobbying for worse consumer laws here. Do you think having a heavy reliance on Russia was a good idea for Europe? Do you think purchasing citizens having most of their data collected by the US is dandy? Do you think government institutions running proprietary US software that can be used to turn monitor them is an amazing idea for sovereignty?
What you're doing is creating a false equivalence. We want privacy, independence, and self-reliance. Our governments are seeking to have more trade with non-US partners. The US wants to own everything and everyone and others to be reliant on them. Forgive us if we don't want that.
Btw, if you haven't noticed yet, the US is not the greatest partner right now.
I agree with all of that so boycott American and bolster other trade partners. It doesn't have to be Russia. But buying only European is also not buying non-EU and non-American.
No. This is not a dichotomy. It's "Buy European where possible, try to prefer it, be reasonable". Buy European doesn't mean only European, forever and ever, Europe best country ever. That's a very US mindset.