I never got that logic—the US has been in armed conflict in various forms since the end of WWII, whether directly or through the CIA. It seems more like nukes enable violence from my perspective.
> The world was a much more violent place before pax americana.
Europe, for sure is a lot less violent, as for the rest of the world? I won't believe that on face value; south America specifically got more violent, and I suspect everywhere else is a wash (or is not attributable to American force projection). I attribute the peace in Europe to the EU rather than pax Americana.
A company named "Apple, Inc." didn't exist prior to 2007 either - that's just splitting hairs, IMO, a rose by any other name &tc, &tc. I assumed anyone who has passing familiarity with Europe's history and WWII knew exactly what I meant by "EU" - you may read it as "the European project", if that dunks your crumpet.
Food for thought: The Wars in the Congo are a counter example. 2nd Congo War is thought to have caused 5.4 million deaths and officially ended in 2003, just 18 years ago.
Arguably that's the exception that proves the rule. Note how none of the great powers were really that involved (outside of the US providing "advisors").
If you are purchasing an apple device, the apple card gives a competitive cash back reward. Many people use credit cards while always paying the balance in full and use them for rewards (you could argue that these rewards are priced into the cost of goods so not getting them is leaving money on the table).
I think it's reasonable to believe that this system as a whole is exploitive and unfair, those with poor credit pay more to fund cash back for others and the high interest rates leading to circles of debt, but given this is the way it is, I think its a perfectly good idea for someone to have an Apple Card depending on their circumstances.
There's plenty of zero-percent consumer credit lines. Interest rates are certainly not the only way to make money by lending money, particularly if you have something to sell.
