We've had endless opportunities to compete during Apple's entire 50 year existence.

As someone living in Europe I feel ashamed to read you openly admitting this. This sentiment would feel at home in the USSR.

Instead of trying to create things the world finds useful by building something better/cheaper/more innovative, we're choosing protectionism so we can screw our customers with inferior products they're forced to buy...and relax.

I think we've done enough relaxing in Europe.

We were the birthplace of the industrial revolution...the technologies of which went on to bring the entire world out of poverty last century.

Do we seriously have nothing valuable to contribute to the world during the entirety of the digital revolution? If not, I think our decline and collapsing social welfare systems are deserved.