As we live out our dream of sailing the Bahamas, all hell is breaking loose in Canada and around the world. Donald Trump is doing exactly what he said he would and more, to the delight of his worshippers, Russia, and tyrants everywhere, and to the horror of the rest of the world. He is taking a blowtorch to the systems that have provided relative stability and economic gains to all people of the world for many decades. These gains have been unequal - dramatically so in some places - but undeniable progress has been made in the world on nearly all counts, and if you don’t believe that then look at the data. But, of course, many people no longer believe in facts and data.
Until now I have been successfully ignoring the news, learning only what I need to from Ana who is staying on top of world and home affairs. But the other day I pulled up Google News to see what was going on. It’s not pretty. Ana and I love talking politics and we often discuss these topics with our close friends, but I tend not to write about it much, as what feels like an existential firestorm today is quickly forgotten tomorrow and replaced by fresh tragedies, propagated through the social media firehose, all amounting to very little besides perpetual anxiety and needless worrying. But the threats and actions of the US president make this feel different. He is burning it all down.
But…is it time to burn it down? The USA has been the centre of world power for many decades and a beacon of freedom and opportunity for those living persecuted under dictatorships or in poverty in failed countries. The current administration looks to be sprinting away from that privileged position, picking fights with allies, threatening violent land grabs, closing their borders, eradicating the weak in their society, siding with historical enemies against friends, disenfranchising women and minorities, and further emboldening and enriching the strong with the only objectives being more money and more power (as long as you’re white and male). The goal seems to be undoing every “woke” policy that’s been put in place by previous governments to provide equity in US society. Did the liberals go too far? Of course they did, otherwise this widespread whipsawing of public opinion would not have happened. The current level of political correctness, institutional doublespeak, and nonsensical accommodations in Western countries is extreme. And yes, some of the broken institutions in the US and the world probably do need a knock down rebuild. Thus, the pendulum swings.
As the 30% of Americans who worship Trump (maybe more, not likely less) watch Trump’s wrecking ball, the rest of the world and the Americans who do not support Trump are standing by watching the US lurch towards a ruthless, heartless, and cruel dictatorship. What are Americans going to do about it? What are we going to do about it? Democracy is fragile, easily killed, and Trump has a foot on its head and knife to its throat. But in the end, America belongs to Americans and they will decide their own destiny, in whatever way they choose to do it. We do not have the right to tell them what to do, but we do have the right and responsibility to protect our own interests and citizens.
Here is my perspective as a Canadian. Trump is coming for Canada. He sees a massive country (larger than his own), unbelievably rich with resources such as water, oil, uranium, minerals, farmland, fish, and lumber, and blessed with a geography that includes the Northwest Passage, three oceans, and just two provinces separating continental US from Alaska. He sees us a culturally identical to Americans, but as weak pushovers with an insignificant military. As unpredictable and unhinged as Trump is, you can see the playbook. He unilaterally hits Canada with 25% tariffs. We respond with tariffs in kind. He calls that an act of war and retaliates with more tariffs or worse and we spiral down together, weakening both our countries, but ours more as we have just over one-tenth the population of the US. Once he’s solidified his dictatorship in the US and had his opponents (or anybody else standing in his way) jailed, killed, or vanquished he will then fabricate a crisis, blame Canada for an act of aggression, and call in the military to take us over.
Total fantasy? With a lunatic or perhaps mad genius like Trump, anything is possible.
Canada must reduce its dependency on the US. For now, they are an unreliable ally and dangerous neighbour. We must project strength. We must maintain our values and way of life while making the necessary changes to prepare for the worst. This is an opportunity for us to come together and make our country better, stronger, more resilient, and find more trustworthy allies. Here are some things Canada must do immediately:
- Eliminate interprovincial trade barriers to rapidly expand trade within Canada
- Expand trade with Latin America, Europe and Asia, aggressively and quickly
- While the US wages its economic war on Canada, stop buying American products, stop using American services, and stop visiting. Stop right now.
- Immediately strengthen our military, in whatever way we can.
- Stop our thinking, actions, and free time being consumed by social media. Instead, we must focus on making our households stronger, get lean, becoming rapidly resilient and helping our neighbours to do the same, reading and understanding history, and preparing for difficult times ahead.
- Maintain our friendships with American friends and family. They have a huge fight ahead of them.
- Reconfirm the support of our NATO allies in the wake of possible American aggression.
- Ask yourself one question. How would you protect your family in the event of a military invasion?
If the threats from the US turn out to be a tempest in a teakettle, that’s okay. We will end up with a stronger and more united Canada. It not, then it will take everything we have and more to survive this existential challenge.
The True North, Strong and Free.
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