One of my closest friends is the only person I know with triple citizenship: Canadian by birth, American by choice (thirty years ago), and the European Union by ancestry (Dutch).
By any measure, Jay has lived a successful life. But it's comical to us how often he moves, only to move back to the place he abandoned -- in one case, the exact same building.
Jason moved to California in the mid nineties for social and professional opportunities. Since then, he has:
--had a home built in Las Vegas, only to get there before his stuff and immediately hate everything about the place; he moved back to Cali before the paint had dried
--moved to Florida, this time being smart and engaging a short term rental first. He hated it there, too, so moved back within a week.
--moved to Scottsdale AZ and actually stayed there for two or three years before deciding that no, California was still better: back he went
--moved to Leiden in the Netherlands, JUST beating California's covid lockdown...and guess where he just moved back to, ten days before a certain election result.
Jason and I talk fairly regularly, and we've been anticipating anomie -- social breakdown -- for nearly two decades. We had no idea exactly how it would play out (how could we?) but we've both read history, and more importantly paid attention to those who have read and lived a good deal more history than we have. Such people have been jangling alarm bells for a generation now. Only recently has the pace of events forced the mainstream media to catch up. Sort of.
It's fair to say we predicted Trump or something like him. We did NOT expect something like him to come after Canada. Even with the rise of Russian-backed propaganda currently washing our country from coast to coast to coast, we had foolishly considered Canada a safe haven, at least for now. I thought maybe the U.S. would come after us in ten or twenty years, but then asked myself why, when the current trade deal basically gives America everything it could want anyway
I'm kicking myself for this and so is he. We've explored at length just how many similarities there are between Mump and Tusk and a certain regime out of Germany, without ever once bringing up lebensraum (living space) acquired by Anschsluss (annexation through economic force).
The idea of German/Austrian unification was around for decades before it actually happened. ("Manifest Destiny" has been in the American imagination for 180 years). In 1933, the leader of Austria proposed a referendum as to whether the country would join Germany or remain sovereign. Hitler didn't like the idea of people actually voting; they might vote contrary to his wishes, and how could that be allowed to stand? So he invaded and forced the Austrian chancellor to resign. Later, a plebiscite (not a referendum) was held. Threats and vote manipulation meant that "99.7% of the population voted for Anschluss.
Trump is claiming the border treaty of 1908, which delineates the U.S/Canada boundary through the Great Lakes region of Ontario, is invalid. Funny how nobody else has thought so in the last 117 years. But he wants to annex at minimum the whole of the lakes and "maximally" a goodish chunk of Ontario, including my current and future home, my dad's home, and the homes of multiple people I care about.
How do I put this gently? Trump can fuck himself with a running chainsaw. Right in his gaping cunt. Is that gentle enough?
I'd be 4-F in any draft. That doesn't mean I won't fight for my home and native land. And the U.S. of all countries should be terrified of guerrilla warfare. History shows they don't do so well with their tech neutralized. The Houthis have shown how to take on a superpower: $2000 drones are holding their own against multimillion dollar missiles. You don't have to beat them militarily; you just have to bankrupt them. (That's if the looters headed by Elon Musk don't do it for you.)
Will it come to an invasion? I hope not. I have an American friend who poo-poos the whole notion, saying the military will never follow through on an order to invade. All this means to me is that Trump will discard whoever won't follow the order and find people who will, but what do I know?
But even without an invasion, the U.S. has the power to crush us economically. The fact crushing us will also crush them doesn't seem to signify to Trump, which is another indication his party never intends to face voters again.
Justin Trudeau, our erstwhile PM, is a good man in a crisis and a numpty most of the rest of the time. He was forced out in a manner reminiscent of Biden. Russians and low-information Canadian voters have of course seized on the fact the new leader, Mark Carney, has not been "elected", not bothering to recall that in Canada we NEVER elect Prime Ministers. (Here, we vote for local representatives; the party with the highest number of seats has the right to elect as its leader the Prime Minister of the country.) An election is required by law this year, simply because elections are required by law every five years here.
The new guy, Mark Carney, is exactly what we need right now, in my opinion: a proven crisis manager who successfully navigated the 2008 financial crash in Canada (note: as governor of the Bank of Canada under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper). Some people might bristle at the fact this man served under the government of one party and now leads the other, but I find that refreshing. It says to me that he cares more about what works than what party it came from.
Britain headhunted him to become the governor of the Bank of England, and he guided that country through the clusterfuck known as Brexit....about as well as anyone could have. Yes, this is the man to face Donald Trump. Even better: it sounds as if our former deputy PM Chrystia Freeland will have a prominent role in Cabinet, perhaps as ambassador to the U.S. Freeland is a strong woman so Trump, of course, despises her.
I was never going to vote Liberal under Trudeau. The man is stained by scandals and stale in the bargain. Now? I can't in good conscience vote anything else. Carney's not perfect -- I'd prefer the shade of Jack Layton -- but any port in a storm, and Pierre Poilevre is the storm.
There is no telling what economic chaos awaits us. It is imperative that we seek out new trading partners yesterday. It may make for some uncomfortable bedfellows: India is a tempting market even if human rights are increasingly under attack there. (Human rights are increasingly under attack everywhere.) It heartens me that we've been through this before: in the early 1900s there was a similar ratcheting up of tariffs with the goal of annexation and Canada simply pivoted and traded with Britain instead of the U.S. of A.
If this crisis is at all navigable, I trust Carney to navigate it. And maybe, just maybe, Jason will be able to retire here if he wants to.
Stay light on your feet, folks, it's gonna get rough out there. Elbows up!
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