Boy, I didn’t see this coming. This lack of respect for long held institutions, neighbors and values is just staggering.
Note to reader: This post is about politics. If you are not interested, skip it.
My November 4th Liberation Day post has really come home to roost. In part, I thought there was a possibility Trump would lose. I missed that by 1.5%. But, more saliently, I thought I would be able to excise Trump from my brain for good. Not so, unfortunately.
With a Trump win, I expected chaos and tariffs. I expected the U.S. government would be downsized. And, I expected some changes to economic and social order. Fair enough. It was probably time for some long overdue changes.
But to savage my country, upend the rule of law, make Congress irrelevant, cast aside Western values, alienate allies and ignore the adults (who are no longer in the room)? I didn’t see this coming. And we are only 4% into his term of office.
Canadians are supposed to be polite and respectful. That has suddenly become much harder, and it will be interesting to see how our culture evolves over the next four years.
Why I didn’t see this coming
I was born into and have lived in a fairly stable, rules-based world where strong institutions provided a buffer to occasional political idiocy. At least in North America, Europe and most of Asia-Pacific, the system has worked for the people.
Politics could get nasty but rarely reckless. Policies could be disagreeable but rarely stupid. Leaders could stumble but rarely fell over the edge. All of that has changed.
For eighty years, America was actually a pretty good hegemon. Retrospectively, I owe it a lot. Canada owes it a lot. But now, Canada needs a fresh look at life.
There is an old Yiddish saying “man plans, God laughs”. Life is inherently unpredictable. But what happens when there is no plan, only one unhinged, powerful man surrounded by acolytes? For me, the laughter has stopped. Oh Canada.
I really appreciate your thoughtful reflection here. The feeling is mutual, and the animosity toward Canada does seem completely insane. Canadians are truly the best neighbors and friends a country could ever want.
As a US citizen, I find the strain on our relationship deeply troubling. Many of us here feel like the country is out of control–in a bit of a free-fall–and, frankly, it’s scary how recklessly everything is being done. There’s a sense that we’re watching our institutions and international relationships being damaged in real-time.
I hope we can weather this difficult period in our relationship and remember what makes our friendship so special and important. Thank you for sharing your perspective – it’s important we hear these honest views from our friends across the border.
Our government these last four years was respite with corruption with multiple million dollars frauds brought about by the woke community & senile Biden. What a joke he was just a puppet, with government run amuck. If you believe main stay media he was a hero. Never mind he almost bankrupted the USA.
I am sorry you have not looked at the economics between USA & Canada. We have been paying a lot of tariffs with Canada paying very few.
Trump is just trying to bring back fairness and remove the large government bureaucracy (millions in waste, ie .. $50 million for condoms for Gaza just one of many). So please do your homework before you malign our country, I do not malign yours
Right on
John: Many thanks for your thoughtful comments.
As a Canadian, we really don’t have any business talking about another country’s internal politics. However, when that country acts to ignore international treaties that it made with Canada and it affects our very livelihood and way of life, we certainly have the right to comments.
To our American friends and relatives: Canada is, and since the founding of the United States of America, been separate and apart from you. You may think that comments about the 51st state are merely a joke but we take them as seriously as anything else that your country’s president says. Annexation to make this happen would likely be no different that the Anschluss of 1938 or the Czech Sudetenland of the same year.
It does not matter how bad or good a previous incumbent of the office was: the issue of “51st state” is now and that IS the issue.
Marcel VA3DDD