Thank you, Mike. This is the clearest description I’ve read of what we as Canadians, and all we as world citizens, are facing. What we’re really waiting for is - what are you US citizens going to do about it? To us more sedate Canadians, you’ve always seemed to be effusively patriotic. Now we’re going to see just how much you really love the ideals you brought into existence, that beacon to the world, the equality your Founders declared was self-evident. We want to know - what will you do to ensure that “government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth”? Will you defend your Constitution?
I hope that America's (former) allies understand that while the U. S. Presidency is temporarily occupied by an asset of an hostile foreign state that is attempting to destroy us through him, Americans as a whole retain our great affection and solidarity with our dear neighbors Canada and Mexico, Ukraine, NATO countries, and other friendly nations. Let us together oppose authoritarianism and the ongoing destruction of this once-great republic and its relationships with other freedom-loving peoples.
The rest of the world is watching and hoping and wishing you will do exactly that. But since it's not happening, we can't afford to wait any longer in hope, but instead have to assume this is the world we are now living in and act accordingly.
That we are, and the signals are not good. What American's seem fail to see is this wholesale upending of international order is having real-world impacts on the rest of us ... and we get no vote, have no power to influence or overthrow the tyrany. The 'once-great Republic' has always been a bully, but we tolerated that because there was an agreement of stability. No more.
there have been will continue to be boycotts, protests, phonebanks to representatives, donations to democrats in special elections, the support of the rise of independent media, mass vandalizing of tesla cars and dealerships. honest question, without defensiveness, is there something else we can be doing to show the world we reject this bullshit?
I do not understand your question. The US government has made explicit its plan to annex Canada through economic warfare & withdrawal of mutual defence assurances. Secretary of State Rubio said on Canadian soil, “It is not a meeting about how we're going to take over Canada.”
This is the stark reality Canadians must contend with. Your fight to preserve your way of life, your freedom & your democracy has our support and solidarity, but your country is - and will remain - a threat to our sovereignty.
what you write ("[the united states] is - and will remain - a threat to [canada's] sovereignty") is heartbreakingly true. my question above ("is there something else we can be doing to show the world we reject this bullshit?") was in response to your statement: "What American's seem fail to see is this wholesale upending of international order is having real-world impacts on the rest of us."
my questions is: are there more ways to show solidarity for those of us who get it? jared polis (governor of colorado) named march 15th colorado canada friendship day" and i called and gave him profuse thanks. in addition to what i wrote above (i.e. protesting, boycotting, etc.), i'm volunteering to phonebank for special elections to flip the house, setting up visits with my reps, joining mutual aid groups, talking to everyone i know, etc. i was asking (in good faith, truly) if there was another way for those of us who are disgusted by what trump is doing (to our allies especially) to show that we stand with you?
You are one of the few doing everything you can, Kirby. So it's difficult to say what more, you alone, can do. It's your countrymen who are the problem, and thier insular apathy that feeds the machine that keeps them locked in thier mindset.
A national tax strike? I dunno, it's hard. The time to nip this in the bud was 7 Jan 2021, then to pack the Supreme Court. History will not be kind to those who were too complacent and should have known better. They let you down and you're trying to recover from a very difficult place.
At the rate Americans are waking up to the perils of Fascism, it will be decades before the USA does anything to stop the spread. Words at this point mean less than nothing. Only actions, and the actions I see are a start but they aren’t big enough and they won’t make the “government” afraid of “the people”. You need massive protests of millions of people and they need to take to the streets, shit down the entire country and STAY THERE. The Courts won’t stop them, none of the so-called guard rails will stop them, only PEOPLE POWER WILL!
While forcing Canada to its knees in supplication to Trump and, more to your point, the ideology of Cutis Yarvin, the prize at the end of this rainbow, if you will, is the wealth of resources sitting below Canadian soil and throughout its mountains. Vast deposits of uranium, gold, nickel, copper, zinc, iron ore, lithium, cobalt and oil undoubtedly has Trump’s billionaire patrons salivating at the prospect of getting their hands on so vast a reserve that has the potential of generating trillions of dollars (US) of profit. Access to those resources has long been a trademark of Canadian-American relations (just look at the sale of crude oil to US distributors at a significant discount which has served the interests of both countries for decades) and could and should become the centerpiece of a new trade agreement between the countries that, in the hands of competent government, could become a model for economic intercourse world-wide. Instead, the security interests of both countries and, in particular, those of the United States become secondary to a “might-makes-right” ideology intended to stroke the ego of one man; that seeks to force Canada to lie prostrate before Trump with his boot on its neck and beg Trump to lift that boot in willing exchange for unfettered access of Canada’s mineral deposits and oil fields.
All true. And beyond Canadian resources, Trump and Putin prefer to look at climate change as a fait accompli. The elimination of Arctic Ocean ice seems to them to be highly exploitable, enabling new arctic ports (Russia has always been obsessed with securing warm water ports) to access newly opened shipping lanes over the top of the world. This is a 21st century Manifest Destiny revival, and they plan to run over any people who get in the way.
I'm in the UK watching this unfold with horror - and considering that the old world order is now over and is likely never coming back
and that it was what brought us to the bring of biophysical collapse. So while I personally was living a comfortable life, it was not - and will never be - a sustainable system
so then the question becomes - how do we who care about the continuation of complex life on earth (at least this iteration of it) evolve a new system, predicated on values that actually bring us forward towards a future we'd be proud to leave behind? (And that doesn't result in the extinction of humanity)?
My country initiated this criminal behavior. I would say Canada has no obligation whatsoever to us. I wouldn’t blame them if they cut off all energy exports for the duration of Trump’s term. Don’t play his game. Many of us are so sorry.
You appear to be one of the very few Americans who gets it in its entirety. Refreshing to read! I appreciate your thorough and deep understanding of the existential threat that we Canadians suddenly are facing thanks to the unhinged megalomaniac that your fellow countrymen sought to put in the position of ultimate global power.
I hope that there are more of you than not in your country, and that you eventually stand up for what is right for all of us. Sadly, something tells me that I perhaps shouldn't hold my breath.
Anyway, I'll be reading you! Glad to have found your Substack..
Hi, in Italian we use the word "statunitense" to define those who live in the country between Canada and Mexico, while with American we mean from Chile to Canada.
I think you miss the point. This is a fight against the globalist agenda, we can no longer continue on a path of endless wars and spending that will surely destroy the country. The US is deficit spending a trillion dollars every hundred days. Bad trade policies, illegal immigration and fraud are quickly destroying life in the US. Country's like Canada, Mexico and most of Europe have for too long exploited these relationships to the detriment of the US and it must stop now. You should turn your energy towards your own country and ask for better leadership. Canada has been managed into the ground. Ridiculous economic policies and erosion of civil liberties have destroyed the country. You deserve what you get when you keep voting in the same polices.
Your response is an incoherent jumble of grievances, stitched together by resentment rather than reason. You invoke “globalists” as a kind of intellectual get-out-of-jail-free card, a catch-all bogeyman that explains everything and nothing at once.
Yes, U.S. deficit spending is reckless. Yes, bad trade policy has consequences. Yes, immigration requires management. None of these points are novel, and none justify the farcical notion that Canada is some cunning geopolitical parasite draining America’s strength.
Your entire argument collapses under the weight of its own contradictions. You rail against deficit spending—then demand economic isolationism, which would further cripple U.S. trade and growth. You denounce fraud—yet support an administration that treats the law as a formality. You claim to oppose “endless wars”—while backing a foreign policy that alienates allies, strengthens adversaries, and accelerates global instability.
And while you pontificate about how America is finally standing up for itself, Trump is launching airstrikes in Yemen and threatening to attack Iran—the exact kind of interventionist blundering you claim to oppose. A trillion dollars in deficit spending every hundred days, and where is it going? Right back into the machinery of war, into the Middle East quagmire that every serious person knows is unwinnable. So tell me, Frank, is this the fight against “globalism” you had in mind?
Your suggestion that Canada has “exploited” the U.S. is particularly laughable. Canada has fought alongside America in nearly every modern war, subsidized American energy security, and maintained the most peaceful border on earth—all while withstanding constant economic and political whiplash from Washington’s latest tantrum.
You declare that Canadians “deserve what they get” for electing poor leaders. Yet strangely, you don’t apply that logic to Americans who cheer for the looting of their own institutions. If democracy means anything, it means taking responsibility for your own choices rather than blaming imaginary cabals and foreign scapegoats.
So, Frank, let’s indeed be frank: your argument isn’t an argument. It’s a lament dressed as a position, an excuse to avoid reckoning with the real source of America’s decline—an anti-democratic movement within its own borders, fueled not by foreign exploitation, but by self-inflicted decay.
Put down the nationalist fairytales. Pick up a history book. And if you insist on being “frank,” at least try to be right.
Franks post sounds like a regurgitation of RW talking points with no critical thought taking place between when he hears or reads the points and spews it back out. It’s just like how they like their masses- pliable and no thinking, easy to manipulate .
As regards the deficit - why do the democratic presidents who reduce the deficit never meet with the MAGA/tea party RW approval . They seem not to be aware that DemocratIC presidents have reduced the deficits.
US bullying other countries , following in Putins footsteps bc it’s the Kremlin playbook - that is a thing of the past. The 3rd Reich is last century - were done with the less sophisticated barbaric behavior of the past. We’re about alliances , relationships , if you don’t like this, you’re going to watch the rest of the world develop right on past us- with US Econ no longer the envy of the world , left in a dustbin - exactly like Putin wants.
Why, Frank, are you choosing treason against the US? Now is the time - you’ll either stand up like a REAL American against tyranny and against Russia, or you’re a traitor. Every time you post - people see which side you’re on.
There is no country on earth that benefits more from the "globalist agenda", as you put it, than the United States. You have 5% of the population, but consume 25% of global resources. Trump tells you that the US has been victimized by bad trade policies, so you believe him without asking questions. Your country isn't getting ripped off; quite the contrary, no nation on earth has plundered as widely and deeply as the US. No country has overthrown more elected leaders, invaded more countries, extorted emerging economies with the imposition of your currency, the Petro dollar. But your country is getting the short end of the stick? Pull your head out of your Fox News bubble, and take a deep draught of air. It'll do you some good. Some advice: Trump lies all the time, so if he's telling you the US is getting ripped off then you can safely assume the opposite.
You make a lot of the usual political assumptions and of course they are all wrong, most Americans feel this way regardless of party affiliation. I am not a Fox News watcher, just a guy that has seen the decline in the standard of living. Everything I said is 100% true and if you don’t like that’s fine. We don’t want to be Canada
Details: President Trump has suggested Canada unfairly put tariffs of over 200% on American dairy products during President Biden's term, but the level has been unchanged since before Biden took office.
The over 200% tariffs on U.S. dairy products are only triggered if U.S. dairy exports exceed certain yearly duty-free limits, and U.S. dairy manufacturers say they have never been close to exceeding these limits.
Additionally, these tariffs were negotiated during the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Mr. Trump signed during his first term. Canada's published tariff lists for 2020 and 2025 show tariffs on U.S. dairy products have remained unchanged from the end of his first term through the end of President Biden's term. For example, both lists show the same tariff rate of 245.5% for any cheese products above the duty-free limit.
And why don't the previous trade deals work anymore? Because Trump said so? Why don't they work? The US economy was doing much better than any other western economy since the Pandemic of 2020, so clearly the previous arrangements were working much better for the US than anybody else.
If you don’t know why they don’t work now then it is probably your filtered Canadian media. I don’t care how other countries are doing, the tariffs should be reciprocal, if other countries don’t like it they can trade with country’s other than the US
Did you not read the part about how those dairy tariffs have never actually been imposed? They're simply there to prevent a flooding of the much smaller Canadian market, which, again, is something that has never even come close to happening. So, in reality, the US is not being tariffed one cent by Canada. Not one cent. Trump simply lied, and I can't help but notice that you have repeated his lies here. Where are you getting your information from?
The $200 billion in subsidies to Canada and the unfair tariffs that Canada charges the US makes my point. This is no longer a deal the US can live with and your crying about how unfair it is makes the point. Look at your own government we are done with Canadian welfare
Nations have no friends and there is nonroom for sentimentality. Nations have interests and sometimes interests overlap; and sometimes they don't. Right now Canada does not share our interests.
Nations have no friends, only interests. Sentimentality has no place in statecraft. When a nation sacrifices its citizens or another nation’s citizens, it isn’t realizing sentimentality—it’s failing its fundamental duty.
What are nations without their people—people who, as humans, carry sentimentality as part of their nature? Who is being sacrificed? What is being sacrificed? People’s livelihoods are sacrificed daily. The powerful minority sacrifices the dreams and aspirations of many who believed in freedom. Ask the artists, poets, and writers if they use sentiment in their craft. Nations act on interests, not friendships, often at the cost of human lives. Soldiers are sent to war, civilians become collateral damage, and colonized peoples suffer for economic and territorial gain. Allies are abandoned when they no longer serve strategic needs, as seen with the Kurds and South Vietnamese. Governments have sacrificed their own citizens, from Stalin’s purges to China’s Cultural Revolution. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with modern conflicts, show that statecraft prioritizes power over sentiment. When nations fail to protect people, they do not exhibit sentimentality—they betray their fundamental duty. The U.S. Constitution itself is being sacrificed.
This betrayal was evident on January 6th, when law enforcement officers faced brutal assaults while defending the U.S. Capitol. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick suffered fatal strokes after being sprayed with chemicals. Officers Howard Liebengood, Jeffrey Smith, Gunther Hashida, and Kyle DeFreytag died by suicide in the aftermath. Over 140 officers sustained serious injuries, including concussions, broken bones, burns, and PTSD. Many were beaten with metal pipes, crushed in doorways, or sprayed with bear spray. The attack left lasting physical and psychological scars, underscoring the immense sacrifice made by those who stood in defense of democracy.
J6 was a riot instigated by actors for the Democrat party and their State allies. It was used for political theatre and the last election was, among other things, a reaction against that corruption. I'll respect your concern for J6 when I see the Left take responsibility for the domestic terrorism of the BLM movement, ANTIFA and the current violence against Tesla. And then maybe we can talk about sentimentality and national morality.
To everyone else in the world, looking in from outside of your crazy disinformation bubble, you seem genuinely nuts. That there are so many crazies like you is what terrifies me.
Yeah, we don't want you bullying your way into our backyard to steal our lawnmower.
Listen, we had an agreed upon trade deal which, when that Orange Turd signed it, he claimed it was the best trade deal ever. Now the same ignoramus is claiming he's getting screwed by Canada. Which is it? It can't be both.
And what is the rationale? You say fentanyl and illegals at the border. Well if you look at the numbers (not Trump's because all he does is lie) neither is much of an issue at the northern border.
It's all about Trump's megalomania. He's a mentally deficient convicted rapist and felon and this who your going to side with?
Trade has also regulated by NAFTA for decades. Sadly, in instances where there has been disagreement, the results of arbitration have frequently been ignored by the USA. The softwood lumber question has been raised more than once with the results supportly Canada, but we are still being penalized.
With regard to securing the border, less than 1% of illegal immigrants or drugs enter the US from Canada according to the US Border Patrol. The majority of illegal immigrants, drugs, and guns coming into Canada is from the USA.
Trump is looking for an excuse to destroy our economy and then to take our resources. The border is just one of his multiplicity of reasons that he is tossing out there to justify his illegal actions.
The US is a net exporter of drugs, people and most importantly guns. You like to make demands of your neighbours but in Canada your drugs are killing our people and your guns are used by cartels in Mexico and used to kill people in Canada. I think we should start making demands on you
I can't entirely agree. Here again is the risk of binaries from either side: failure to recognize amorality in states (particularly one's own) pursuing their interests is just the other side of failure to recognize that its actions are defined by individual relationships in aggregate. They do change. They are mutable. It's just slow and very hazy.
Morality in statecraft is a tough one, and I don't disbelieve it exists. Funny though, a lot of people railing against US morality at the moment reject the concept of individual morality. State morality is doing the right thing by its citizens, which will almost never (or never) be the wrong thing for any other nation not presently being an aggressor. The US has a long history of purportedly doing good for others while throwing its own citizens under the bus. The pols have done all right by themselves.
The behavior to our closest allies and friends is a halcyon alert of Rump’s intentions domestically and globally and, remember, complacency and normalizing aberrant behavior is what led to the Hitler-inspired WWII. The footprint of Putin and Orban lies at the feet of the 2025 Heritage Foundation orchestrated plan.
You are correct, I think, about Canadian psychology. I happened to be in a waiting room just north of Toronto today, and the 24-hour news station was on. Of course it was nothing but "tariffs, tariffs, tariffs". Just hearing the conversations around me, I can completely validate your psychological assessment.
But as a Canadian myself, I think those of us who feel betrayed are idiots. Foreign policy isn't the same as friendship. Nations don't have friendships. Nations don't have a moral compass. Its people may, but that doesn't scale. Everything a nation does should be in the interests of its citizens, period. If a nation's government is NOT doing that, it is failing. Just like the Canadian government has been failing for a decade (and it now looks like we're in for a summer of much the same). Trump sees a multipolar world in the future, and to his credit, he's not facing it with violence, but with economic force - which is more in his wheelhouse anyway. Canada has become so poor, and so dependent on the US, that Trump's taunts about the 51st state cut deep - because we know that without the US, we are done. Over. Trump knows this and we have things he needs in order to fulfil his large, popular mandate - most obviously oil and minerals. So he's pressuring us to get them. He also wants to on-shore production and industry. The more expensive it is to buy from Canada, the more incentive to build and buy in the US.
It's not a "whim".
Those who continue to think that he's doing this to serve some sort of personal neurosis are going to constantly underestimate him, and indeed he depends on people underestimating him. It's part of his strategy. Just like sewing chaos and dropping ideas that take up the news cycle for a week. This is a natural strategy for him. It's standard operating procedure. And it's working.
As a Canadian, I'm not happy with the economic situation here, but it was really bad in October. Now it's hopeless. Trump knows this. He will weaken us until we beg for help. Then it will be on his terms. Is it nice? No. But since when were international relations constrained by niceties in anything more than a surface charade to assist politics? Those who thought otherwise are now learning the truth. And we Canadian snowflakes just can't grok it. People's brains are melting. Idiots.
It is our own government we should be blaming. Their globalist degrowth ideology has cut off our most fruitful economic engine. They knew what they were doing. Less production and productivity leads to a worse quality of life. But when 30% of your population is foreign born, and another large percent is too young to remember what Canada used to be, I suppose you figure you can get away with it. Good for the environment, you know, to starve out the populace. There are "too many people" anyway, and we are coming up against the "limits to growth" (that have been revised upwards every year since the 80s because the apocalypse keeps not happening).
This is to say, if I were offered easy immigration to the US right now I'd take it in a heartbeat. Canada is either dead or a zombie. If it survives this summer, it will just continue to be weakened by the UN, WHO, WEF, etc, until we're begging for the IMF. The US, while it will face some short term struggles in its emerging isolationism, is way better positioned for long term success than Canada (as long as they get their debt under control, which is what is happening now).
It did not surprise me to learn that Elon’s Canadian grandfather belonged to Technocracy Inc. in the 1940s. This group believed in continentalism and overtaking Canada, Greenland, and Panama were in their discussions. (Elon and Trump have never had a unique idea in their lives).
I agree 100%. I just hope that Canadians don’t hate all of us Americans who don’t want anything to do with Trump, Musk, or MAGA. Trump is trying to do something bad to Canada, but please remember he’s also trying to hurt America and Americans.
Sadly Canadians aren't above hating Americans for this. An old friend of mine yesterday proclaimed that "Americans are assholes". I said, "Really, all of them?!'
Thank you, Mike. This is the clearest description I’ve read of what we as Canadians, and all we as world citizens, are facing. What we’re really waiting for is - what are you US citizens going to do about it? To us more sedate Canadians, you’ve always seemed to be effusively patriotic. Now we’re going to see just how much you really love the ideals you brought into existence, that beacon to the world, the equality your Founders declared was self-evident. We want to know - what will you do to ensure that “government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth”? Will you defend your Constitution?
I hope that America's (former) allies understand that while the U. S. Presidency is temporarily occupied by an asset of an hostile foreign state that is attempting to destroy us through him, Americans as a whole retain our great affection and solidarity with our dear neighbors Canada and Mexico, Ukraine, NATO countries, and other friendly nations. Let us together oppose authoritarianism and the ongoing destruction of this once-great republic and its relationships with other freedom-loving peoples.
The rest of the world is watching and hoping and wishing you will do exactly that. But since it's not happening, we can't afford to wait any longer in hope, but instead have to assume this is the world we are now living in and act accordingly.
That we are, and the signals are not good. What American's seem fail to see is this wholesale upending of international order is having real-world impacts on the rest of us ... and we get no vote, have no power to influence or overthrow the tyrany. The 'once-great Republic' has always been a bully, but we tolerated that because there was an agreement of stability. No more.
there have been will continue to be boycotts, protests, phonebanks to representatives, donations to democrats in special elections, the support of the rise of independent media, mass vandalizing of tesla cars and dealerships. honest question, without defensiveness, is there something else we can be doing to show the world we reject this bullshit?
I do not understand your question. The US government has made explicit its plan to annex Canada through economic warfare & withdrawal of mutual defence assurances. Secretary of State Rubio said on Canadian soil, “It is not a meeting about how we're going to take over Canada.”
This is the stark reality Canadians must contend with. Your fight to preserve your way of life, your freedom & your democracy has our support and solidarity, but your country is - and will remain - a threat to our sovereignty.
what you write ("[the united states] is - and will remain - a threat to [canada's] sovereignty") is heartbreakingly true. my question above ("is there something else we can be doing to show the world we reject this bullshit?") was in response to your statement: "What American's seem fail to see is this wholesale upending of international order is having real-world impacts on the rest of us."
my questions is: are there more ways to show solidarity for those of us who get it? jared polis (governor of colorado) named march 15th colorado canada friendship day" and i called and gave him profuse thanks. in addition to what i wrote above (i.e. protesting, boycotting, etc.), i'm volunteering to phonebank for special elections to flip the house, setting up visits with my reps, joining mutual aid groups, talking to everyone i know, etc. i was asking (in good faith, truly) if there was another way for those of us who are disgusted by what trump is doing (to our allies especially) to show that we stand with you?
You are one of the few doing everything you can, Kirby. So it's difficult to say what more, you alone, can do. It's your countrymen who are the problem, and thier insular apathy that feeds the machine that keeps them locked in thier mindset.
A national tax strike? I dunno, it's hard. The time to nip this in the bud was 7 Jan 2021, then to pack the Supreme Court. History will not be kind to those who were too complacent and should have known better. They let you down and you're trying to recover from a very difficult place.
At the rate Americans are waking up to the perils of Fascism, it will be decades before the USA does anything to stop the spread. Words at this point mean less than nothing. Only actions, and the actions I see are a start but they aren’t big enough and they won’t make the “government” afraid of “the people”. You need massive protests of millions of people and they need to take to the streets, shit down the entire country and STAY THERE. The Courts won’t stop them, none of the so-called guard rails will stop them, only PEOPLE POWER WILL!
While forcing Canada to its knees in supplication to Trump and, more to your point, the ideology of Cutis Yarvin, the prize at the end of this rainbow, if you will, is the wealth of resources sitting below Canadian soil and throughout its mountains. Vast deposits of uranium, gold, nickel, copper, zinc, iron ore, lithium, cobalt and oil undoubtedly has Trump’s billionaire patrons salivating at the prospect of getting their hands on so vast a reserve that has the potential of generating trillions of dollars (US) of profit. Access to those resources has long been a trademark of Canadian-American relations (just look at the sale of crude oil to US distributors at a significant discount which has served the interests of both countries for decades) and could and should become the centerpiece of a new trade agreement between the countries that, in the hands of competent government, could become a model for economic intercourse world-wide. Instead, the security interests of both countries and, in particular, those of the United States become secondary to a “might-makes-right” ideology intended to stroke the ego of one man; that seeks to force Canada to lie prostrate before Trump with his boot on its neck and beg Trump to lift that boot in willing exchange for unfettered access of Canada’s mineral deposits and oil fields.
All true. And beyond Canadian resources, Trump and Putin prefer to look at climate change as a fait accompli. The elimination of Arctic Ocean ice seems to them to be highly exploitable, enabling new arctic ports (Russia has always been obsessed with securing warm water ports) to access newly opened shipping lanes over the top of the world. This is a 21st century Manifest Destiny revival, and they plan to run over any people who get in the way.
I'm in the UK watching this unfold with horror - and considering that the old world order is now over and is likely never coming back
and that it was what brought us to the bring of biophysical collapse. So while I personally was living a comfortable life, it was not - and will never be - a sustainable system
so then the question becomes - how do we who care about the continuation of complex life on earth (at least this iteration of it) evolve a new system, predicated on values that actually bring us forward towards a future we'd be proud to leave behind? (And that doesn't result in the extinction of humanity)?
L'État, c'est moi. Disgusting amoral behavior
My country initiated this criminal behavior. I would say Canada has no obligation whatsoever to us. I wouldn’t blame them if they cut off all energy exports for the duration of Trump’s term. Don’t play his game. Many of us are so sorry.
Yep
You appear to be one of the very few Americans who gets it in its entirety. Refreshing to read! I appreciate your thorough and deep understanding of the existential threat that we Canadians suddenly are facing thanks to the unhinged megalomaniac that your fellow countrymen sought to put in the position of ultimate global power.
I hope that there are more of you than not in your country, and that you eventually stand up for what is right for all of us. Sadly, something tells me that I perhaps shouldn't hold my breath.
Anyway, I'll be reading you! Glad to have found your Substack..
Thankyou from a Canadian for your support of our sovereignty 🇨🇦
Well said - and yes Canadians finally have something to unify over. 🇨🇦
Hi, in Italian we use the word "statunitense" to define those who live in the country between Canada and Mexico, while with American we mean from Chile to Canada.
I think you miss the point. This is a fight against the globalist agenda, we can no longer continue on a path of endless wars and spending that will surely destroy the country. The US is deficit spending a trillion dollars every hundred days. Bad trade policies, illegal immigration and fraud are quickly destroying life in the US. Country's like Canada, Mexico and most of Europe have for too long exploited these relationships to the detriment of the US and it must stop now. You should turn your energy towards your own country and ask for better leadership. Canada has been managed into the ground. Ridiculous economic policies and erosion of civil liberties have destroyed the country. You deserve what you get when you keep voting in the same polices.
Frank, allow me to be frank.
Your response is an incoherent jumble of grievances, stitched together by resentment rather than reason. You invoke “globalists” as a kind of intellectual get-out-of-jail-free card, a catch-all bogeyman that explains everything and nothing at once.
Yes, U.S. deficit spending is reckless. Yes, bad trade policy has consequences. Yes, immigration requires management. None of these points are novel, and none justify the farcical notion that Canada is some cunning geopolitical parasite draining America’s strength.
Your entire argument collapses under the weight of its own contradictions. You rail against deficit spending—then demand economic isolationism, which would further cripple U.S. trade and growth. You denounce fraud—yet support an administration that treats the law as a formality. You claim to oppose “endless wars”—while backing a foreign policy that alienates allies, strengthens adversaries, and accelerates global instability.
And while you pontificate about how America is finally standing up for itself, Trump is launching airstrikes in Yemen and threatening to attack Iran—the exact kind of interventionist blundering you claim to oppose. A trillion dollars in deficit spending every hundred days, and where is it going? Right back into the machinery of war, into the Middle East quagmire that every serious person knows is unwinnable. So tell me, Frank, is this the fight against “globalism” you had in mind?
Your suggestion that Canada has “exploited” the U.S. is particularly laughable. Canada has fought alongside America in nearly every modern war, subsidized American energy security, and maintained the most peaceful border on earth—all while withstanding constant economic and political whiplash from Washington’s latest tantrum.
You declare that Canadians “deserve what they get” for electing poor leaders. Yet strangely, you don’t apply that logic to Americans who cheer for the looting of their own institutions. If democracy means anything, it means taking responsibility for your own choices rather than blaming imaginary cabals and foreign scapegoats.
So, Frank, let’s indeed be frank: your argument isn’t an argument. It’s a lament dressed as a position, an excuse to avoid reckoning with the real source of America’s decline—an anti-democratic movement within its own borders, fueled not by foreign exploitation, but by self-inflicted decay.
Put down the nationalist fairytales. Pick up a history book. And if you insist on being “frank,” at least try to be right.
Franks post sounds like a regurgitation of RW talking points with no critical thought taking place between when he hears or reads the points and spews it back out. It’s just like how they like their masses- pliable and no thinking, easy to manipulate .
As regards the deficit - why do the democratic presidents who reduce the deficit never meet with the MAGA/tea party RW approval . They seem not to be aware that DemocratIC presidents have reduced the deficits.
US bullying other countries , following in Putins footsteps bc it’s the Kremlin playbook - that is a thing of the past. The 3rd Reich is last century - were done with the less sophisticated barbaric behavior of the past. We’re about alliances , relationships , if you don’t like this, you’re going to watch the rest of the world develop right on past us- with US Econ no longer the envy of the world , left in a dustbin - exactly like Putin wants.
Why, Frank, are you choosing treason against the US? Now is the time - you’ll either stand up like a REAL American against tyranny and against Russia, or you’re a traitor. Every time you post - people see which side you’re on.
There is no country on earth that benefits more from the "globalist agenda", as you put it, than the United States. You have 5% of the population, but consume 25% of global resources. Trump tells you that the US has been victimized by bad trade policies, so you believe him without asking questions. Your country isn't getting ripped off; quite the contrary, no nation on earth has plundered as widely and deeply as the US. No country has overthrown more elected leaders, invaded more countries, extorted emerging economies with the imposition of your currency, the Petro dollar. But your country is getting the short end of the stick? Pull your head out of your Fox News bubble, and take a deep draught of air. It'll do you some good. Some advice: Trump lies all the time, so if he's telling you the US is getting ripped off then you can safely assume the opposite.
You make a lot of the usual political assumptions and of course they are all wrong, most Americans feel this way regardless of party affiliation. I am not a Fox News watcher, just a guy that has seen the decline in the standard of living. Everything I said is 100% true and if you don’t like that’s fine. We don’t want to be Canada
Details: President Trump has suggested Canada unfairly put tariffs of over 200% on American dairy products during President Biden's term, but the level has been unchanged since before Biden took office.
The over 200% tariffs on U.S. dairy products are only triggered if U.S. dairy exports exceed certain yearly duty-free limits, and U.S. dairy manufacturers say they have never been close to exceeding these limits.
Additionally, these tariffs were negotiated during the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Mr. Trump signed during his first term. Canada's published tariff lists for 2020 and 2025 show tariffs on U.S. dairy products have remained unchanged from the end of his first term through the end of President Biden's term. For example, both lists show the same tariff rate of 245.5% for any cheese products above the duty-free limit.
Would you be ok with reciprocal tariffs? I don’t care about previous trade deals, they don’t work anymore
And why don't the previous trade deals work anymore? Because Trump said so? Why don't they work? The US economy was doing much better than any other western economy since the Pandemic of 2020, so clearly the previous arrangements were working much better for the US than anybody else.
If you don’t know why they don’t work now then it is probably your filtered Canadian media. I don’t care how other countries are doing, the tariffs should be reciprocal, if other countries don’t like it they can trade with country’s other than the US
Did you not read the part about how those dairy tariffs have never actually been imposed? They're simply there to prevent a flooding of the much smaller Canadian market, which, again, is something that has never even come close to happening. So, in reality, the US is not being tariffed one cent by Canada. Not one cent. Trump simply lied, and I can't help but notice that you have repeated his lies here. Where are you getting your information from?
The $200 billion in subsidies to Canada and the unfair tariffs that Canada charges the US makes my point. This is no longer a deal the US can live with and your crying about how unfair it is makes the point. Look at your own government we are done with Canadian welfare
Fact check: Trump’s fantastical claim of a $200 billion ‘subsidy’ to Canada
https://www.macombdaily.com/2025/03/14/fact-check-trumps-fantastical-claim-of-a-200-billion-subsidy-to-canada/
They’ll happily make deals with other allies, bypassing the US. They will never agree to be a 51st state- that’s the drugs talking .
Nobody wants Canada as a state. It would be the biggest welfare state in the country
Nations have no friends and there is nonroom for sentimentality. Nations have interests and sometimes interests overlap; and sometimes they don't. Right now Canada does not share our interests.
Nations have no friends, only interests. Sentimentality has no place in statecraft. When a nation sacrifices its citizens or another nation’s citizens, it isn’t realizing sentimentality—it’s failing its fundamental duty.
Who has been sacrificed?
What are nations without their people—people who, as humans, carry sentimentality as part of their nature? Who is being sacrificed? What is being sacrificed? People’s livelihoods are sacrificed daily. The powerful minority sacrifices the dreams and aspirations of many who believed in freedom. Ask the artists, poets, and writers if they use sentiment in their craft. Nations act on interests, not friendships, often at the cost of human lives. Soldiers are sent to war, civilians become collateral damage, and colonized peoples suffer for economic and territorial gain. Allies are abandoned when they no longer serve strategic needs, as seen with the Kurds and South Vietnamese. Governments have sacrificed their own citizens, from Stalin’s purges to China’s Cultural Revolution. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with modern conflicts, show that statecraft prioritizes power over sentiment. When nations fail to protect people, they do not exhibit sentimentality—they betray their fundamental duty. The U.S. Constitution itself is being sacrificed.
This betrayal was evident on January 6th, when law enforcement officers faced brutal assaults while defending the U.S. Capitol. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick suffered fatal strokes after being sprayed with chemicals. Officers Howard Liebengood, Jeffrey Smith, Gunther Hashida, and Kyle DeFreytag died by suicide in the aftermath. Over 140 officers sustained serious injuries, including concussions, broken bones, burns, and PTSD. Many were beaten with metal pipes, crushed in doorways, or sprayed with bear spray. The attack left lasting physical and psychological scars, underscoring the immense sacrifice made by those who stood in defense of democracy.
J6 was a riot instigated by actors for the Democrat party and their State allies. It was used for political theatre and the last election was, among other things, a reaction against that corruption. I'll respect your concern for J6 when I see the Left take responsibility for the domestic terrorism of the BLM movement, ANTIFA and the current violence against Tesla. And then maybe we can talk about sentimentality and national morality.
To everyone else in the world, looking in from outside of your crazy disinformation bubble, you seem genuinely nuts. That there are so many crazies like you is what terrifies me.
Good grief. You drank an extra dose of the KKKoolaid didn't you? Maybe try thinking for yourself instead of spouting Fox News talking points.
Yeah, we don't want you bullying your way into our backyard to steal our lawnmower.
Listen, we had an agreed upon trade deal which, when that Orange Turd signed it, he claimed it was the best trade deal ever. Now the same ignoramus is claiming he's getting screwed by Canada. Which is it? It can't be both.
And what is the rationale? You say fentanyl and illegals at the border. Well if you look at the numbers (not Trump's because all he does is lie) neither is much of an issue at the northern border.
It's all about Trump's megalomania. He's a mentally deficient convicted rapist and felon and this who your going to side with?
However, Canada is of great interest to the USA which is the real problem.
We would like Canada to help us secure the border. Trade has been a tender spot for decades.
Trade has also regulated by NAFTA for decades. Sadly, in instances where there has been disagreement, the results of arbitration have frequently been ignored by the USA. The softwood lumber question has been raised more than once with the results supportly Canada, but we are still being penalized.
With regard to securing the border, less than 1% of illegal immigrants or drugs enter the US from Canada according to the US Border Patrol. The majority of illegal immigrants, drugs, and guns coming into Canada is from the USA.
Trump is looking for an excuse to destroy our economy and then to take our resources. The border is just one of his multiplicity of reasons that he is tossing out there to justify his illegal actions.
The US is a net exporter of drugs, people and most importantly guns. You like to make demands of your neighbours but in Canada your drugs are killing our people and your guns are used by cartels in Mexico and used to kill people in Canada. I think we should start making demands on you
Good point, if the US didn't supply guns the cartels would be throwing rocks. Cheers.
I can't entirely agree. Here again is the risk of binaries from either side: failure to recognize amorality in states (particularly one's own) pursuing their interests is just the other side of failure to recognize that its actions are defined by individual relationships in aggregate. They do change. They are mutable. It's just slow and very hazy.
Morality in statecraft is a tough one, and I don't disbelieve it exists. Funny though, a lot of people railing against US morality at the moment reject the concept of individual morality. State morality is doing the right thing by its citizens, which will almost never (or never) be the wrong thing for any other nation not presently being an aggressor. The US has a long history of purportedly doing good for others while throwing its own citizens under the bus. The pols have done all right by themselves.
The behavior to our closest allies and friends is a halcyon alert of Rump’s intentions domestically and globally and, remember, complacency and normalizing aberrant behavior is what led to the Hitler-inspired WWII. The footprint of Putin and Orban lies at the feet of the 2025 Heritage Foundation orchestrated plan.
My wife and I cancelled our trip to Hawaii as we despise how the American government is treating Canadians.
You are correct, I think, about Canadian psychology. I happened to be in a waiting room just north of Toronto today, and the 24-hour news station was on. Of course it was nothing but "tariffs, tariffs, tariffs". Just hearing the conversations around me, I can completely validate your psychological assessment.
But as a Canadian myself, I think those of us who feel betrayed are idiots. Foreign policy isn't the same as friendship. Nations don't have friendships. Nations don't have a moral compass. Its people may, but that doesn't scale. Everything a nation does should be in the interests of its citizens, period. If a nation's government is NOT doing that, it is failing. Just like the Canadian government has been failing for a decade (and it now looks like we're in for a summer of much the same). Trump sees a multipolar world in the future, and to his credit, he's not facing it with violence, but with economic force - which is more in his wheelhouse anyway. Canada has become so poor, and so dependent on the US, that Trump's taunts about the 51st state cut deep - because we know that without the US, we are done. Over. Trump knows this and we have things he needs in order to fulfil his large, popular mandate - most obviously oil and minerals. So he's pressuring us to get them. He also wants to on-shore production and industry. The more expensive it is to buy from Canada, the more incentive to build and buy in the US.
It's not a "whim".
Those who continue to think that he's doing this to serve some sort of personal neurosis are going to constantly underestimate him, and indeed he depends on people underestimating him. It's part of his strategy. Just like sewing chaos and dropping ideas that take up the news cycle for a week. This is a natural strategy for him. It's standard operating procedure. And it's working.
As a Canadian, I'm not happy with the economic situation here, but it was really bad in October. Now it's hopeless. Trump knows this. He will weaken us until we beg for help. Then it will be on his terms. Is it nice? No. But since when were international relations constrained by niceties in anything more than a surface charade to assist politics? Those who thought otherwise are now learning the truth. And we Canadian snowflakes just can't grok it. People's brains are melting. Idiots.
It is our own government we should be blaming. Their globalist degrowth ideology has cut off our most fruitful economic engine. They knew what they were doing. Less production and productivity leads to a worse quality of life. But when 30% of your population is foreign born, and another large percent is too young to remember what Canada used to be, I suppose you figure you can get away with it. Good for the environment, you know, to starve out the populace. There are "too many people" anyway, and we are coming up against the "limits to growth" (that have been revised upwards every year since the 80s because the apocalypse keeps not happening).
This is to say, if I were offered easy immigration to the US right now I'd take it in a heartbeat. Canada is either dead or a zombie. If it survives this summer, it will just continue to be weakened by the UN, WHO, WEF, etc, until we're begging for the IMF. The US, while it will face some short term struggles in its emerging isolationism, is way better positioned for long term success than Canada (as long as they get their debt under control, which is what is happening now).
It did not surprise me to learn that Elon’s Canadian grandfather belonged to Technocracy Inc. in the 1940s. This group believed in continentalism and overtaking Canada, Greenland, and Panama were in their discussions. (Elon and Trump have never had a unique idea in their lives).
I agree 100%. I just hope that Canadians don’t hate all of us Americans who don’t want anything to do with Trump, Musk, or MAGA. Trump is trying to do something bad to Canada, but please remember he’s also trying to hurt America and Americans.
Sadly Canadians aren't above hating Americans for this. An old friend of mine yesterday proclaimed that "Americans are assholes". I said, "Really, all of them?!'