“I feel terrible for the American people because it’s not the American people, and it’s not even elected officials, it’s one person,”
Americans elected Trump, and Americans are failing to do anything to reign Trump in.
These are the official policies for the COUNTRY! So unfortunately, this is not just one person, it is de facto USA as a whole.If it was only Trump, it would just be Trump refusing to buy Canadian for himself. As it is, the whole apparatus is enforcing these decisions, and they impact all of USA.
This. I can’t stand how they blame the system for a choice they chose to make, be it voting for the orange turd, or sitting it out to protest a war halfway across the world, knowing fully well that he’d use that complacency ro return to office. Now the rest of us are dragged into the muck.
Absolutely, Trump was elected in a democratic election.
USA is a (flawed) democracy supposedly with checks and balances.
It’s not like some military general overthrew the democracy out of nowhere.Obviously there are good Americans that oppose this, and tried to prevent it, but they are unfortunately a minority, and as a whole USA as a country is doing this, and letting it happen.
The US electoral system is broken and has always been broken. Republicans have spent the past 2 decades gerrymandering and introducing as much legislation as possible to manipulate the outcome of elections in as many districts as possible. They’ve introduced legislation: to prevent people with debt from voting, to prevent people with criminal records from voting, to prevent people who cannot physically make it to polling stations from voting. The Republicans and the ruling class own all the largest media organizations in the United States, and they have weaponized social media and traditional media to indoctrinate and manipulate as many people as possible.
Trump won this election with fewer votes than he lost in 2020. He won mostly because Republicans and Democrats are material allies in neoliberal and imperialist endeavors. Democrats refused to campaign on progressive politics, instead choosing to run on a more conservative campaign than they ever have before.
The working class is not responsible for their own manipulation at the hands of the ruling class. It is not their fault that the system is broken. It is not the fault of American families who literally can not afford to resist, as without the income from their jobs, they will lose their homes and be unable to feed themselves and their children.
Capitalism is the problem. Conservatism, and by extension neoliberalism and fascism, is the problem. Donald Trump is an accelerationist fascist. He will not wait and seeks to plunge the nation headlong into fascism as soon as possible. But do not mistake that as being in opposition to the social and political system of America. Donald Trump is entirely a representative of the failure of American democracy, not a representative of the American people. He manipulated people into voting for him, as evidenced by widespread outrage at his actions even among those who ostensibly voted for him.
As an American, I hope more countries choose this path. Trump, and a large number of Americans need to understand that “American exceptionalism” only matters to (some) Americans. A community of nations means no one country gets to dictate to all the others. Eventually that isolationism some of my country clamor for will come to feel pretty lonely as fewer and fewer countries put up with our BS.
Good
Some highlights I found interesting:
The tariffs have been met with deep anxiety in Canada, whose majority of exports are sold to companies and clients in the US. Officials predict up to a million job losses if a 25% across the board levy went ahead, while economists warn that a recession is imminent if they persist.
Even with the tariffs being scaled back temporarily, the uncertainty alone is hurting both American and Canadian economies, says Rob Gillezeau, an assistant professor of economic analysis and policy at the University of Toronto.
“The most sensitive thing to uncertainty is business investment,” Prof Gillezeau says, adding that firms are “not going to want to spend a dime anywhere” until they have some clarity.
That trepidation is also seen in the stock market, which had erased virtually all its gains since Trump won the presidency in November.
million job losses if a 25% across the board levy went ahead, while economists warn that a recession is imminent if they persist.
Obviously this will harm the economy initially, probably much like when Finland lost most of Nokia. (Nokia was a huge part of Finish economy and jobs)
But Finland rose again quickly, and Canada will too, because Canada is a country that is very well liked in most of the world, and will have no problem increasing trade elsewhere.
There will be a transitional period, but on the upside also greater independence from USA.
Luckily Canada does not suffer from Dutch disease like Finland did. So Canada will be more flexible in the ways it can recover quickly.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease
USA on the other hand, will not be in similar position to recoup their trade losses with, Mexico, Canada, EU, UK and China.
So USA will probably face a harder recession than Canada.And that’s probably Trump’s plan, to weaken the entire west, including USA, NATO and of course Europe to benefit Russia.
Proof that the rug can be pulled out from under you is a good sign that you need to prepare for that.
These sorts of preparations speak about the uncertainty mentioned in the article. That kind of uncertainty also hurts both countries. I don’t think there’s any net benefit to anyone.
Honest question - are Canadians generally fine with normal US citizens with no untoward agenda still coming to visit and shop in Canada? I love partaking in the cuisine, a museum, and a library in a relatively nearby border town. Especially the more ethnically-diverse cuisine, because shitty generic Americana fare gets tiresome. Canadian Tire is fun, too, although I do secretly wonder why it’s not Canadian Tyre. Curious to know if US plates on a car in Canada generate a negative response nowadays.
Also, I’m sorry about the reality for which I felt the need to ask this question.
Come and spend your money in our economy, sure!
I doubt you’ll have any trouble unless you have MAGA bullshit on display or are driving a Tesla.
We dislike your president and the shit show he’s caused. If you’re willing to spend your hard earned money here though we’ll welcome you with open arms.
We were recently in Vancouver, and people were happy to have us! You shouldn’t worry. We did some extra shopping in solidarity and they appreciated our support.
Most of the people I know are not okay with Americans right now. I’m in Alberta tho.
That is surprising. I would anticipated the opposite in Alberta.
“Well, they’re very… sensitive.”
-BC
The title could really use an extra comma and some quotation marks…
It took me a while to work out why they were so critical of Canada
