Understanding Trump
The Love of Old Canada and this Writers Descent into Insanity
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Trigger Warning: I don’t think I’ve dealt with this issue in the best way so far. I didn’t post anything to these pages all week. However, I lit up Facebook with a bunch of off-the-cuff commentary in which I unloaded on followers. I invite anyone who reads these pages to follow me on Facebook and X – however, you may not like it. You might be turned off by this other side of me. It’s not really another side per se, it's more like the same side but with no filter. This means I say things as they pop into my head regardless of any consequences. I say things that I feel in the moment, things sometimes inspired by anger, that I don’t really mean. But I say them anyway, not out of an act of catharsis, but because they represent the truth of a feeling or notion at the moment it was conceived. So, for better or for worse, I send them out into the world. Today’s post offers a bit of a glimpse into a week of topsy-turvy Facebook posts in which my very sanity at times appeared highly questionable. Buckle up friends, here we go.
Employment minister Steve McKinnon had the following to say about President Trump and his 51st state proposal:
“Canada is sovereign, Canada will choose its own destiny, thank you very much…Canada will make its choices. We have political differences, we have regions, we have lively question-and-answer sessions, but Canada is united on one thing – pride in being Canadians. And we will always, always, always stand up for this country.”
But how does a nation become sovereign to begin with? How does a nation secure the right to “make its own choices”? Don’t all nations have “political differences” and “regions”? Don't most people take “pride” in theirs?
I don’t think McKinnon knows anything about Canada, or at least he knows no more than its prime minister who thinks Canadian-ness is defined as “not being American.” But if we compare how Americans run their country to how Canadians run theirs, we are left with the uncomfortable truth that unlike Canada, America has earned its sovereignty and its right to make its own choices. America can back up its words with action. America has the most powerful military in the world.
Canada, on the other hand, feels entitled to its sovereignty and to its right to make its own choices, however, it absolutely relies on the Americans to secure it. Canada has no real military to speak of, certainly not one that could safeguard her sovereignty from any number of hostile foreign threats. Because of this we have no real standing in the world. We are little more than big talkers. Thank God the Americans put up with our insufferably unrealistic impression of ourselves.
Do Canadians realize that America not only protects Canada, but it polices the oceans and makes global trade possible as well? Canadians definitely benefit from global trade (as they do trade with the Americans), but how do they contribute to the system that makes it possible? Without a real military, what meaningful contribution can be made?
Last week I posted the following to Facebook:
Canada paid more in reparations (Aboriginal Industry) and social services than it did to service its military. If you have no military, no power, why would anyone listen to you or care what your desires might be?
And a few days before that I posted:
“It is impossible to know what Trump is really thinking. And I had no idea Canada was so chock full of economic and trade experts – who would have known that between all the ‘Fuck Trudeau’ flags and all the anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists, Canada had such a wealth of experts on global finance!
If I had to guess, Trump is concerned that Canada is a woke empire, that we have been infiltrated by the Chinese, the Russians, and by a basket of Middle East terrorists. Not to mention India – who has also infiltrated us.
We would never, until very recently that is, do anything to protect post-national Canada, since there is no one there with any sort of a core identity. With nothing to identify, there is nothing to protect.
I doubt Trump actually wants Canada to be a 51st state – which is too bad because we would make a great one (at least geographically). But Canada would just end up being an enormous Democrat voting block. We would ruin America. Yes, we are a useless cancer (totally of our own making), and it is far better to leave us alone, and just stick to forcing our dumb and terrible leaders to do sensible things with threats of tariffs.
The absolute best thing that ridiculous and powerless Canadians can do is pray to God that Trump saves us from ourselves.”
And a day before that, probably at the point I hit rock bottom, I wrote the following:
“I’d rather be an American winner than a Canadian loser. Not sorry about this. I do love Canada. I’m an advocate for ethno-traditional nationalism — but this type of national conception doesn’t fly in a country full of know-nothing weaklings.
Americans and Canadians are essentially the same people. The one exception being of course that Americans are better in every way.”
Ugh…It actually hurts a little to read my own words. A really great response to the above came from a great Canadian whom I admire Mark Hecht:
“When I see you making the statement that 'Americans are better in every way than Canadians' I see a man lashing out while drowning in a deep pool of grief.
I know you don't mean it.
Your anger is just the surface expression of grief. If I pushed hard enough on your anger, out would flow the tears of sadness.
How could it be anything else?
Those who loved Old Canada deeply are in great pain. Old Canada is dead. She's not coming back. And you loved her dearly.
My condolences.
She was the most beautiful thing you could imagine. Serene, peaceful, fun, easy to be with, intelligent, and she came with just enough subtle festiness to keep things interesting. Most of all she was trustworthy.
Our leaders murdered Old Canada.
A New Canada will fill us again with joy, joie de vive, exuberance and ease, but it will be different. New Canada will not be Old Canada.
New Canada is still many years away.
We will have to create her. It will require a lot of talking, negotiating, violence and then, acceptance.
That is the future. That is not now. Today, we are in a transition.
Transitions are hard.
Transitions hold traps; quagmires.
If one gets stuck in the grief of transition, languishing in the anger of loss, the future never becomes the present.
To move forward, we need you. You have a gift. You are an amazing writer. An honest writer, although recently you've been lying to yourself by staying on the surface where anger and bitterness reside.
You need to dig deeper.
Yes, that is where it's most painful but the pain is your salvation; your gateway to moving forward.
Your readers need you. They need to follow you deep into that abyss of loss. They need to read the stories about why you loved Old Canada so profoundly. Tell us about her so we can remember. And then let her go.
Canada needs you. Don't admonish her. Don't scold her.
Lead.”
Is that not an amazing comment? How can Mark Hecht be so wise? How can he so easily see through my bullshit? It boggles the mind.
I need to do more thinking, perhaps soul-searching. I need to write. I need to “dig deeper.” I have a couple of ideas of how I can explain Trump (who I do not see as an enemy to Canada) from a perspective not yet explored by other writers. I am going to lean on the work of Dr. Ricardo Duchesene for this. He seems to be one of the only academics who has identified the Western tradition of the “big man.” That is, the ambitious status-seeking men who drive history. Trump is such a man. Although he may be exceptional, he is no anomaly. The West would not have developed so triumphantly had it not been for the big men with their big ambitions and big desires for status.
This is often viewed as a negative. Status-seeking men are seen as self-aggrandizers or tyrants. Sometimes they are those things. But the Western tradition of big men has produced more innovators than tyrants. Western men have discovered that they can win the elevated status they seek by inventing and creating prosperity. It's a brilliant tradition that almost no one even realizes is a thing. I’ll leave it here for now. I will need a few more days, perhaps another week (which is unusual for me to take so long, but these are unusual times). I will be busting open some books by Dr. Duchesne and I’ll be flushing out this idea of Trump as a Western “big man,” and what the implications for that hold?
And lastly, if you end up following me on Facebook, keep in mind that what I write there is meant to be read and thought about, but not really always taken seriously. Outrageous notions are expressed to catalyze thought and conversation. Don’t take everything I say literally, just think about what is being said and why. This is probably not the most direct and clear way to communicate, but I’m going to use the fact that I’m a “creative type” as an excuse (even if it's a poor one).
Stay tuned!
Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read Who is Mark Carney?
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Good morning Canada
I read your article and it describes my feelings to a T as that is exactly how I have been acting for at least the last few years & this was the first article I read after sending my friend a long list of complaints. Unlike you I am not that optimistic that all will be well eventually, I hope that is the case if not for us old aging bastards but for the sake of our children and the future of Canada.
Thank you (and Mark Hecht as well for his response). I feel the same. 👊