1. I was raised on Bob Dylan and that song always stood out to me and later, it was the part you quoted that was what alerted me to "Dylan wants me to infer something deeper than the face value of these words." (so thank you).
2. I saw FOUR protests Saturday, here in Phoenix, AZ, a truly purple 6th-biggest-metropolis (and growing) here in the USA (always look for positives. This truly is one).
3. I'm so glad you gave us an extra post. This was TOTALLY worth it.
Keep reminding us, Jesse! Another Dylan, Dylan Thomas, wrote that we should not go gently into the good night. He was writing about death and you I believe are warning of the death of Canada. His poem continues, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”. This is what we m
We must rage against the authoritarian takeover of not just our country, but our human freedoms. “Keep kicking at the darkness until it bleeds daylight”. Charlie Angus/Bruce Coburn
Trust me when I tell you that no, Canadians are NOT underestimating the danger. Hell, at least 20% of Canadians have for years tried to make anyone who would listen understand how bad our interconnectedness with the US was. And that we would be the first target if everything in the US went sideways.
Now organically with few “leaders” average Canadians are finding ways to fight back, financially which is basically the core ideology of all Americans, a massive upswing in gun license applications, and leaders like Charlie Angus who is in the thick of things in Europe and with NATO and who lets us all know what’s happening and what average Canadians can do right now.
The only folks who are underestimating the danger are the extremist right wing “freedom” conservatives who WANT to join the USA. Brainwashed, ignorant and TRUE BELIEVERS who think that the USA is a far better country than ours because our democratically elected PM is a “Dictator” and Trump is a “Saviour”.
The leadership in the american military won’t, currently, invade Canada on a presidential order.
Elon/Trump are searching through Federal employees for MAGA so they can be put into positions of responsibility.
The same is going on in the military. Once they’ve established a leadership who will blindly follow a presidential order, Canada will face a military invasion.
If it were US Democrats that were using more "polite" language asking for greater continental integration, would the response be different? Is "Canadian Culture" merely a subset of US culture, or something entirely different?
Listening to the podcasts, it feels as if you are both more optimistic than I am. I'm not as convinced Canadians see themselves as entirely outside US institutions. I see them only as not seeing themselves in the individual of Donald Trump, and not in very specific policies.
(Note: I don't see myself reflected in the Republicans, Bloc, Democrats, Conservatives, Liberals, Greens, or NDP -- so my personal views on British North American parties is largely dismissed).
Curious if you have been reading https://substack.com/@charlieangus , who has attracted a readership largely in agreement that Canadians are going to fight.
I see the problems as longer term and systemic: if all Canadians have is a focus on the cult of personality, anything that isn't accomplished in the next few years will merely be accomplished later using a less obvious strategy.
Is systemic Canada (not people's personal impressions and wishful thinking, but actual laws and institutions) that different from the USA? Canadians can point to policies that have historically been different, but are those policies core to “Canadian Values”? Are they actually willing to fight for them?
Is it possible for a future Canadian political party (more centralized into party executive each government since P.E. Trudeau) to erase those differences, and then with short memories people forget that there ever were differences?
Note: Lots of "buy Canadian" and noise about tariffs, but no discussion of Canada exiting FVEY where Canada's continued "cooperation" (subservience) has far greater implications.
Now, if the USA were to actually exit NATO, and that cold-war era entity were allowed to fade, that might actually be a good thing longer-term. NATO should have been disbanded with the fall of the Soviet Union and never expanded eastward, as it was created by a subset of WW1&2 allies in order to launch a cold war against another of the WW1&2 allies.
Canada does have a different set of values at its heart. In some ways, they look and sound similar to American values. Which makes sense we have a shared history. But we also have a completely separate history that we do not share. Most Americans are not aware of this. So, while commercial US culture is insidious, and we don’t do enough to limit it in Canada and, yes, it has permeated to a great degree - it gets refracted through a Canadian lens and becomes a PART of our story. If you’re American it’s your whole story, but if you’re Canadian it’s just a subplot. And the fact remains, we are a separate sovereign nation and despite many decades of observing too much US culture, we are steadfast in our resolve to remain that way. Just as much, if not more so, than Americans are for their country.
Would you be willing to expand on what you feel those different values are?
Do these different values apply across the entire of the US political spectrum compared to the entire of the Canadian political spectrum, and do you believe there is any overlap?
This isn't an attempt to challenge you, but to try to encourage people to dive into their own thoughts. I'm wanting to learn more about what other Canadians think beyond the flag waiving.
------
I was claimed as a Canadian at birth (same year P.E. Trudeau first became Prime Minister in 1968), and have only ever had that citizenship and lived on land claimed by that government. In all my decades I've yet to have a clear idea of what "Canadian values" are.
There are tangible reasons for why Canada and the US are/were allies. It takes an idiot like Trump to throw it all away with disrespectful public statements.
1. I was raised on Bob Dylan and that song always stood out to me and later, it was the part you quoted that was what alerted me to "Dylan wants me to infer something deeper than the face value of these words." (so thank you).
2. I saw FOUR protests Saturday, here in Phoenix, AZ, a truly purple 6th-biggest-metropolis (and growing) here in the USA (always look for positives. This truly is one).
3. I'm so glad you gave us an extra post. This was TOTALLY worth it.
Keep reminding us, Jesse! Another Dylan, Dylan Thomas, wrote that we should not go gently into the good night. He was writing about death and you I believe are warning of the death of Canada. His poem continues, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”. This is what we m
We must rage against the authoritarian takeover of not just our country, but our human freedoms. “Keep kicking at the darkness until it bleeds daylight”. Charlie Angus/Bruce Coburn
Trust me when I tell you that no, Canadians are NOT underestimating the danger. Hell, at least 20% of Canadians have for years tried to make anyone who would listen understand how bad our interconnectedness with the US was. And that we would be the first target if everything in the US went sideways.
Now organically with few “leaders” average Canadians are finding ways to fight back, financially which is basically the core ideology of all Americans, a massive upswing in gun license applications, and leaders like Charlie Angus who is in the thick of things in Europe and with NATO and who lets us all know what’s happening and what average Canadians can do right now.
The only folks who are underestimating the danger are the extremist right wing “freedom” conservatives who WANT to join the USA. Brainwashed, ignorant and TRUE BELIEVERS who think that the USA is a far better country than ours because our democratically elected PM is a “Dictator” and Trump is a “Saviour”.
Interesting teaser. Can’t wait to see the evidence that Carney (I assume that’s the Central Banker reference) has indicated DOGE is a good idea.
Reviewing spending = DOGE?! Get serious.
Crazy way to dig at carney when pp is endorsed by and has the same values as the people threatening us.
The leadership in the american military won’t, currently, invade Canada on a presidential order.
Elon/Trump are searching through Federal employees for MAGA so they can be put into positions of responsibility.
The same is going on in the military. Once they’ve established a leadership who will blindly follow a presidential order, Canada will face a military invasion.
It’s coming.
If it were US Democrats that were using more "polite" language asking for greater continental integration, would the response be different? Is "Canadian Culture" merely a subset of US culture, or something entirely different?
Listening to the podcasts, it feels as if you are both more optimistic than I am. I'm not as convinced Canadians see themselves as entirely outside US institutions. I see them only as not seeing themselves in the individual of Donald Trump, and not in very specific policies.
(Note: I don't see myself reflected in the Republicans, Bloc, Democrats, Conservatives, Liberals, Greens, or NDP -- so my personal views on British North American parties is largely dismissed).
Curious if you have been reading https://substack.com/@charlieangus , who has attracted a readership largely in agreement that Canadians are going to fight.
I see the problems as longer term and systemic: if all Canadians have is a focus on the cult of personality, anything that isn't accomplished in the next few years will merely be accomplished later using a less obvious strategy.
Is systemic Canada (not people's personal impressions and wishful thinking, but actual laws and institutions) that different from the USA? Canadians can point to policies that have historically been different, but are those policies core to “Canadian Values”? Are they actually willing to fight for them?
Is it possible for a future Canadian political party (more centralized into party executive each government since P.E. Trudeau) to erase those differences, and then with short memories people forget that there ever were differences?
Note: Lots of "buy Canadian" and noise about tariffs, but no discussion of Canada exiting FVEY where Canada's continued "cooperation" (subservience) has far greater implications.
Now, if the USA were to actually exit NATO, and that cold-war era entity were allowed to fade, that might actually be a good thing longer-term. NATO should have been disbanded with the fall of the Soviet Union and never expanded eastward, as it was created by a subset of WW1&2 allies in order to launch a cold war against another of the WW1&2 allies.
Canada does have a different set of values at its heart. In some ways, they look and sound similar to American values. Which makes sense we have a shared history. But we also have a completely separate history that we do not share. Most Americans are not aware of this. So, while commercial US culture is insidious, and we don’t do enough to limit it in Canada and, yes, it has permeated to a great degree - it gets refracted through a Canadian lens and becomes a PART of our story. If you’re American it’s your whole story, but if you’re Canadian it’s just a subplot. And the fact remains, we are a separate sovereign nation and despite many decades of observing too much US culture, we are steadfast in our resolve to remain that way. Just as much, if not more so, than Americans are for their country.
Would you be willing to expand on what you feel those different values are?
Do these different values apply across the entire of the US political spectrum compared to the entire of the Canadian political spectrum, and do you believe there is any overlap?
This isn't an attempt to challenge you, but to try to encourage people to dive into their own thoughts. I'm wanting to learn more about what other Canadians think beyond the flag waiving.
------
I was claimed as a Canadian at birth (same year P.E. Trudeau first became Prime Minister in 1968), and have only ever had that citizenship and lived on land claimed by that government. In all my decades I've yet to have a clear idea of what "Canadian values" are.
https://r.flora.ca/p/canadian-heritage
There are tangible reasons for why Canada and the US are/were allies. It takes an idiot like Trump to throw it all away with disrespectful public statements.