And the thing i don’t think Americans have accepted yet… there’s no going back. They can vote the democrats back in next year. But we - their traditional allies will never be there for them again.
America will forever be isolated as untrustworthy.
They need a constitutional reform, limiting the power of the president to do shit like this unilaterally
Along with abolishing the electoral college and gerrymandering
We’re supposed to have a new constitution every generation.
“There is no greater tyranny than that of the dead over the living.”
— Thomas Paine
The so called president doesn’t care about the constitution, judges or laws. He gets away with it.
And when you’re the US president, they let you do it
If a proper revolution happens US will be taken back for sure. The problem is that Americans are way too comfortable for any major change and have been for a long time.
They’re in for a lot of discomfort though. Like generations of it.
It’s not only being comfortable. Arguably western democracies are even more comfortable with healthcare, job security and more social climbing.
Is the mix of hyper individualism, zero civic culture, and crab bucket job economy.
I’ve been seeing “comfortable” a lot, but I think honestly it’s less comfort and more confusion. I know it’s popular to portray us all as lazy, drinking our Big Gulp slushies and watching sportsball, but that’s not the whole picture.
We all know it sucks, we might call our reps, our friends might go wave some signs…but ultimately we’re culturally unaccustomed to organization, and that part cripples meaningful resistance. As the commenter below me stated, “lack of civic culture” and “hyper individualism” nails it.
Okay, we all want different things, we all struggle at wildly different randomized shifts because most of us are one missed paycheck away from disaster, how do we know who our friends are? No no, not the “Yeah man, that sucks lol idk.” friends, the ones who will actually fight with you?
Consequently, we’re suffering a massive lonliness epidemic where a lot of people not only have very little civic ties, they don’t even have a network of reliable companionship! A lot of this is simply thanks to suburban dominance and nowhere left to meet that’s not charging admission.
I don’t think that’s particularly a take on americans being lazy but a general issue where developed world populations tend to be more obedient because of they’re stuck in the zone of comfortable compliance.
China is by far the most extreme example of this. It’s a complete autocracy but also the economy is great and consumerism rampant.
Even the MAGA crowd are aware of this, they just think it’s a good thing. The only thing americans can all agree on is that we have some serious housecleaning to do.
I don’t think that’s true. I think the MAGAs have lived in such a comfortable bubble of American privilege that they don’t understand the implications of all this. They’re used to making jokes about Canada, “basically being the U.S.,” and having free and easy travel on the border that they don’t think about the fact that it’s a sovereign nation with it’s own culture and interests. I think they see this as politicians arguing, not America becoming a hostile foreign power.
Even the administration doesn’t seem to get this. They just had to cancel a, “cultural,” visit from the Second Lady to Greenland because both the government and public told them they were unwelcome. Apparently, they’re so steeped in American privilege (and probably used to people dismissing Trump ramblings as, “bluster,” or, “hot air,”) that it didn’t occur to them that you can’t just make a fun, friendly visit to a country the President threatened to invade.
This is one of the weirdest things anti-maga types have begun spewing.
Germany started two world wars and they have not been ‘forever isolated as untrustworthy’. I can assure you, the world is laughing at the US and Trump and a lot of countries and groups are angry.
If you stuck a half decent person in the chair and apologised, retracted tarrifs etc, I’m sure it’d all blow over in a few years.
Now your internet racially motivated Civil war? Yeah I don’t think you’ll get out of that one
The problem other country have is they are owed and they owe other countries USD. Its been the reserve currency since before the US stole Europe’s gold, its the currency of our global financial system.
It took Germany decades and at least couple of generations to shake off the lable, and in a lot of cases they still do. Obviously it’s not forever, but decades might as well be forever if you’re trying to open an international business or whatever
Yeah, you’re probably right. But a lot of trust will still be gone, it’s hard to make serious commitments with a country that has a history of ripping them up.
If something takes more than 4 years it gets lumped into “never” territory because no political party wants the next party to get credit for their work.
Guarantee it took Germany more than 4 years to recover their reputation (and even then, not enough to do well in Eurovision).
Yeah… Okay then.
Three times they were given the choice, twice he won and the other time he still had a sizable base of support - even after fucking covid up.
From now on you just have to be ready for anti-democracy, pro-imperialist, incompetency to take control of the US. They might not even allow a democrat to ever take over the executive branch ever again.
Trump had permanently altered relations with the United States and that, regardless of any future trade deals, there would be “no turning back.”
“The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over,” Carney said.
that sounds pretty bad, but it’s not very specific
As it has to be. What Trump does next and what happens in Europe will play a big role in the details.
This goes for every country, except maybe Russia. Arrogant prick thinks the US doesn’t need anybody else. Those who aren’t rich who think that way will be doing the finding out as a result of his fucking around.
Our era of close ties with Russia has been over for a damn hot minute. Trump thinks he’s friends with Putin, but Putin just wants to cripple the US.
He’s so fucking stupid. I always like when reporters glaze on him before asking a question, since they know he’s so manipulateable to this kind of shit. Ofc they don’t mean any of what they say but he’s way too dumb to realize it.
Regardless of motivations, if the US government is friendly with Russia’s, it’s a close relationship.
I guess if you’re just looking at one side. To me a close relationship requires mutual commitment, like we used to have with Canada. Our appeasement of Russia isn’t closeness, it’s obsequiousness.
Good point.
It’s hard to wonder why…
He really does think the EU is a country. I’m not sure my opinion of Americans will ever recover from them having voted in this absolute moron.
America was killed, by Americans, in a democratic election. And so many are still fondling the corpse, writhing with carrion bugs, and pretending it’s still alive.
When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.
When fascism came to America, it was wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.
Fixed
It Happened Here
Turned out it was carrying a Bible. Upside down.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_photo_op_at_St._John’s_Church
America is dead. Only Murica remains.
America was killed, by ignorant Americans
Twice. They did it twice.
You can almost (but not quite) forgive the first time. You could -maybe- write it off as an experiment, or that they were giving the ‘real politicians’ a scare to get them back in line. However that’s a lot of ‘almost’ and ‘maybe’.
But the second time, that’s fucking unforgivable.
I didn’t vote for him, but I expected his first term to be appoiting halfway competent people to run everything so he could fuck around and take the credit. I doubt I was alone.
Why would you expect that?
Because I thought he was lazy.
He is incredibly lazy, but he’s also incredibly vain and thin-skinned. Halfway competent people don’t suck up to him enough, so he was never going to be interested in appointing them. It was always obvious he was going to prefer incompetent but fawning.
Oh…
I can guaran-fucking-tee you my opinion of so-called “Americans” will never recover…
I’m more concerned if the country is ever able to recover.
FUCK!! IT’S ONLY BEEN A COUPLE MONTHS!!
Much worse is yet to be realized.
And, yes, I’m a suitably embarrassed US’ian.
🙄 🤦♀️
Lol I wish we were a country. Orange man dreaming big ;)
As a resident of a Continental Country that is not the US, we’ve pretty much always seen Europe as a single, monolithic thing. It’s hard for us to grasp how something like France, which is just slightly bigger than Minas Gerais, 4th largest state of Brazil, is a completely separate thing from the rest.
Honestly, that just seems like ignorance. It’s like you don’t know that France likes wine and Germany drinks beer. Or that the two were on opposite sides of two world wars.
It’s like you don’t know that Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo were on opposite sides of the Farrapos war or Rio Grande do Sul likes wine and São Paulo drinks more beer.
Regional cultural differences and history don’t come into question when it comes to how one country perceives others in the side of the world, so please, refrain from those simplistic ad-hominem arguments.
the Farrapos war
Ah yes, the famous Ragamuffin War in which 3000 people were killed. Seems similar to World War I, in which over 15 million people died, or World War II in which over 70 million people died. In one case Brazil put down a rebellion in their territory. In the other case, nearly the entire world was at war across multiple continents. Yep, sounds pretty similar to me.
Rio Grande do Sul likes wine and São Paulo drinks more beer.
Do you mean that Rio Grande do Sul drinks slightly more wine but still prefers beer?
Please stop pretending that slight regional differences in Brazil compare to centuries of conflict between two of the historical superpowers of Europe.
Ha, and France is the largest country in the EU!
I was going to say this. Trump thinks the EU already is what I wish it will become.
Maybe his efforts will push us further into that direction though?
One of the good things to come from this is an end to the hegemony of the US. Now I have to hope the rest of the world will choose to be better as a result of it.
Get ready for Chinese hegemony
While I’m sure it will at least partially fill the vacuum left by the US, it won’t have the “soft power” the US did over the entire Western world.
If the US keeps trying this trade war trick, and they’ll end up realising that China is where stuff is made.
I’m Norwegian and they seem to have a bunch of soft power here by saying “if you do that, we won’t buy your salmon anymore.” Time’ll show, I guess.
Hmm, I would hope, but I doubt US power and influence will disappear that easily. It’ll probably just be more negative.
~32% of Americans voted for Trump. ~31% for Kamala, and the remaining ~37% voted third party or not at all.
Republicans are taking these actions, not Americans. And Democrats should have captured more of the 67% instead of going after the ~32%.
That being said, Americans are dumbbbb
Edit: 37% didn’t vote, not 67%. Thanks Lemming
Oh, fuck that. Stop making excuses.
Yes, the US electoral system is all kinds of fucked up, but Trump won, and the Republicans won a majority in the house and the senate. And since then, even though he’s dismantling the federal government the level of protesting in the US is minimal.
Look at the protests in Serbia or in Turkey, or even in Israel. The protests in the US aren’t happening because enough Americans either support Trump or are OK with what he’s doing. This isn’t some merely Republican thing. This is Germany in the 1930s, one group driving the process and the vast majority either supporting or just going along.
The protests in Turkey are something I wish Americans would demonstrate. I agree.
I think the reality is that Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, they’re highly individualistic after decades of materialistic conditioning, and younger generations are captured by social media instead of voicing their woes in the streets.
But there is an appetite for action. Look at Bernie’s rallies. People want change, and polls reflect how people have little to no faith in the Democrats.
There needs to be an organizing principle if any political action should be effective. I’m finding the group 50501 to be that, and I try to share their plans on social media and with my friends & family. The next protest I plan on going to is on April 5th.
But you’re right. Americans are distracted with their toys and treats. Make no mistake though. If Trump’s decisions continue to tank the economy, and toys and treats become too expensive, even for the middle and lower class, I believe there will be more action.
You seem to be doing some American math in that first line.
I fixed it. Thanks for dunking on my character rather than correcting me tho
130%? Might wanna check your math
My bad. Just ran through the numbers on ballotpedia the other day.
As an American, same.
Well, I as (a well educated) European was quite surprised by the fact USA is a state… So… We’re even?
The EU sort of is like a country in a sense though
Sure, in the sense that California is a city.
It’s an economic zone made up of smaller countries, and functionality structured in a completely different way the US is regarding the fed vs the states. That fact the US president is referring to a continent as a country is unbelievably embarrassing.
If only that were even close to the most embarrassing thing about him.
What the fuck do tariffs do other than make shit more expensive for US residents?
America is the largest consumer state on planet earth. A huge amount of foreign economies rely heavily on export to the United States and tariffs can do a LOT of damage. Trump knows these tariffs are a huge bargaining chip, but it’s the type of chip you can only use to this degree once. And he’s cashing it in for… his own political clout. The natural response to this that we’re already seeing the beginning of, is countries restructuring their industry to be less reliant on the U.S. which will ultimately do far more damage to the U.S. than the U.S. can do to other countries. And once they’ve all done that, there won’t be a good reason to ramp that trade up again.
As an American this is going to suck a lot for us, but right now everything Trump is doing sucks for us. The shame of it is that no matter how bad it gets, I can’t realistically be mad at Canada, Mexico, or all of Europe over it. What other option have they been given?
I can’t realistically be mad at Canada, Mexico, or all of Europe over it.
If anything, they haven’t condemned our fascist government enough. I think they’re still largely in shock. Hopefully they’ll get in the groove of the new world order without the US sooner rather than later.
If anything, they haven’t condemned our fascist government enough. I think they’re still largely in shock.
There’s no sense in pointless bluster. Much is happening behind the scenes.
They need to kick the US out of all those military bases around the world.
He thinks our economy is strong enough to stand on its own and that’s absolutely ridiculous.
Products get expensive, US consumers don’t buy as many products, countries which export those products see reduction in exports and thus taxes.
Theoretically.
Theoretically, they encourage Americans to buy American-made alternatives to tariffed goods. In some case that will work, but the tariffs need to be targeted for that to happen. For example, putting a tariff on fishing rods might make people buy locally-made fishing rods rather than imported ones (this is an example of a retaliatory tariff Canada placed on the US btw).
This doesn’t work when the tariffs are on things that aren’t made locally. If you put a tariff on things that aren’t made locally you just make things more expensive. If the government is sane and stable, businesses might invest in a factory to produce something that isn’t made locally to take advantage of the tariffs, but that kind of thing takes time. And if you think the government might change its tariff plans before you can finish your factory, it’s not worth the investment.
From the same supporters who will shoot themselves in the foot to own the libs, this is at a much larger level.
Also, a classic facist move. Get everyone to turn on you, then propagate “the world is out to get us”, and once you instill that mentality on the people, it’s easier for people to believe we’re the victims, and we’re fighting for our liberation.
deleted by creator
“Don’t make me hit you harder.”
Abusive relationships are the only kind Trump knows how to have.
He’s a socially stunted bully (wait is that repeating myself?, not sure up to a certain age anyways) so yes, I think one of most satisfying wishes to make these days would be to give Trump self awareness and empathy.
Quick edit, like in the 90s Bedazzled movie with Hurley and Fraser where he asks to be sensitive.
one of most satisfying wishes to make these days would be to give Trump self awareness and empathy.
I see that playing out like in the comic when the Joker was temporarily made sane. He was hysterical about the monstrous things he’d done and begged to be killed. Trump’s entire being is malice and cruelty. Without it, he would no longer exist.
With friends like him, who needs enemies
With friends like him who needs enemas
With friends like these…
Like seriously, you can’t make this stuff up, folks! The schoolyard bully who beats you up after class and continues to insist that he’s your best friend! Not only that, he tells all the teachers that actually he’s the victim and you’re the bully!
How many of you out there knew someone like that? Made you count down the days until you were outta there for good so you’d never have to see his face again! I wish we (Canadians) could get the hell out of this toxic high school we’ve suddenly found ourselves in…
“Im beating you because i love you, besides you made me do it.”
He is showing us what he is afraid of. Canada is risking 30% gdp in a trade war but how much of this 30% can be gained back with increased trade? For example selling aluminum to European.
Potash. They could stop selling us potash and the entire breadbasket of the US would collapse.
Let’s add water to that list and really stir things up
They were going to use Russian fossil fuel byproduct fertilizer i read
It is not risking 30% of anything. 3% maybe.
Friends don’t let friends support fascism.
I am reminded of Winston Churchill saying that Americans will do the right thing after they have exhausted all other options.
I just didn’t quite realize how far “all other options“ could really go.
I think we’ve proven ol’ Churchill wrong this time.
No, we’ve just really gotten good at finding other wrong options.
… and it wasn’t our fault either. They literally betrayed us. We helped them with the forest fires and they stabbed us in the back. The fact that there aren’t widespread revolts and mass demonstrations and labour strikes going on in that country right now tells us a lot about the people there and their values.
While I can’t fault your feelings, a lot of us are unable to do much without going homeless/hungry. Too many of us are living paycheck to paycheck, as by design, to do anything without losing what little they already have.
There are protests everywhere, the media is just downplaying/intentionally not reporting on them.
But we are very, very sorry. Many of us have been actively fighting against this fascist bullshit for years, since 2016/17. People like myself have alienated family and friends who support this fascist regime.
There’s always more someone like me can do, but the tradeoffs are getting worse and worse. It’s easier for me to just leave the country at this point and go to a country that aligns with my views and the way people should be treated.
It’s pretty wild that the median income before tax in the USA is less than the median income in Denmark after tax (based solely on income tax). Just to put things into perspective.
With that said, it will only get worse for the American people if they don’t get rid of this administatrion, and everything that has made it possible for this administration to do as it does. You think it’s hard to make ends meet now? What about when you don’t have any tradepartners anymore? Or when all your worker rights are stripped away?
While I can’t fault your feelings, a lot of us are unable to do much without going homeless/hungry.
So you are waiting for your personal turn on the DOGE chopping block?.. bit of advice, by the time they come for YOU specifically, it will be too late
Easier to hold the mountain passes than march on the capital. My elected representatives are already some of the better ones and anything more drastic needs large, organized groups and actions beyond my skill or resources.
Really, I’m banking on this fascist regime eating itself or outside help in the civil war.
Easier to hold the mountain passes than march on the capital.
Then do that!
Really, I’m banking on this fascist regime eating itself or outside help in the civil war.
The has the “we have tried nothing and are all out of ideas” vibe
I just recognize that the enemy is a well-connected and near-infinitely-resourced christofascist propaganda movement, and there’s no point in making a political or literal martyr of myself when I can support my family and friends through the current and future uncertainty.
Again, this is exactly the mentality that allowed the situation to be this bad
Alright smartass, tell me how I could have convinced millions of Americans thousands of miles away to vote different.
I don’t like this rhetoric. Mainly the last part where folks not demonstrating means we have bunk values. From my perspective we are an anti social bunch who generally suck at organizing. I don’t have an easy way to just join up in a mass protest and I barely know where to start. I am depressed and anxious. I am trying to do what I can. Want me to just not work?? Me and who??? How will I eat?? I’d love to demonstrate.
This is by design. The oligarchs have spent decades consolidating power, paying politicians off for favourable laws and regulations, and forced the wage gap wider and wider. When reports come out saying a majority of Americans live paycheque to paycheque, they rub their hands in glee. The plan is working. You cannot afford to protest their take over of the government. You are a slave in almost every way. It is by design.
Being anti-social and not organizing are bunk values. America will never get better until we admit the ways in which it sucks.
Unionize! Start by just talking to your coworkers about pay. You can make a difference, but it will take a long time to unfuck.
I don’t value being disorganized and antisocial. It’s just where I am at the moment.
I appricate your tone. I feel like advice and support are needed. The person earlier wanted to condemn us for having not done massive organizations at the pace they felt we should.
I get that folks are angry. Fair. It’s sad to see the anger so misplaced though. To blame the citizens we’d have to have much freer and fairer elections IMO. Not that many people vote, and the president won by like 3%. America is know for having poor work-life balance.
Lots of folks are trying. I’d much rather solidarity in the working class, and punishment for those that actually made this happen. (That being the doner class, political establishment, heritage foundation etc)
Oh, there are definitely protests here, you just aren’t hearing about them. They just aren’t making the international news. There are regular, frequent protests on the West Coast of the US, including Hawaii. Pro-federal worker protests, pro-union protests, anti-Trump/Musk protests, pro-canadian protests/celebrations. It’s on our local news often, but it rarely makes international news. People have been doing good work around here too, if you know what I mean. Stuff that enrages the fascists.
I don’t know why Canada and Mexico haven’t done a press conference where they rip up the USMCA agreement.
MEXI-CAN trade agreement?
Very difficult, as most traded goods pass through US boundaries via train/truck.
More “regular” trade agreements between individual states is generally more likely going forward I imagine, but the sort of integrated supply chains that we’ve all benefited from in North America for like… decades and decades… is pretty well toast.
Eg. the US wants to build their own cars, in country. This means Canada and Mexico will likely also need to build their own cars, in country. Mexico has a bit more of an opportunity to build up integrated supply chains with countries in south america, though they tend to be a bit less stable – the proximity is a win. It’d be really cool to see if they did though – not sure what sorts of free trade agreements are around in the south, honestly.
Canada is busy trying to shore up agreements/trade with areas like asia and europe, as those are ‘sorta’ the same distance/calculus as shipping things via sea to mexico / south america.
It’d also be interesting if the waning of the US hegemony results in more western countries trading with traditionally ‘blockaded’ countries. Cuba has long been a Canadian vacation spot, but trade with Cuba has been limited due to US pressure. Given the current state of things, I don’t see why Canada wouldn’t increase trade there. And given the state of Cuba currently, it could be really beneficial for both country’s people.
Better than a Mexican’t.
Over 80% of exports go to the US, and without those exports Canada’s debt load will implode the country. Its not actually an option to just accept the tariffs.
A) Canada isn’t a viable country because they depend on us
B) Hey no stop you have to depend on us still…
Canada and the EU should definitely bait trump into escalating tariffs as quickly as possible, and reach agreements to increase trade between themselves.
If trump continues to escalate and retaliate, Mexico and even China need to be included in the agreement.
This will have huge consequences for America, effectively excluding it from worldwide trade, while diluting the impact for the remaining nations.
America has a huge production capacity though, and that’s why escalation needs to happen quickly, not giving it time to ramp up subsidized domestic production.
The US could crack fusion and the world wouldn’t buy it from them at this point. They can ramp production, but everything they produce now is pretty must limited to domestic sales. If it does get exported, the world now has all kinds of reasons to negotiate the lowest fucking prices sustainable, if that.
This really sucks for the still sane Americans
Border states, snowbird states, and dual citizens are going through it. This is likely the worst diplomatic move in recent American history.
True but honestly we kind of deserve it.
I guess but a lot of us have been fighting against this rise of Nazis but we’re up against a multibillion dollar brainwashing machine and billion dollar facist think tanks. I don’t think a lot of us deserve this because we have been trying. I don’t see this ending without violence and unfortunately our side is losing so we better get our shit together.
We deserve to no longer be able to boss everyone around with our “soft power,” but it shouldn’t have taken a fascist takeover to get there.
Sucks for us Canadians, too.
I want to leave but cant even imagine any country that would take me.
You would be a fool to be close with America right now. The Nazi take over is in full swing.
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”…unless your enemy is the fascist US government. Stay far, far away from them!
As well it should be. Even if we get our act together and elect another sane president, we’ve demonstrated that we’re happy to burn every single bridge we’ve spent so long building, and that it isn’t some one-off fuckup either
The US will have to crawl through the door on the right if they ever want to have any kind of decent relationship with other countries again. And we will NOT be getting our favored status that we’ve enjoyed since the end of WWII back. As the British Empire went, so too does the American Empire.
The US shouldn’t even continue to exist as the single entity it is today. I think five to eight large states is probably ideal. Cascadia, Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, New England, the South, the Great Lakes region, and something needs to be done with the Alaska, Hawaii, and our various non-state territories like Puerto Rico and American Samoa.
It’s simply too big and diverse to effectively govern.
The problem is that the cultural divide is largely urban vs. rural, which is spread out all over the country.
That’s one level of the divide, yes, but it’s reinforced by the rest of the structure. “Bioregionalism” suggests that cultures are more stable when they are contained within bioregions of climate and geography. People are more invested in what they perceive as their local environment and they are more likely to “feel heard” by others with that same stake. The current political borders, arbitrary as they are, push people to seek that connection in either protective isolation or a broader social identity.
It’s a relatively new idea (1970s) as far as political science goes but I find it compelling.
The other problem is that we let a right-wing propaganda apparatus operate unchallenged that began with the Nixon fallout and accelerated with Rupert Murdoch’s creation of Fox News in 1996 and that’s gonna take a few generations to unfuck no matter what else is going on.
I want to see him hang up on Trump if/when he calls him “governor”, and then publish the phone call.
I wouldn’t mind some tit for tat. Carney could respond with Felon, Rapist, Laughingstock and they’d cut deep because they’re true.
I’ve got a sign up sheet going for New England secession if anyone wants in
Northeast South Canada, checking in here! My people moved into this land just a few generations ago. The motherland calls…
It’s where my great grandparents came from! Homeward bound!
Donald Trump is the enemy of the state…welp…guess WW3 is getting closer and closer…
Just wait until the US and Russia team up to form the new Axis.
