Four in five Canadians believe boycotting U.S.-made goods or avoiding travel to the United States could help strengthen Canada’s bargaining position with its southern neighbour.
Choosing to not so something is actively doing nothing. These stats are completely irrelevant except to minor business owners who run wine plantations or hospitality businesses. It applies zero pressure against the US government.
I respectfully disagree that it has put no pressure on the US government. Part-time Ambassador and full-time clown Pete Hoekstra has been threatening to make travel to the US harder unless we embrace travelling to the US, which is the Trump administration’s impotent abuser method of showing how much they need us. State Governors, Congresspeople and Senators are making trips north to meet our provincial Premiers and ministers to beg for us Canadians to come back. But this isn’t in their control as it’s organic collective action.
These are mediocre political footballs that do not interfere with the true power relationship between the US and its metropole allies. So long as your leadership is more worried about Wall St and mining companies, this is what you will be asked to focus on. If you think what I am talking about is some kind of diversion or technicality, you need to get real. The US doesn’t need Canada for manufacturing or something. It’s like Japan, RoK, the UK, they put up the barest facade of sovereignty while adhering slavishly to US economic policy. That is where the leverage comes from. Not your tourism, not your consumer spending, but the leverage over your own leaders that you refuse to exert. Without that every decision they make will uphold the dollar system and nothing you guys are linking me to can move the needle. That’s the nature of finance, it has exponential political power when allowed to run everything and it crashes and burns. Stop them!
You are choosing to ignore the benefits to ourselves as Canadians, and the targeted catastrophic losses to specific US industries and localities, even if it is a teensy dent in the overall US economy (buoyed by its parasitic healthcare system and AI).
You are choosing to ignore how Canada’s been able to coast while the US descends into authoritarianism and its associated economic and political chaos.
You are choosing to ignore the relations Canada’s government is mutually seeking with Mexico, Europe and Asia and its associated increase in exports and imports.
These are choices you are free to make, as much as many Canadians will choose to avoid the US and support local for the reasons I have tried my best to communicate to you. Have a nice day.
You are ignoring the systemic causes of the problems facing Canadians. Is helping a little old lady cross the road in Toronto sticking it to Trump as well? You may as well administer CPR to a man bleeding out of his neck.
I’m sorry but what? You’re implying that that’s where the action ends. Are you Canadian? A lot of action I see where I am has a large focus on community, and it has always been like that even before the boycott. Yes, we can be better, but actively chastising us because we seemingly don’t meet your standard isn’t useful for neither you or us.
So if the action doesn’t end here, what follow from this? What will this political pressure result in? Everyone carries their sign, tells someone to do something, and everyone goes home and continues their regular work schedule. Come on, it isn’t hard to see how this is the diversion.
Are you suggesting that Canadians should be the ones to put massive pressure on the US government? That’s the job of Americans. Americans voted for this. I don’t care if the US becomes the new North Korea and doesn’t have elections for 100 years - but they can stay the heck out of Canada.
What are you so mad about? Like, its not even clear to me whether you are mad that we aren’t doing more or that we’re doing anything at all. Your posts come off like a drunk, angry first year political science major. If the boycotts don’t do anything, why do you care? If you can name a single tangible action that all Canadians could do, we’d love to hear it.
Of course it is the duty of Americans to pressure the US government, we were talking about the actions of Canadians to pressure their own govt to delink. To be unrealistic, the entire core (1st world) needs to revolt against US leadership. However they’re much too comfortable. People aren’t ready to admit that to achieve this quality of life without enslaving the whole periphery (also called 3rd world), we would need to spend years working on mechanizing and boosting agricultural (meaning environmental too) development, PLANNING industrial development (managing pollution yikes), which means rebuilding a huge skilled labor force. That’s completely against the US economic system though, it would require controlling investment flows and setting production targets and managing competition. So we are very far out from a solution. No excuse for just sitting on our asses though.
Just because you are now miffed with me not meeting my own standards doesn’t mean I’m wrong. If you just rally behind your politicians and pat yourself on the back for buying more maple syrup then in 10 years your kids are gonna be doing another genocide and I’m gonna be shacked up somewhere semiperipheral enough. At least I will be clear of the blast zone
Choosing to not so something is actively doing nothing. These stats are completely irrelevant except to minor business owners who run wine plantations or hospitality businesses. It applies zero pressure against the US government.
I respectfully disagree that it has put no pressure on the US government. Part-time Ambassador and full-time clown Pete Hoekstra has been threatening to make travel to the US harder unless we embrace travelling to the US, which is the Trump administration’s impotent abuser method of showing how much they need us. State Governors, Congresspeople and Senators are making trips north to meet our provincial Premiers and ministers to beg for us Canadians to come back. But this isn’t in their control as it’s organic collective action.
These are mediocre political footballs that do not interfere with the true power relationship between the US and its metropole allies. So long as your leadership is more worried about Wall St and mining companies, this is what you will be asked to focus on. If you think what I am talking about is some kind of diversion or technicality, you need to get real. The US doesn’t need Canada for manufacturing or something. It’s like Japan, RoK, the UK, they put up the barest facade of sovereignty while adhering slavishly to US economic policy. That is where the leverage comes from. Not your tourism, not your consumer spending, but the leverage over your own leaders that you refuse to exert. Without that every decision they make will uphold the dollar system and nothing you guys are linking me to can move the needle. That’s the nature of finance, it has exponential political power when allowed to run everything and it crashes and burns. Stop them!
Alright, I tried.
These are choices you are free to make, as much as many Canadians will choose to avoid the US and support local for the reasons I have tried my best to communicate to you. Have a nice day.
AI is buoying the US economy? We make buoys out of cement now?
You are ignoring the systemic causes of the problems facing Canadians. Is helping a little old lady cross the road in Toronto sticking it to Trump as well? You may as well administer CPR to a man bleeding out of his neck.
I’m sorry but what? You’re implying that that’s where the action ends. Are you Canadian? A lot of action I see where I am has a large focus on community, and it has always been like that even before the boycott. Yes, we can be better, but actively chastising us because we seemingly don’t meet your standard isn’t useful for neither you or us.
Hope you have a good day. Sorry
So if the action doesn’t end here, what follow from this? What will this political pressure result in? Everyone carries their sign, tells someone to do something, and everyone goes home and continues their regular work schedule. Come on, it isn’t hard to see how this is the diversion.
Are you suggesting that Canadians should be the ones to put massive pressure on the US government? That’s the job of Americans. Americans voted for this. I don’t care if the US becomes the new North Korea and doesn’t have elections for 100 years - but they can stay the heck out of Canada.
What are you so mad about? Like, its not even clear to me whether you are mad that we aren’t doing more or that we’re doing anything at all. Your posts come off like a drunk, angry first year political science major. If the boycotts don’t do anything, why do you care? If you can name a single tangible action that all Canadians could do, we’d love to hear it.
Of course it is the duty of Americans to pressure the US government, we were talking about the actions of Canadians to pressure their own govt to delink. To be unrealistic, the entire core (1st world) needs to revolt against US leadership. However they’re much too comfortable. People aren’t ready to admit that to achieve this quality of life without enslaving the whole periphery (also called 3rd world), we would need to spend years working on mechanizing and boosting agricultural (meaning environmental too) development, PLANNING industrial development (managing pollution yikes), which means rebuilding a huge skilled labor force. That’s completely against the US economic system though, it would require controlling investment flows and setting production targets and managing competition. So we are very far out from a solution. No excuse for just sitting on our asses though.
Just because you are now miffed with me not meeting my own standards doesn’t mean I’m wrong. If you just rally behind your politicians and pat yourself on the back for buying more maple syrup then in 10 years your kids are gonna be doing another genocide and I’m gonna be shacked up somewhere semiperipheral enough. At least I will be clear of the blast zone