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Comment by bluegatty | Hacker News Reader

So I don't think 'buying US gear made you an ally' - it was just part of the package, and in some cases, the US would 'require allies' to buy.

The US Ambassador to Canada is openly threatening Carney right now with some procurement things - the 'Big One' is the F35.

This is Can PM Carney playing a decent card, and biding for time until the midterms, and then waiting out the 'lame duck' period.

'Border State Republicans' are badly upset with the anti-Canada situation, and will buck Trump if given the chance without massive repercussions.

Trump may not force the issue if he knows he's going to lose.

If we see Trump with conciliatory language towards Canada after the elections, it's because he knows he's been beat. Or if he just shuts up about it and let's the negotiations roll.

I give it 50/50.

But - to be very clear - the world is 'doing 1 nudge' away from the US - not 'breaking away'.

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I think this is complacent. The rest of the world is actively seeking opportunities to decouple. The US is so embedded in defence ecosystems at the moment that is a delicate balance because we are all still dependent on US space and logistics capabilities. But Ukraine and Eastern Europe and building the foundation for conventional forces to be supplied without the US, and although it will take longer, Sweden France and Uk have the aerospace chops to reduce dependency on the US too.

We are unlikely to reach parity any time soon, if at all. But that isn’t needed for the goal to be worthwhile.

What is complacent?

"Reddit tier America bad geopolitics takes"

The US president threatened to take Greenland by force, that's a very real thing.

Mind you, it's one man, and not the nation or state, but he does have a lot of backers.

That's a very real concern.

> Mind you, it's one man, and not the nation or state, but he does have a lot of backers.

My 2ct:

He is the duly elected leader in a representative democracy. He speaks on behalf of all U.S. Americans, he acts on behalf of all U.S. Americans, and all U.S. Americans share the same responsibility for the actions of his government.

He isn't the only problem, though. It has now been proven that the U.S. Constitution is not worth the paper it is written on. In my opinion, that's the real concern. Trump will not be around for long. The U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court, the people that allowed that to happen and the Republican Party will.

Edit:

At least the U.S. Constitution needs some amendments, and I don’t see that happening, but there may be some plans to amend it I’m not aware of.

Edit-2:

Of course, there will still be cooperation with the U.S. after Trump, but fundamentally, something is broken. We will not return to the pre-Trump state.

People outside the US understand that Trump is a temporary phenomenon. And there's no evidence that Trump has any interest in post-Trump politics, except insofar as it insulates him from repercussions.

> People outside the US understand

I am outside the U.S.

> that Trump is a temporary phenomenon

It is not. The unlimited authority, the supreme court that goes along with it, the party that supports it all, and the citizenship that enables it in the first place will be there long after Trump is gone. It's not Trump pulling the trigger.

It's not Trump alone. There was the Tea-party before him and there will be fascists after him. We are not talking about the USA doing some shady things. We are talking about a country that gave up on shared values and norms, that kills people left and right without due process and that assaults countries without reason, all while threatening the next assault(s) and being openly racist.

> People outside the US understand that Trump is a temporary phenomenon

Oh god no. How wrong can you be.

The world is now well aware what the American people have voted for (twice!) and may well vote for again. We don't want that risk thanks.

I don't see how anyone can think Trump is a temporary phenomenon, it's been a decade since he got into politics and things have only gotten nastier. On the scale of a person's life, this is definitely not a temporary thing.

I see no evidence that Trumpism will survive Trump. To the extend that Trumpism exceeds the bounds of normal partisan politics, it's driven by a cult of personality. Once the personality is gone, the unique aspects of the movement dissipate.

Trump being a temporary phenomenon would be a more plausible claim if his presidency had been a single term.

Trump could be elected for a third term and it could still be a temporary phenomenon, because the movement fails to transfer beyond one individual's personality.

This is incredibly complacent. The Heritage foundation view of where the US is going has been thoroughly inserted into American public life by a thorough politicisation of all public agencies. It would take an equally dominant and ruthless force to cleanse what Trump has done. I don't see that happening. Your judiciary and corporate interests have a momentum that should not be underestimated.

Breaking things is much easier than making them. American democracy is going to take a long time to recover.

Sorry, but I also think you are complacent. This is generational destruction of reputation.

As a Canadian, we regularly talk about "fuck American companies" in a way we never did. I still actively avoid buying anything from USA in grocery stores. City of Toronto is spinning up a nonprofit grocery store pilot, and they sure as hell are going to be trying not to stock USA goods -- the mayor herself passed an anti-USA procurement bylaw last year. Related: I just helped run a weekly community speaker series[1], where we had 60 ppl (many public servants) signed up to hear a presentation on a supply chain app to help people avoid American products.

And just 30 min ago, coming home at 1am, I was talking to the service guy for my city's bikeshare program. He mentioned new bike models were coming. He was like "fuck Lyft" and I said "I don't trust American companies anymore" and he agreed (Lyft acquired the Montreal bikeshare company we used to deal with). A friend who used to work for Deloitte is actively working to convince city officials to sever the bikeshare contract, and diversify the network for similar reasons.

PRAGMATIC anti-americanism is literally a new hobby for a sizable cohort of the citizenry. It's the only rational choice, and many perceive it as literally a matter of sovereign survival.

[1]: https://guild.host/events/from-tariffs-to-transparency-x69sg...

How do you know which companies are not american?

People I know will google that information when they care. Or are already aware for product categories they care about like buying a SkiDoo vs Polaris. But also there’s an app for that: https://www.oscanadaapp.ca/

> Trump may not force the issue if he knows he's going to lose.

That didn't play out at the end of his last term. I don't think Trump is a "I've had a good run, lets call it a day." kinda guy...

While he always talks tough regardless, I think his actions depend on the nature of the loss, e.g. him being all over the place on Iran, disregarding his own ceasefire for strikes and yet also heading towards a deal that's significantly worse than if he'd done nothing; or similarly all the everything in response to his threats against Greenland.

I interpret the same events you describe as Trump being unable to let go when he should have. Which is why he's made things worse than if he'd done nothing.

No disagreement there; the point is not to excuse his foolishness, but that despite his words always being pugilistic, he can be made to back off.

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