This is a picture of a magnet that was being sold at Strand's Book Store in New York City a few years ago. No, I did not buy it, but I liked it and took a picture, which I am sharing here now.
More and more, I feel like the attraction - it's too early to call it a fatal attraction, although I think that some of the best parts of the United States may very well come to a permanent end with this ridiculous political era which Americans collectively and voluntarily ushered in - very much has to do with a certain stubborn immaturity and arrogance. Frankly, too many Americans are guilty of. this, and I am not even speaking exclusively of Trump supporters or people who lean right politically. Indeed, many Americans who are not overtly nationalistic or xenophobic seem to have this nearly invisible arrogance and sense of entitlement about their country. It sometimes feels like waaaayyy to many Americans - again, across the political spectrum - feel that the only thing that matters in this world is inside of these sacred American borders. That, in short, the would outside of the borders of these United States just basically does not matter. Or for all intents and purposes might as well not matter, based on how little they pay attention to it.
Now, I want to be clear that I am not condemning all Americans here. Still, the number and presence of Americans who simply don't seem to give a damn about the world outside of Americans borders is just too big and influential to dismiss. I cannot claim to know the percentage, but it feels large enough that it too often defines our political expression (especially in the last decade or so), and often our cultural contributions, as well.
Sorry, but I am calling it as I see it.
The most obvious example right now would of course be Trump supporters. There is a lot that they simply, conveniently ignored about Trump and what he said and represented that feels, frankly, inexcusable. But not the least of it is the hubris and empty tough talk, as well as just how quickly and unthinkingly he says things. Things like, say, we will build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. Things like dismissing o dozens of countries in Latin America and Africa as "shithole nations." Repeatedly insulting China, which is a major trading partner. Things like Europe owes us, that they are in our debt. Things like we are going to take over Greenland. Things like we might take over Gaza. Things like we are going to take over Gaza and build a Trump-style Riviera there.
Things like Canada will soon be the 51st state.
Years ago, when I did not understand the appeal that Trump had, I asked quite a number of his supporters what exactly they appreciated about the man. A number of them said that he was entertaining, which felt to me a bit reminiscent of some people back during the days of Reagan saying that they liked his smile, when asked why they supported him. It just feels like such a shallow, thoughtless reason to like an elected leader. After all, if I'm not mistaken, our elected leaders really are under no obligation to entertain us. If they do, it is one of the most frivolous and unimportant aspects of the offices and titles which they were elected to.
Let me make clear that I asked people informally, and was not conducting a study or a survey. Still, it struck me that this answer of Trump being entertaining came up several times. As if this were a real asset, a real reason to justify their support of him.
My guess - again, I cannot say this for sure, but it's just a feeling that I get - is that many Americans found Trump's claims that Canada would soon become the 51st state as highly entertaining. Probably they got a good laugh about it. I also assume that secretly (or perhaps these days, not so secretly), many Americans indeed feel that Canada probably is not a "real country," and that it should be part of the United States.
Here's the thing, though: when you elect a man like Trump to the highest office, to be the face and the voice of your country, and he then turns around and says things like that, then there will be real ramifications. Whether or not you believe that or even give it so much as a passing thought does not make it untrue.
First of all, you are going to build resentment towards you. I mean, how could it not? Why would this even be surprising to Americans? That's the real mystery to me. Surprise, surprise, Mexicans were not happy to hear Trump and his supporters talk lightly of putting boots on the ground in Mexico. Surprise, surprise, Greenlanders were hostile towards Americans and the talk of an American takeover. Polls showed that 85% of people in Greenland wanted nothing to do with the United States, and it was clear that American Vice-President was not welcome when he paid a visit to Greenland earlier this year.
Of course, Canadians were not happy, either. In the election earlier this year, the candidate who was perceived as the most anti-Trump candidate ended up winning in a landslide. Canadians expressed anger, booing the American anthem. In turn, many Americans felt offended, including my coworker at the weekend job. He delighted that after Canadians showed a lack of respect towards the United States, as he saw it, that "our" hockey team beat them.
He was surprised, then, when I asked him why he thought that this disrespect was unprovoked. I reminded him of his own support for Trump, and asked if he thought it was not disrespectful for the sitting American president (and other members of his administration) to speak of Canada as if it were not a real country. It seemed like this was the first time that anyone confronted him about this, or made him think about it from that different point of view than the news sources like FOX that he likely fixates on.
Did he even realize how disrespectful it is for a leader of a nation to question the legitimacy of another country? To go to extraordinary lengths to undermine the status of a nation's independence and simply to suggest that they would soon be absorbed into the bigger nation? Are other MAGA cult members also this frankly clueless, when it comes to appreciating the good things which this country still has - or recently had - in terms of friendly relations with other nations, and mutually profitable economic ties, and so on?
On the one hand, I am pleased that millions of Americans are beginning to acknowledge just how "ugly" this peculiarly xenophobic Americentrist behavior is. How destructive it can be, and how it inevitably leads to much of the rest of the world resenting - and ultimately isolating - this kind of behavior from inside of the United States.
Still, it seems to me to persist. Americans are still upset - as if they have any reason or justification to be - whenever they hear stories of Canadians boycotting the sale of American alcohol, or simply staying home instead of bringing themselves - and their tourist dollars - south of the border to the United States. Again, you elected this ridiculous clown and his absolute circus into the White House in the first place. You then cannot simply get angry or claim not to understand why the rest of the world, obviously including but most certainly not restricted to Canada, would now be lashing out. And if you are feeling outraged, save your crocodile tears, will ya?
Quick, what's the capital of Canada?
If you are an American, and especially if you are a MAGA cult member, and did not know that answer right away or instinctively, then that right there is the problem.
Everybody in the world knows all about the United States. After all, they have been dominated for many decades by American media, crushed by the weight of de facto American dominance. Most of the world is greatly exposed to American movies and television and listen to American music. They hear in considerable detail about political developments within the United States. That is particularly true of Canadians, who of course are right next door, and frequently visit, or at least used to.
Most of the world also understands that there actually is a world beyond their national borders. If you go to almost any European country and drive or take a train in any direction, you will likely reach the end of your country's boundaries within a few hours, tops. Their histories and cultures have clashed and influenced one another, over and over again, right to the present day. They know that they are bound to take other nations needs and different points of view into consideration.
That is something which far too many Americans frankly do not understand. No, here we have something called "American exceptionalism" instead, a belief that somehow, we are not bound by the same rules or human limitations that people in the rest of the world are bound by. The United States consists of less than five percent of the world's land and total population, yet Americans often feel that they are entitled to be at the very center of everything in the world. After decades of conditioning and, frankly, brainwashing, of being told meaningless platitudes they are the "shining city on the hill," that the United States is the "greatest country in the world," that this is "God's country," that we are heroes who protect freedom around the world, and that the world should be grateful, and when all of this is reinforced with varying degrees of subtlety on a daily basis by things like the president (regardless of which president, or which party that president belongs to) ending every speech with the exclusively Americentrist "God bless the United States" or having young children start of every school morning by placing their hands on their hearts and pledging their undying allegiance to the flag, it is no wonder then that so many tens of millions of Americans have lost sight of the fact that there is indeed a world outside of these sacred American borders. And it is a world worth paying attention to and learning from.
But you will never know that by listening to a con artist like Trump, who just whined about Canadians boycotting American alcohol and refusing to come to the United States for their vacations.
Hey asshole! Maybe stop referring to Canada - again, a fully independent and successful country - as the "51st state," and maybe they won't hate you so much. Maybe then they won't resent us Americans for putting an absolute unqualified and worthless - worst than worthless, frankly - parasite into the Oval Office.
I myself am an American. And I feel that the United States has made some great contributions to humanity. For a nation as young as this one is, it has punched harder than it's weight in terms of contributions to culture, to literature, to science and technology, and even in regards to our political influence.
Yet all of that said, in a sense, I have never felt less American. Nor have I ever felt greater shame in my fellow countrymen. I remember hearing a long time ago that every empire that ever existed in history eventually collapsed in great part because they became too inward looking. And that is what I see happening here right now. Every single day, you see MAGA morons loudly and proudly displaying their xenophobia and narrowmindedness and staggering ignorance like a badge of honor for the entire world to see. They are proud to have put their hero, Trump, into the White House. Not surprisingly, polls showed that Americans - particularly Trump supporters, surprise, surprise - were increasingly resentful and distrustful in their views of Canadians ever since King Con Don took office. They get angry and feel outraged when they learn about growing anti-American sentiment around the world, at least when they don't outright deny it's existence (remember, facts don't matter to most of these cult members). They somehow do not seem to understand that the rest of the world watches Trump, their elected leader, talking about annexing Greenland and making Canada the 51st state and taking over the Panama Canal and Gaza, and seeing a legitimate and immediate threat to world peace. And they are not wrong, frankly.
Americans need to get over themselves and their inflated sense of self importance. They need to stop taking every opportunity to pat themselves on the back and remind themselves of just how great they are, which again, they do in numerous ways, to varying degrees, almost every day. When you see people displaying the flag to excess (I swear that I once saw one "proud American" who was wearing flag underwear), or using every major event to wave the flag (especially sports event with oversized flags covering the length of the entire field).
Get over yourselves!
Until you do, you had better get used to the rest of the world showing increasing signs of resistance and making a point of avoiding visiting or even dealing with the United States. Countries have made trade agreements specifically to try and circumvent American influence. BRICS is an organization of nations specifically trying to get around American (and Western, more generally) economic dominance in the world. Stop electing "leaders" who bend over backwards to show blatant disrespect towards the rest of the world. Realize that you might not be as free from the ramifications of your actions - I'm not talking about Trump here, but the actions of everyday Americans - as you seem to believe you are.
Look at these two videos below. They show not only that Canadians are increasingly bending over backwards NOT to buy American alcohol and NOT to come to the United States for vacation. And there is the video of Trump doing what he does best- - which is whining - about how Canadians are "nasty" because they refuse to buy American alcohol and come to American destinations for vacation.
Personally, I applaud our neighbors to the north for their actions. Pardon my crassness here, but there just is no polite way to tell people that they have come to be full of shit. They are hitting Americans where it hurts the most, in the wallet. And if there was ever a doubt about whether or not this has been effective, the fact that Americans (surely many clueless Trump supporters among them) and Trump himself are now whining and crying foul about how badly they now are being treated.
Keep it going, Canada!
Canadian tourism to U.S. drops dramatically amid Trump's harsh rhetoric
Trump thinks Canadians are "mean and nasty" for boycotting US travel, booze: Ambassador
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