Avoiding US goods and services – from tech to whisky to air travel – has forced many to find a new way of living
This week the US imposed 50% tariffs on US$20bn (£15bn) of Canadian goods, and Mark Carney, the country’s prime minister, has vowed to match them “dollar for dollar” after the collapse of trade talks between the two countries last weekend. Donald Trump retaliated on Thursday by ordering the federal government to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America.
Such actions have added fuel to a widespread boycott of US products and services by Canadians that began early last year in response to the president’s trade war and threats to annex his northern neighbour.
More than 3,500 people from across Canada shared with the Guardian via an online callout how they have made changes to their lives in response to the US administration’s political and economic stance. Many expressed deep anger and sadness, but remained resolute that this was now a new way of living.
I think it’s plenty fair. Why live in a country you hate? When I’ve been in countries I didn’t like, I left. They can, too. If you read the thread, many think the USA won’t let them leave – which couldn’t be farther from the truth. I merely provided various ways they could leave, since they hate it so much and think they’re trapped.
But as you might notice 90% of the comments here are posted by trollbots. And trollbots tend to like name calling. My favorite were the posts that said “But I want to move to England so I can’t teach English, a**hole!” – Not without a Ph.D., this is true, but they still take tech workers and nurses (and that’s every country!). So there’s plenty of room to move there, especially if you’re a human being and not a trollbot.
I’m mostly happy with the society I currently live in (Colorado). I may not like everything the President of my country does, but I usually feel that way regardless of who gets voted in because they’re gone in a few years. In this particular situation, I’d love to see free and fair trade without tariffs of any kind. But I’ve been to Canada and Trump does have a point, Canada has been levying invisible tariffs on American goods for decades and not living up to its USMCA agreements – something most Americans and most Canadians don’t even realize.
Now do I approve the way Trump is handling this? Of course not. They guy’s a jerk. He could have plainly laid things out to the press, showed the grievance, and explained his actions but instead used his typical Queens attitude to justify being obnoxious (this is why most of America doesn’t really care for people from New York). And don’t even get me going on the renaming of lakes and gulfs, it’s asinine at best at looks childish. But this clown, like the last clown, will be gone in a few years. And with the midterms just months away the majority in Congress will likely change parties and his hands will be tied for the rest of his second term anyways.
As for an “ideal” society, I don’t think it’s even possible. Too many people have entirely different values. Even generationally, you run into problems. Older generations have been calling younger generations spoiled and lazy since the birth of time, and in some cases that’s true because the younger generations have had more in terms of convenience than the older generations did. The younger generations have always accused the older generations of being out of touch, and in some cases that’s true as well, the opportunities of the 50’s/60’s/70’s no longer exist and labor’s capture of GDP has diminished greatly while home prices have soared (along with everything else). So even with just that, you’re going to have friction in any society (and it rings true in every country I’ve lived in). Add in cultural differences on top of that, different views on work and life, and you end up with a secular society where yes, everyone gets to live how they please but there’s zero cohesion or national culture. So I don’t think you can base your own internal happiness on external society. You just have to find a society you can live in without hating.