Trade War

[pacificnomad]

No. I understand the definition just fine. In any other case it's fabulous. The fact is America is armed to to the teeth. The government, and the civilian population. Getting the Canadian population all riled up at this point about getting in some kind of conflict with their neighbors is completely irresponsible. No American politician is even claiming to annex Canada by force. They're simply extending the invitation to join the union when Canada is no longer viable as a country. If they force that downfall via sanction then power too them but that doesn't warrant a suicidal military response.

Tbh I think civil defense is amazing. We have been asking for it for years. But to have it suggested by this govt at THIS point is ironic, and too little too late

Civil defense is not the place to put resources. Better to put effort into the development and maintenance of a dedicated fighting force. Sure there are a bunch of gun owners here in the US. And so many of these gun owners get hard and or wet thinking about an impending call to civil militia duties. But pretty much everyone in the US is physically soft. There's no physical hardiness here, especially among the wanna be civil militia set. There's no way these dudes are going to be able to run multiple 10k's over rough terrain loaded down with gear over the course of a fighting day. My average fellow gun toting American wouldn't stand a chance if they were to fight an enemy like the Taliban aka mountain ninja's. These guys travel light, can run 50k+ in a day just to get to and from the fight and still be able to fight effectively (using extensive mobility during a firefight, essentially running circles around 18-30yr old Marines). I've seen it lol. Those guys were the prototypical fighters.

[Lhartley]

Lol, point taken. Still. Those arms exist, and the government can collect them at any point (see Canada gun bans and buy back program). The arms don't even exist in Canada. And our population is no more physically fit, likely the same fitness level. So point still stands that it would be reckless to suggest conflict with our neighbour's, as Catherine Mckenna certainly is suggesting with her diatribe. So of of still consider Americans our allies despite any conflicts. Again, I encourage devoting resources to civil defense whether it be human resources or material. It's just laughable if you understand the stance of the average Canadian liberal or regards to military, typically and historically. Can people change? Sure, but why does it have to come to this before they find value in defense. It really just shows how exposed we currently are

[wooley12]

Two times in my life someone threatened to punch me in the face. Both times, I punched them in the face first. Both times it worked to stop the fight.

[Lhartley]

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/br ... xpert-says

Guerilla warfare with what? Slingshots and Bearspray? It takes the federal government 8 months to approve firearms licenses, and they just announced the firearms ban will include nearly every remaining semi auto on the market.

Laughable

[wooley12]

What's laughable is the Wolverine Wannabe wet dream of a hot war at the border fought by the military and/or a rag tag overweight citizen militia. Anyway, glad to see the Canuks not falling for the "30 day pause" ruse. Art of the Deal

[Inspiredcapers]

Yowza, Donny-Boys latest round of Tariffs and the way it’s affecting the Common-Folk is pretty controversial. Waiting for him to plagiarize the ‘Let them eat cake’ line of thought any moment now.

[Lhartley]

Feels more and more like they're gaming the system somehow. A lot of money will be made and lost

[Montana St Alum]

In the U.S., the top 1% own 31% of assets in the market. For the bottom 50% it's 5%.
This data is hard to define, and hard to collate, but the bottom line is that a huge number of good paying blue collar jobs went overseas in the last few decades.
Now, 50 countries including the EU, have come out in support of rolling back their tariffs because they are afraid of being obliterated by the U.S. The objective was to accomplish this.

J&J, Softbank, UAE, Taiwan Semiconductor, Oracle, OpenAI, Apple, Nvidia and quite a few others have committed to TRILLIONS of dollars of investments in the U,S. For workers who actually have to show up to work and make stuff, this is a huge growth opportunity. For Apple, it's particularly important, as they use slave labor (N Koreans and Uyghurs) to make their iPhones.

Who does it help to have no tax on tips or overtime? Big Bank managers? Low income hourly workers?

If we can bully nations into dropping their protective tariffs, we can unleash huge investments and job growth. This absolutely helps people at the bottom half of the economic ladder.

We've spent decades rewarding the top 10% of the population becoming rich at the expense of the bottom 60%.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are teetering on the brink. Our in We are assured, without any attempt to verify, that no one who doesn't deserve these benefits get them. That's an absurd claim on its face. If we can ensure that any who don't deserve these benefits don't get them, it could relieve pressure on those programs, ensuring the people who get benefits are American citizens and deserve them.

The next step is to reduce the size of our military to the extent that we can. We can only do that if NATO and the EU step up their investments in their own defense. Canada pays 1.37% of its static GDP on defense

The period of the free ride for Europe is over. That doesn't mean we abandon them, but we can't keep wiping their asses, militarily, either!

Even prior to Trump, Canada began its march to the cliff.
When Trudeau came to power, the per capita GDP was about $51,000. Close to the U.S. which I think was about $54000. By 2023, Canada had skyrocketed to $55000 while the U.S. climbed to $86000 (as I recall).

The UK has completely lost its national identity. In the UK, people are having to decide between food and heat in the winter due to their insane policies. The NIH is a joke as it is in Canada. Health care isn't free, if you pay 50% of your income in taxes to pay for it.


They are both "canaries in coal mines", the function of which is to serve as a warning when they die. That's a function they seem dedicated to accomplishing. We, in the U.S. need to learn from their demise.

Edit: Actually, it looks like the top 10% now own 88% of equities. The bottom 50% own one percent, but it's offset by debt. They rent their homes, they are drowning in credit card debt and have car payments. They're in need of things the welfare state can't provide. Good paying jobs with benefits and a sense of worth.

[wooley12]

During the so called "Golden Age" of America, 1880-1913, wealth inequality was at the same level it is today. And my 11 year old, Canadian immigrant, grandpa was working 6 ten hour days a week in a Troy NY textile mill.

Did I post this truism yet?

[CwmRaider]

@Montana St Alum
On average there are 1.6% tariffs on industrial goods from USA to EU. A lot of these are lying in a 10% on cars.
USA claims it is 39% and imposes 20% in return. Of course EU agrees that "0 for 0" is a better deal. But US made cars aren't popular here anyways due to high gas consumption, and gas is expensive. And as nobody likes to be bullied, you can see the demand for American made EVs drop by more than 50% the last months.
So what is USA to really gain by these means?

USA needs to produce goods that both Americans and people in other countries want to, and can afford to buy, if it wants to reduce trade deficit (which is the actual basis for calculating the so called "reciprocal" tariff rate).

The statements made by your top officials that export military equipment should be neutered to lower performance standards than USAs own, plus rising questions on the reliability of long term supply, means that the rest of NATO including EU will now strongly consider more reliable suppliers instead.

A lot of countries in Asia or Africa with no import tariffs from USA in place got charged massive tariffs selling products to USA. They have no room for negotiations and will be bullied into another big brothers arms.

We clearly have a different perception and perspective of what the end game really is, but I sincerely hope the end result will be better conditions for average working people in the USA.
Cheers from Norway