That agrees precisely with my biggest concern going forward.
Donald Trump is symbolic of the problems there, but the actual problems are underlying, and even if he goes away (whether by jail or by dying before 2024 ... he doesn't have a healthy lifestyle) the underlying problems remain. If the USA elects another Republican government, that will probably be their last election that isn't a gerrymandered handpicked-voter sham. If the House or Senate flip Republican in the late-2022 mid-term elections, the current government will be incapacitated, unable to accomplish anything. The Democrats don't seem able to get their act together sufficiently to fix the voter-registration and gerrymandering issues before then and may not be competent enough to stop either the House or Senate from flipping Republican. Even if they somehow pull that off ... sooner or later the USA is going to elect a Republican government, and then what ...
Problems could arise even sooner. Lots of people have been waiting for their DoJ to charge Donald Trump and certain Republican members of the House for their actions leading up to and during the 6 Jan 2021 insurrection. They may be delaying because they know that this action is sure to prompt outrage on the Republican side. Maybe they're waiting for Trump to die and solve the problem for them.
There is a fair argument that a one-party-rule Republican government is what a significant portion of the US population want. They may get what they want. This is why I don't think civil war will happen right away ...
What does such a government look like? Populist ... climate-change-denying ... Christian religious fundamentalist with racist undertones ... science-denying ... anti-taxation, pro-business ... forget healthcare outside of private-funded bought through the company you work for ... education standards dropping science and going pro-Christian (not a recipe for long-term success, or even for pulling out of this rut ... this is a recipe for becoming a religious-fundamentalist backwater in every conceivable way). The have vs have-not that is underlying a lot of the unrest will get much, much worse ... somehow the Republicans have convinced much of the population that it's in their interest to vote for a government that does not have their interests at heart. This is also a recipe for a gun-toting society with lots of crime; the have-nots will want to rob the haves due to lack of any support whatsoever. It will be anti-immigration, but at that point, who would want to move to that hell-hole. No doubt this eventually ends in civil war when it is inevitably revealed that the emperor has no clothes, but I can't see that happening for a long time. In the short term, businesses in a fascist Republican one-party-rule USA will continue to make money ... for a while.
If I can foresee that with my simple mind, you can bet the much smarter advisers to various international leaders have also explored this scenario, and in much greater detail with much greater analysis than I can ... although they might not be able to speak it out loud.
and to be absolutely crystal clear ... I HOPE I AM WRONG. Maybe they do charge DJT and several members of the House and Senate with treason or some such thing sufficient to throw them in jail for a long, long time and it doesn't result in immediate civil war. Maybe the Republican party exiles QAnon and the right-wing bonkers part of it. Maybe the split in the Republican party splits their vote and ensures Democrat victory until the Republicans mend their ways. Maybe the Democrats actually perform competently. Maybe they assign independent boards to run all of their elections (most other democratic countries do this - countries based on British parliamentary systems including ours do this). Maybe cooler heads prevail and Republicans and Democrats actually come to agreement in order to get things done. Who knows.
I fear the "Might is right" attitude of the USA. If they need something from Canada they will just take it. Who's going to fight them?
The big fight is greed vs socialism. I'm a socialist at heart but trickle down isn't working and we can't keep government spending on the poor indefinitely at exponential rates. The three strikes rule comes to mind but what do you do with the three time loser? Bring back debtors prisons or similar?
Communism might sound like the answer but it is more corrupt than capitalism and stifles innovation. Religious communes can work if one doesn't consider human rights.
IMO charity only works in small doses and groups. Once it becomes a government function it becomes a system with rules instead of ethics. People learn to work the rules. In small groups one notices the ones that never seem to contribute but are always first in line when there's a handout. Adjustments are made.
How far back can we go to correct a problem?
I was at a housing project and overheard a woman explaining why she was behind in her rent. It was because one of her exes or one of the fathers of one of her children didn't make his child support payment.
Why did she hook up with all the losers? He was good in bed, was a hunk, she was drunk etc?
Why are we paying for her mistake, not picking a responsible partner?
Answer: Because not doing so makes the situation worse in the long run.
Unfortunately no politician has the brains to fix the problem and there is no motivation to do so until ALL the money is gone. We have our "rights" but we are not responsible for the payments to maintain them.
The only thing Turdeau has accomplished is legalizing marijuana. So if you can't afford a house or apartment and have to live under a bridge, at least you can light up and hope it takes away some of the pain.
What happens in a primitive tribe in Africa or the Amazon when little two feathers refuses to share in the hunter gatherer effort? I assume at some point he goes hungry. Maybe the assumption from birth that one has to work isn't a bad idea.
Of course here our mommies tell us we're special and if that delusion becomes fixed in the brain we're doomed.
