"We will not kiss the gangster ring!"

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David Brooks NYT
"Over the past 20 years or so many of us social observer types have been writing about the horrific chasms separating the educated class (people with college degrees) from the working class (people without)."

Brooks cites sites difference in life expectancy, children born out of wedlock, number of friends and educational achievement of their children as statistics bearing out the differences.

"If America elected a populist as president, you would expect him to devote his administration to addressing these inequities, to boosting the destinies of working-class Americans. But that’s not what President Trump is doing. He seems to have no plans to narrow the education chasms, no plans to narrow the health outcome chasms or the family structure chasms. He has basically no plans to revive the communities that have been decimated by postindustrialization."

"Why is that? The simplest answer is that Trump really seems not to give a crap about the working class. Trump is not a populist. He campaigns as a populist, but once he has power, he is the betrayer of populism."

"In 2018 the organization More in Common released the “Hidden Tribes” survey. It found that two groups were driving American politics, which it called progressive activists and devoted conservatives. These groups are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, but they have a lot in common. They are the richest of all the groups in the More in Common typology. They are the whitest of all the groups. They are among the best educated of all the groups. When I wrote a column about the bitter feud between these two elite groups, I headlined it “The Rich White Civil War.” That headline still accurately describes what we’re seeing."
"You might say that progressives have it coming. The moment they began shutting conservative and working-class voices out of their institutions, they were inviting a backlash, and now here it is.

"But here’s the problem: As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in “The Great Gatsby,” rich people are careless. They break things. The members of the Trumpist elite think they’re going after the educated elites at U.S.A.I.D. and the N.I.H., but you know who’s really going to pay the price? It’s the woman in Namibia who is going to die of AIDS because PEPFAR has been eviscerated. It’s the child in Ohio who’s going to die of cancer because medical research was slowed. It’s the future citizens of America whose lives will be worse because their state institutions no longer function. It’s the working-class communities that will continue to languish because Trump ignores their main challenges and focuses instead on culture war distractions.

"Here’s the essence of Trumpism: It’s to be blithely unconcerned that people without a college degree die about eight years sooner or that hundreds of thousands of Africans might now die of AIDS but to go into paroxysms of moral panic because of who competes in a high school girls’ swim meet."
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‘We’re not going to America’: Canadians boycott U.S. over Trump threats

Airlines and travel companies are taking a hit as more Canadians cancel U.S. travel plans, and even sell American property, over U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats against Canada.
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Great way to free up housing in the states, our government should have thought of that, you know cause we have a shortage and housing crisis
 
ToSlow said:
Great way to free up housing in the states, our government should have thought of that, you know cause we have a shortage and housing crisis
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Even the most out of touch folks that pretend to work in Ottawa wouldn't think that that would increase affordability for housing...
 
We’re not going to America’: Canadians boycott U.S. over Trump threats
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Airlines and travel companies are taking a hit as more Canadians cancel U.S. travel plans, and even sell American property, over U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats against Canada.
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Most Americans (or Canadians for that matter) don’t even know what potash is, but a huge amount of it is exported from Canada to the USA. Potash is an absolutely irreplaceable product, a critical precursor in the production of fertilizer. The USA cannot stop importing it because you cannot just dig a potash mine tomorrow, there is no practical alternative, and Canada is the biggest producer of it in the world. If it’s tariffed, that is a deadweight loss for the American economy; it is quite literally the government taxing farming. Food prices will go up on food grown in the USA. It is absolutely inevitable. Furthermore, the USA’s fertilizer sales abroad will be hurt by a huge potash price hike, further damaging that industry.
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Dirty Frank said:
Even the most out of touch folks that pretend to work in Ottawa wouldn't think that that would increase affordability for housing...
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I don't know how many snowbirds get affected. Some, not a huge number, have a seasonal mobile home here and another in the south USA. They need winter accommodation here as the parks are shut Thanksgiving to Victoria Day and the Florida scene doesn't look good financially. Another straw on the camel's back.
 
ToSlow said:
How many snowbirds own property in the states do think are likely to sell?
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One of the problems with posting politics on a motorcycle forum is that non motorcycle topics are so varied that the sources of FACTS(?) are very questionable.

I've seen numerous YouTube videos that give exaggerated accounts of economics. YouTube is media and like mainstream media sensational sells. Post a video saying I caught a mediocre fish and didn't get attacked by anything and you get 30 hits. Catch a monster tuna while surrounded by bimbos in bikinis fighting off crocodiles and you get millions of views.

What very often gets posted is false, cherry picked, out of context or outdated.

People generally buy real estate as a long-term investment and are more tempted to ride out a storm, as long as it isn't a hurricane. If you only want a cottage for a few months once in a lifetime, you rent.
 
Interesting ..I knew the US was heavily indebted...but seems Canada could call the note.
Given we may have a banker in charge.
"As of April 2024, the five countries owning the most US debt are Japan ($1.1 trillion), China ($749.0 billion), the United Kingdom ($690.2 billion), Luxembourg ($373.5 billion), and Canada ($328.7 billion)." Someone should let Trump know, so that he can declare war on Luxembourg, make them the 51st state, and cancel the debt. Simples.
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:sneaky:
 
Do keep up -
  • Mainstreet Research Poll: Liberals projected at 41%, Conservatives at 39%.2
  • Léger Poll: Liberals and Conservatives tied at 37%.
  • Nanos Research Poll: Carney is seen as the best candidate to negotiate with U.S. President Donald Trump, with 40% of respondents favoring him over Pierre Poilievre (26%)
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No one willingly kisses a ring, it's a humiliation ritual forced on weaker beings by thier superiors, if push came to shove who in the world would be able to and willing to come save Canada from the US. Bad analogy imo.
 
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