By Blair Smith
November 2nd, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
I was asked to write a personal perspective on how we came to this dreadful pass. Just a few days before the American Presidential Election, we seem to be standing on the brink of a yawning, widening chasm. And no one really knows how we got here. How is it possible that we have arrived at a fundamental ideological division of a nation, so deep and vicious that it pales its previous domestic conflict of 150 years ago?
Donald Trump: the most odious, demeaning expressions of hate and division become a policy platform.
How can people be so divided around the same set of facts and when did facts themselves become incidental to belief or irrelevant when they do not fit a particular narrative? How can men and women in all demographics and social strata, of all faiths, races and heritage be so incapable of compromise or the ability to trust in a common future? How does a people become so polarized that truth is no longer a critical aspect of discourse and debate, that the most odious, demeaning expressions of hate and division can become a policy platform, that rambling lies and wild allegations become a standard campaign rhetoric and that treason (unproven) and criminal undertakings (both proven and convicted) are excusable and excused?
And all this came about in just the last eight years? Not very likely and, in my opinion, not the case.
What we are experiencing now in American politics, gloriously embodied in the truly nasty character of Donald Trump, is the final stage of decades of decline in the fabric of a nation. Arguably, it began after the second world war when an aggressive materialism and a reinvigorated belief in the fundamental “rightness” of the American Dream swept the recovering nation. However, it was not matched by a corresponding growth in the maturity of social conscience or world view and became rather quickly a narrow, self-righteous parochialism. One can trace the general trajectory of decline through the next 65 years – through the counter cultures and domestic unrest, the fleeting Camelot hope and bloody assertion of civil rights, the assassinations, Watergate, the costly military encounters that drained the nation’s soul and undermined its common conviction, the too-frequent lapses and personal foibles of holders of the Oval Office all exposed as never before by an empowered and capable information machine.
Charles Dickens
Donald Trump
It was as Dickens wrote “the best of times, the worst of times …” but it was, overall, mostly the worst. The United States during the post-war years was like a candle that was burning too brightly and too quickly and was far too visible. It’s international commitments, unsupportable position as ‘defender of democracy everywhere’ and self-professed identity as ‘the greatest nation on earth’ or ‘the most glorious human experiment ever’ gave it no opportunity to calmly and collectively rationalize what it actually was and needed to be. The decline continued and accelerated. And like the candle that burns its brightest before it is extinguished, there was the period of the Obama administration when hopes rose and all things seemed possible. But the expectations were unreasonable, much too high and lofty intentions far exceeded actual accomplishment. As a result, the divisions between factions and ideologies deepened, became more callous and entrenched. What a perfect stage for the rise of one who has no true convictions, who will tell the American people what they most want to hear – that they are great but have been betrayed, that their personal problems are not their fault, that there are conspiracies afoot that keep them disadvantaged, that ‘they can be great again’ but only through him – not his party, not his policies, not his associations – just him.
The fundamental tradition of the peaceful transition and transfer of power was horribly disrupted with the incited storming of Capital Hill on January 6, 2020.
The four years of the Trump administration transformed the Office of the President of the United States and irreparably diminished its decorum, integrity and probity. The unorthodox, originally heralded as a fresh apolitical approach, soon assumed a dark and very political aspect with traditional boundaries of influence and interference openly crossed or ignored. The mantra of “draining the swamp” adopted aspects of a pogrom with “enemies lists” that would have been the envy of the Nixon White House. It became a revolving door of key aides, bureaucrats and personalities with intrigues and internal rivalry on an unprecedented scale and any co-operation between the political parties vanished in a partisan gulf that could not be bridged. Trials of Impeachment, only formally conducted three times in the entire history of the United States (Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump), occurred twice in Trump’s single term of office. And the fundamental tradition of the peaceful transition and transfer of power was horribly disrupted with the incited storming of Capital Hill on January 6, 2020 – an event for which Trump still faces charges of sedition.
Four years later, after a generally hapless Biden administration that only served, if anything, to deepen the ‘Great American Divide, Trump is back – a convicted felon awaiting sentencing and further trial – as possibly the 47th President of the United States. Over the past four years his rhetoric has become even more contentious and disruptive, his allegiance to the truth more suspect, his persona more deliberately carney-like, his followers and political allies more intransigent and more firmly committed to his return to office. He has been described with very little hyperbole as “an existential threat” to American freedoms.
The advance vote taking place in the state of Georgia set new records.
Here we sit – on the edge of the precipice, the virtual eve of one of the most definitive and defining moments in modern history. Those who do not fear the possible outcomes of November 5th have not realized its horrible potential for anarchy and civil unrest with implications reaching far beyond the borders of the United States. The very best prospect may be several years of continual economic and social disruption until an exhausted nation finally achieves some balance and order is restored. The worst is almost literally unthinkable, particularly for a Western culture that has become accustomed to generations of security and physical well-being. In our current “nanny states”, we have become desensitized to the very real possibilities for seismic changes to our lives caused by forces and events beyond our control.
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024 poses such potential.
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Great article Blair! Well done, and very insightful, as always.
I for one thought Harris might pull it off. In truth though, she was an uninspiring candidate, and seriously failed to differentiate her brand and separate herself from four years of Biden’s feckless leadership. What was most surprising about the results was not just the Republicans winning the Senate (and possibly the House), but the way Trump racked up big increases in the Republican’s share of the vote amongst hispanic, African-American and women voters. Even in states the Democrats won like New Hampshire the Republican share of the popular vote was substantially higher than in 2016 and 2020.
Now that what everyone feared has become a reality what does this mean for Canada? I suspect higher tariffs on Canadian goods, and demands to re-open USMCA. More pressure on Canada to abandon supply management, and strident calls to increase NATO and defence spending. Unemployment will likely increase. More importantly, it’s becoming patently obvious Trudeau and his cronies have no clue on how to deal with Trump, and aren’t positioned well to deal with the policy challenges this presents.
Time’s up Justin! See yourself out.
The Democrats lost the program when Biden was not told to stand downfor re-election. Trump has been running for the last four years. The result loss of the Presidency, the House and the Senate. All Harris offered Americans was to turn the page on ten years of Trump.
The usual pundits will say that Canada needs Trudeau to stay on to balance Trump which is completely ridiculous.
If narcissistic Trudeau continues and or is allowed to soldier by the Liberal Party I predict the left will virtually collapse electorally next year.
Thank you Stephen. And you have quite accurately sketched the likely array of Trump’s initial impacts on Canadians. There seems to be a tendency here to project the “Trump affect” on the behaviours of his first term in office. I believe that this is a very large mistake. What I think that people have forgotten or failed to recognize is that in 2016 there were checks and balances integral to the system. In 2024, he has the Senate, likely the House and arguably the Supreme Court to aid and abet. It will be relatively smooth sailing across an enabling political infrastructure. Equally to the point, there were, as the NY Times, poses as a ‘faint hope’, a series of principled key figures in positions of influence and power who refused to execute his unhinged directions. The White House and key Departments became a revolving door of exits and resignations. I do not see that happening this time. He has a host of enablers across the network, who will fill key positions, become a complicit echo chamber for his fantasies and magnify their impacts. We are in for a very nasty four years.
Don the entire West is on the decline. Thank socialism and their misguided policies. At 70 I will raise a glass and enjoy the entertainment that is unfolding.
The USA did rebuild Europe, Germany and Japan post the Second World War. Together with Britain, Canada and the Commonwealth they defeated Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and totalitarian Japan. This was America at its best.
Insightful, incisive and downright scary article, Blair. Thanks for putting in the time and thought in creating it. Like you, I grew up in the 50s and 60s and viewed America as THE country of democratic values and capitalist opportunity in the world. And Canada was somewhat similar, but the poorer cousin. I never understood though how we differed in slavery attitudes and practices from our southern cousins and how they would ever reconcile with their black Americans for what they had done to them. I still don’t understand that and many other things that have happened as America became the self-anointed policeman of the world.
I now view America somewhat with scorn, but also with sorrow that they are so close to possibly fracturing their nation (and possibly the world) over arguments that pale in importance against the need to defend their democracy, their constitution and their claimed rule of law. As you say Blair, this has been building for many years and even decades, but the era of Trump has brought them to the point of no return or the saving of their nation. We will know more tomorrow night whether the path has been chosen and the road ahead is one of violence and vileness or healing and a return to values set long ago. I hope it is the latter.
I Was interested to see where this article was going especially the Dickens reference from his novel (A Tale of Two Cities) and as mentioned a part of the first sentence in his novel ‘It was the best of times it was the worst of times’ equally interesting to me, was that the the novel was based around the time of the French Revolution. Dickens states ‘The period was so far as the Present’ I actually like Dickens who was self-made but never forgot the struggles of his upbringing and not only highlighted those struggles in his writings but advocated them among his new found wealthy and influential followers; I actually read your piece yesterday and have been mulling it over, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’ What was he, actually referencing? If I understand correctly, you are referencing a period of decline over a lifetime, was Dickens? Or was he referencing the period of the French Revolution and what could happen when the people rose up against a real or imagined elitism, you have also opened the door to Robespierre, from a wealthy family to, some would say the leader of true communism in its purest form that still survives to this day in France, there are many many other examples we can discuss throughout known history where the people have come off the worse from idealistic changes, but as you have overlayed ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ onto our current time, I find that equally interesting and also rather depressing, that nothing has been learnt from either side, I wonder if Dickens thought the same.
Great empires both rise & fall. Maybe we are reticent to admit the obvious, that the US (& Canada by inference) are now on the decline. Sadly, the velocity is all that is in question.
How did we get here? Social media, Fox (not to be confused with News). The influence of self serving deep pocketed billionaires (i.e Thiel, Musk).People turning a blind eye while becoming tolerant of aberrant and abhorrent behaviour. Finally, history repeating itself as humanity loses its moral compass. There should be a clear winner and lets hope it is not DJT.
Please send this to every newspaper in the US. Fantastic piece. Chillingly well-said.