Well said. Absolutely the issue is Trust! The orbit is shifting. Important distinction to be sure. And we need to put our faith and support into the orchestrators (or is that conductors?) of such rupture.
Also, when you write: "You don’t have to defeat an alliance if you can convince its members to stop trusting each other," you state a truism, belonging in the category of "divide and conquer".
It is a true manipulation strategy, like propaganda, that I believe is being used by U.S.A. upon us to weaken our Elbows Up! and We're Stronger Together stances. And doesn't misery love company? So then the ordinary folks jump on the "bash a bit" bandwagon and the snowball grows.
I also believe that the more Canadians awaken to this tactic and refuse to get suckered into these internecine rodeos sponsored by outside forces, then the better off we will all be. ❤️🇨🇦
You put your finger on the part that worries me most... trust is far easier to destroy than it is to rebuild.
Military alliances, trade agreements, even countries themselves ultimately run on confidence that the people beside you will still be there when things get difficult.
Once doubt starts creeping in, everyone begins making contingency plans.
I also agree that division is often the cheapest weapon available.
You don't need tanks if you can get people arguing with each other instead of paying attention to who benefits from the argument.
Canada's strength has never been that we all think alike.
It's that when the stakes are high, we usually remember we're on the same team.
An important read for all Canadians (and Cath Millage’s comment)! TRUST- we are living in a time of misinformation,angst and overload. The people around me turning more radical minded , fear seems to have replaced trust. My consumption of reporting has been dwindled down to writing like yours and a few YouTube channels like House of El..I absolutely trust PM Carney’s long term strategy…I feel lighter already
I think a lot of people are feeling exactly what you're describing.
We're drowning in information but starving for trust.
Every day brings another outrage, another prediction of disaster, another reason to be angry at somebody.
After a while, people stop evaluating information and start choosing teams.
That's when fear becomes more powerful than facts.
What I've found encouraging over the last few months is that Canadians seem to be looking past the daily noise and paying more attention to the long game.
Infrastructure, trade diversification, defence partnerships, investment attraction... none of it is flashy, but that's usually how serious nation-building works.
I also understand what you mean by feeling lighter.
Confidence doesn't come from believing everything will be perfect.
It comes from believing somebody is actually steering the ship instead of reacting to every wave.
The irony is that trust often creates calm, while fear creates demand for more fear.
And right now, calm may be one of the most valuable commodities in the country. ❤️
I think Eurpean Nato countries are capable of their own non nuclear defense and the US withdrawal of non nuclear forces is reasonable. The US nuclear umbrella is still required until a French based nuclear umbrella grows sufficient enough to replace it. That is the logical near term for the alluance. For the nuclear umbrella the US would have access rights to landing and staging of military equipment if required. A formal conventional US military presence in Europe should not be required.
Well said. Absolutely the issue is Trust! The orbit is shifting. Important distinction to be sure. And we need to put our faith and support into the orchestrators (or is that conductors?) of such rupture.
Also, when you write: "You don’t have to defeat an alliance if you can convince its members to stop trusting each other," you state a truism, belonging in the category of "divide and conquer".
It is a true manipulation strategy, like propaganda, that I believe is being used by U.S.A. upon us to weaken our Elbows Up! and We're Stronger Together stances. And doesn't misery love company? So then the ordinary folks jump on the "bash a bit" bandwagon and the snowball grows.
I also believe that the more Canadians awaken to this tactic and refuse to get suckered into these internecine rodeos sponsored by outside forces, then the better off we will all be. ❤️🇨🇦
Cath,
You put your finger on the part that worries me most... trust is far easier to destroy than it is to rebuild.
Military alliances, trade agreements, even countries themselves ultimately run on confidence that the people beside you will still be there when things get difficult.
Once doubt starts creeping in, everyone begins making contingency plans.
I also agree that division is often the cheapest weapon available.
You don't need tanks if you can get people arguing with each other instead of paying attention to who benefits from the argument.
Canada's strength has never been that we all think alike.
It's that when the stakes are high, we usually remember we're on the same team.
That's a habit worth protecting. ❤️
An important read for all Canadians (and Cath Millage’s comment)! TRUST- we are living in a time of misinformation,angst and overload. The people around me turning more radical minded , fear seems to have replaced trust. My consumption of reporting has been dwindled down to writing like yours and a few YouTube channels like House of El..I absolutely trust PM Carney’s long term strategy…I feel lighter already
Shelley,
I think a lot of people are feeling exactly what you're describing.
We're drowning in information but starving for trust.
Every day brings another outrage, another prediction of disaster, another reason to be angry at somebody.
After a while, people stop evaluating information and start choosing teams.
That's when fear becomes more powerful than facts.
What I've found encouraging over the last few months is that Canadians seem to be looking past the daily noise and paying more attention to the long game.
Infrastructure, trade diversification, defence partnerships, investment attraction... none of it is flashy, but that's usually how serious nation-building works.
I also understand what you mean by feeling lighter.
Confidence doesn't come from believing everything will be perfect.
It comes from believing somebody is actually steering the ship instead of reacting to every wave.
The irony is that trust often creates calm, while fear creates demand for more fear.
And right now, calm may be one of the most valuable commodities in the country. ❤️
I think Eurpean Nato countries are capable of their own non nuclear defense and the US withdrawal of non nuclear forces is reasonable. The US nuclear umbrella is still required until a French based nuclear umbrella grows sufficient enough to replace it. That is the logical near term for the alluance. For the nuclear umbrella the US would have access rights to landing and staging of military equipment if required. A formal conventional US military presence in Europe should not be required.