.png)
4 hours ago
1
Donald Trump has consistently threatened to forcibly annex Canada (as well as Greenland), and has goaded and insulted Justin Trudeau and Canadians more generally(The Guardian view on why Canada matters: a nation in the global frontline, 6 March) . Trump and his far-right coterie of plutocrats and supine Republicans want freedom for themselves to accumulate even more wealth and capital, to accelerate the plunder of other people and to promote the destruction of our planet.
It’s not just bad behaviour towards a peaceful neighbour that is at issue. This is the real meaning of the “polycrisis” referred to in your recent article (What is this era of calamity we’re in? Some say ‘polycrisis’ captures it, 6 March). The term is an empty signifier, devoid of any explanation or useful meaning.
So what is the situation we are in and how should we conceptualise it? I prefer the terminology of Antonio Gramsci, who, noting the “morbid symptoms” arising in the interregnum in 1930s Europe, wrote “the old is dying and the new cannot be born”. The term he used for the interwar period was “organic crisis”, something long-lasting, involving struggle and conflict. That crisis only ended with the most lethal war in history.
Today, we are in a planetary organic crisis and, unless we confront it, we are part of the problem and not the solution. That is why Canada matters – it is one of the many morbid symptoms of an increasingly far-right reactionary capitalism propelling the planet and its people towards disaster. Calling out bad behaviour is not enough.
Prof Stephen Gill
York University, Toronto, Canada
Here in Canada, the death of Nato is already an established fact, plain to all. The supposed leader of the alliance is threatening us with annexation and the other members are studiously looking away. Even Britain, in whose defence Canadians gave 107,000 lives in two world wars, struggles to find a few words in our defence. Unlike Britain in 1940, which at least had Canada as an ally, we truly do stand alone. We already know that if Trump moves against us, no one will come to our aid.
As your editorial says, Canada is suddenly on the frontline in the worldwide battle to protect an international order based on respect for sovereignty. To many people, that battle can seem abstract and distant at times. But the Ukrainians know it isn’t. And when my son told me he was scared of the Americans, and I couldn’t honestly tell him that his fears were groundless, I knew it too.
Owen Dyer
Montreal, Canada
Congratulations on your editorial. Finally, someone in Britain has spoken up for Canada, in the wake of Donald Trump’s obnoxious expressed intention to annex our country. The pusillanimous fawning displayed by Keir Starmer and King Charles will not be forgotten here in a hurry. In laying out the red carpet for this convicted criminal and admirer of dictators, and omitting to defend the sovereignty of Canada – of which Charles is in fact king – they have managed to undo all the good that Charles’s mother did in her long reign. The Commonwealth is done.
Richard Arthur
Toronto, Canada
I am sure President Trump would be delighted to visit Canada’s head of state to sort out their differences. Or doesn’t he realise who that is?
Steve Shearsmith
Beverley, East Yorkshire
