What we need to do for the next four years

The deep thinkers of the Globe and Mail (and every other media outlet) have been doing their analysis of how America managed to elect an idiot like Trump, and how the world has to pivot to deal with a second Trump term.

Regarding the latter, I was particularly struck by Doug Saunders article on how to replace a US-sized hole in the free world, most of which make good sense to me.

Given that Trump has served notice that he is not interested in the USA doing the right thing in the wider world, and that he is much more concerned with making his own little fiefdom cozy and secure, Saunders suggests three steps that the remaining free and democratic countries must take to take up the slack.

Firstly, they need to get their own houses in order. Canada, Europe and the rest of the free world will need legitimate, stable democracies and rules-based governments if we are to make it through four years of Trump rudderlessness and isolation. Part of that, in Canada's case, is that Justin Trudeau needs to get out of the way of a 2024 Canadian election, so that Canada has a stable working government, of whatever political complexion, BEFORE Trump takes the reins in early 2025.

Second, they need to come as close as possible to national unity as soon as possible. As several Liberal left-of-centre governments can expect to be replaced by conservative ones in the current milieu, they must still try and cleave to the centre and consensus politics in the face of what they will have to respond to from a Trump administration (e.g. retreat from Ukraine and the Middle East, tariffs, environmental backtracking, etc).

And third, accept that all of this will be expensive. Just as with the pandemic, now is not the time for scrimping and austerity. We will need to up our spending on Ukraine if the US bails, as well as on national security in general in a world that will probably become rapidly more unstable. US tariffs will make everything more expensive, both in America and everywhere else. Suck it up; it will not last forever.

None of this is welcome news, but it is probably wise advice. None of those happy, celebrating Republican faces you have seen on the news have thought through this stuff, and neither do they care (they just think they may be a bit better off next year, and have to deal with fewer people of colour). But we do have to think about it. If America burns, we need stay safe and keep the world turning.