I rarely take stuff off the Internet to write about, but this one was too good to pass up.
It seems a Canadian radio announcer posted what was meant to be a promotion for Cape Breton in Nova Scotia in case Donald Trump won the GOP primary and then the presidency.
Plenty of United States citizens have decried the disgusting food fights that have been staged on television as “debates” where Republican candidates yell at each other and hurl personal insults instead of discussing actual policy. Ohio Governor John Kasich has so far been the only grown up of the remaining four GOP contenders.
So for those citizens who are totally fed up with the screaming and utter nonsense, lovely Cape Breton might be a feasible alternative.
The website, posted by Rob Calabrese, is called “Cape Breton if Donald Trump Wins,” and it seems to have struck a chord with those folks who would consider moving to another country before accepting the possibility that The Donald might wind up with his finger on the nuclear button.
To understand the extreme disaffection among U.S. citizens of both parties, I confess that one of my daughters (a staunch conservative) told me she might vote for Bernie Sanders. Considering that she has never even considered siding with a self-described socialist, I’m inclined to take her at her word.
Would she move to Nova Scotia? Probably not. Would I? Let’s just say that in my eighth decade of life, my situation is more fluid than hers.
According to the website, Cape Breton has a population of about 150,000 folks on an island about the size of Hawaii (the big island). The inhabitants enjoy free healthcare, affordable housing, gorgeous rural scenery, mild summers, friendly neighbors, etc.
According to Calabrese, the site posted last week had attracted 35,000 viewers as of last Wednesday. Few mention Trump, but most have asked for more information on the area and what may be available if the worst happens.
The website read, “Don’t wait until Donald Trump is elected president to find somewhere else to live. Start your new life in Cape Breton where women can get abortions, Muslim people can roam freely and the only walls (referring to Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the Mexican border) are those holding up the roofs of our extremely affordable houses.”
Calabrese also touts a “mostly rural setting where you know your neighbors … and nobody has a handgun.”
What it doesn’t say is that Canadians have already elected their new president and he seems a likable sort with sensible plans that appear to suit the country’s citizens. Prime Minister Trudeau, the son of Canada’s former leader, was scheduled to meet with our President Obama in Washington this week.
Calabrese also resists the impulse to mention the average winter temperatures, which may seem a bit frigid compared with those in most of the United States. Well, heck, I’ve lived the past 10 years or so in Montana and haven’t frozen yet. In fact, a move to the north might forestall the ever-present menace of a warming climate, which many of our politicians and fossil fuel producers refuse to acknowledge.
Pundits have described the Trump phenomena as tapping into a deep anger in the country among voters who decry income inequality, the disappearing middle class, lobbyists and industry groups that seem to control Congress, and the partisan divide that has ground both the Senate and the House of Representatives to a virtual halt; also the amount of dark money driving all of our political contests.
Do these forces drive politics in Canada as they do here? Probably not, or at least not yet.
But if all these disaffected citizens move north of the border will that change? Who’s to say? And will these émigrés try to bring their guns with them? How long will it be before all the qualities touted by Cape Breton promoters deteriorate into a United States North?
I guess what I’m wondering is if the failings of our government are driven by something endemic to our culture or by Supreme Court rulings such as Citizens United, might these flaws follow those who move to Canada?
When Trudeau faces reelection, will he face a Trump-like character from the north? Perhaps the Canadian culture will change the character of those who move there, retaining the qualities promoted by Calabrese’s post. One can only hope.