Subject: Re: War, currencies and jurisdictions
While polls may indicate current frustrations, please consider the distinction between transient political disagreements and a permanent, existential shift in a deeply established alliance. Nations, like individuals, experience periods of strain, but the underlying shared values and mutual interests between Canada and the U.S. have historically proven to be robust. To suggest that trust is "gone for good" and that the U.S. is now a "declared adversary" seems to overlook the ongoing collaboration in numerous critical areas from defense and security to trade and environmental protection.

Without a doubt it is hard to predict the future, so reasonable people can come to differing assessments of how permanent the changes are. It would be nice if your thoughts turn out to be correct.

I myself conclude that certain good aspects of the Canada/US relationship are already permanently gone, for two main reasons: first, certain reactions and actions of myself and those I know which are permanent. Selling American cottages, for example. Plus, I have been coming to the conclusion that certain aspects of US governance are permanently gone, and along with them the potential for amelioration of many types of international relations. On the latter, I am pretty sure at the very least that it is NOT simply a matter of waiting for the next election cycle. Much of what was taken for granted is simply no longer true. As an example, I am given to understand that previously routine Five Eyes intelligence is not being fully shared. Trust will take a long time restore, since there is quite a big gap between "has never betrayed us" and "betrays us once per century".

Attributing such a definitive and irreversible decline to the entire "US" as a monster entity, rather than to specific political actors or policies may be an oversimplification.

Certainly the individual is not the same as the governing group. Most folks are very nice, whether in Atlanta or Vladivostok. My comments are based on the actions of the US government, combined with the observation that those in the US who don't agree with its actions are, these days, wholly irrelevant. I think perhaps much more irrelevant than many have yet realized, and perhaps for much longer.

Jim