Forward Unto Dawn

I take no pleasure in denouncing the United States of America or President Trump. For Canadians, Old stock Americans are a kindred people, however where Canadians can trace their most immediate lineage to their fidelity towards King Charles II, the Americans are the spiritual descendants of Cromwell’s puritan revolutionary republicanism. As a Canadian with a strong sense of identity and awareness of what Canada “means”, I try not to dwell on America’s effects on our nation and self-understanding. Yes, I do hold a negative view of the United States, and this view has been informed by many commentators, intellectuals, and clergymen, most of whom are Americans and who prior to 2015 would essentially agree with most of what I have said about the States. Although I have always been wary of the US, my concerns lay with Canada, and although I blame the US for its negative influence on my nation the fault still rests with our Canadian elite for so willingly sacrificing the sovereignty, potential, and destiny of what could have been a great power. Ultimately, Canada’s problems lay with our elites and our populace who tolerated and often times supported and legitimized the policies of their leaders. Yet still, the duplicity of our leaders and the idiocy of our people does not absolve the influence and actions of the United States, and I maintain had Washington’s insurrection never occurred or failed, the world as a whole would be a better place. Alas, America exists and must be contended with as such.

If I were an American, I would be very pleased with what President Trump has accomplished and promises to accomplish during his presidency. As a Canadian, I still support what he is enacting domestically, and even most of his foreign policy is to my reading, excellent. Trump is governing as a true sovereign, an autocrat or king, and under him I do believe he can restore America to a better state. Trump has received the mandate and appears to have the will to restore the American political system to a state of functional order, and enacting policies that will ensure institutional stability. America has been in a steady state of decline essentially since the end of the Cold War. Trump, during his first presidency, did little to abate this decline, but now, with nothing to lose and demanding retribution for offenses he was made to suffer, has every incentive to restore “American greatness”. So yes, as the president of the Americans, to the Americans he is an excellent leader. Although I oppose many of the professed values of Trump and of America as a whole, an ascendant America can be of benefit to Canada and the West because ultimately, we are joined in consanguinity. So although I have no particular love for the United States as a political and cultural entity, I harbour no particular ill-will to America’s citizens. To the degree that Trump is good for Americans I am happy for them and wish the president success.

Donald Trump is someone whom I hold in great respect, and it is due to this respect that I take his words seriously. Realistically, Trump’s statements regarding the annexation of Canada are likely a boisterous attempt to have Canada’s ruling class step in line with his political agenda. Yet even as a joke, such statements need to be rebuffed with great force because such words simply by their utterance serve as an existential danger. Words said in jest or in irony regardless of intention normalize the ideas or concepts that are being presented. This is why we have to guard what we say at all times, as words often serve as spells in which we ensnare ourselves. Regardless if Trump’s words are deliberate or accidental, they remain equally existentially dangerous to us. As it stands, my life would greatly improve if I were an American citizen. My opposition to the idea of annexation goes against what would be in my best interest and remaining a Canadian is detrimental to myself and family. Many American rights and freedoms would be a benefit to me considering the content of my written work, but even upon what some might consider the most superficial of considerations, Canada is my homeland and I cannot be authentically Canadian outside of her borders.

American republicanism is the antithesis of my political persuasion, and the antithesis of the political future I aspire to. When I consider the future, I think in terms of the next 100 to 1000 years, as political systems, cultures, and philosophies develop gradually and their ramifications are far reaching. For example, Europe as a whole is still trying to come to terms with and understand the French Revolution, what such an event means. I try not to think in terms of either democratic short-termism, or fundamentalist apocalypticism. My political concerns extend past arbitrary term limits or party interests, and apocalypticism is the retreat of those who are willingly powerless in the face those things which challenge them. If one studies both secular and Church history, they will soon realize that as bad as things appear to be now there have been horrors of the past that most would find unfathomable, and yet the world persists.

Some commentators claim that Canada currently is not a sovereign state, and that if we are to be ruled by an alien power Canadians would be better served under American rule. Even in our current state, rule of China or the World Economic Forum is preferable to American vassalage. If we are to join the American Union, we will cease to be Canadian. China and the WEF do not care for us or our people, and although they may harm and exploit us, we will nominally be allowed to remain Canadian, and we will still have a King. China has no interest in absorbing us politically into their state. As long as we have a King it is possible for Canada’s political situation to improve and for the nation’s identity to be restored. In becoming a republic or in joining another, Canada would further drift away from what is the ideal: Christian monarchy. I have no doubt at all that in the future the United States will become a monarchy of some type. Human nature is unchanging and just as humanity was during the time of Plato we remain so now. Human nature demands an autocrat, a sovereign, a king because hierarchy is something which we psychologically and spiritually need. We demand kinship because our souls demand God. Secular kingship is not a usurpation of God, but rather fidelity to Him as we entrust His principles of divine rulership to function on Earth as it is in Heaven, through temporal mediators in the form of kings (just as the liturgy is mediated by the priest). God rules as a King, one’s father rules the household, and even in democratic forms of government there still remains a singular leader who presides or rules over all. So although I believe America will someday be a kingdom, that development could take centuries, despite the seeming intentions of Trump with his monarchical form of governance and his claim to a divine mandate. If Canada were to join the United States it would represent a regression, a decline towards primitivism and a forsaking of our nation’s telos.

American annexation is worth dying to oppose. Of course one has loyalties other than that of country or nation, and one must consider the hierarchy of duties owed. Canada in her current iteration is not worth dying for, but the Canada of old was worthy of such a demand. In fidelity to that Canada of old, and the Canada that could exist in the future, this is what we are to honour. Canada currently exists in a most contemptible condition, and I cannot fault people for harbouring feelings of apathy regarding the country as she currently is. But when we consider Canada, we are to remember those of the past and consider what we owe to them, as a duty for both their sacrifices and achievements we benefit from today. We must also consider those generations that succeed us, and how our actions and sacrifices now will determine the quality of their lives and what their achievements will be. We have debts to pay and investments to make, and although while we live we may not materially benefit from our labour, it is not given in vain.