Pretending

It’s like the Oscar celebrations. We like stories, like being distracted. We really like pretending everything is fine. It’s like how we used to feel about our big brother. The US was gonna buy our stuff and protect us forever. We bought into the narrative. But were we pretending?

I will admit to being a very proud Canadian when I first heard Mark Carney’s speech. Where he argued the only choice now is to stop pretending the old systems worked. The only problem is, I liked the old system; I liked it when Canada and the US cared about things I thought were worth fighting for. Like India allegedly murdering someone on our soil…or China’s treatment of the Uyghur people. Now, it’s Trump’s US that we need to fight; the old dream is getting frightening. ICE has shot and killed another protestor and there are more lies from the White House.

Carney has been portrayed as sticking it to Trump, but his focus was also an argument for making Canada stronger. He says the rules-based international order, the system in place since before I was born, is a pretence. He told the Davos crowd we should stop pretending it’s protecting all of us, not just the powerful. He’s talking about the UN, the WTO, the IMF, NATO, the G7, the G20, and NAFTA. All of them were created in the wake of WW2, all backstopped by America, when the West saw communism as scary. Now, the enemy is anyone who doesn’t agree with Trump. He is a racist, misogynist creep, and he got chosen by Americans twice.

I like blunt talk, I like Carney sticking his neck out, but I’m less sure about the applause for his giving up on Human Rights. For his seeing “The world as it is, not like we would like it to be.” I wonder if it’s just the cost of doing business now? Without Trump, would Carney be doing deals with India and China just the same? Do we just accept the world is not how we “would like it to be”?

Carney told the World Economic Forum, “This bargain no longer works. Let me be direct: we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.” “When the rules no longer protect you, you must protect yourself.” I just wish his solution was not every woman for herself–that the only alternative is to break down regulations and get new partners.

Pretending has now been replaced by another “P” — pragmatism.

Carney’s ”Pursuing variable geometry” is not about to go down in the history of great quotes. “In the midst of a rupture” doesn’t have the same ring as Churchill’s “We shall fight them on the beaches,” or JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do for you.” Churchill also said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried.” Carney never used the word democracy. In a 17-minute speech.

Democracy is nice, but only if you can get it. Pragmatism is in; pretending is out. Carney is not asking Canadians to do anything brave, to fight for a better world, even though blowing up the system is how we got into this mess in the first place.

Carney had to know there was a risk in saying what he did. Trump quickly pulled a ‘Zelensky’ on him, saying, “I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful. They should be grateful to us, Canada. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

Trump then disinvited “Governor Carney” from joining his new “Board of Peace”. It’s a spot of good news. Trump’s idea for a new world order, a new United Nations, is not working, unless you want to saddle up with Milei of Argentina or Orban of Hungary. Trump just proved Carney’s point.

I liked it better when the White House pretended to care about principles like human rights. Just as I liked Canada better when we stood for something bigger, when we fought for democratic values outside our borders. Those days may be over, maybe the rules-based international order is a fake, maybe Carney is right, there’s no point in pretending. Trump is not going to become soft and cuddly. Still, I’m hoping that he does not prevail forever, that something of the order is left. We have yet to reach intermission.

I just read a NYT piece about how Gen Z has given up hope that things will get better. Unlike millennials, who grew up on Harry Potter. Maybe that’s what it’s all about, about my clinging to hope. Please subscribe, and pay if you can. Hope lives!