New poll says 27% of Canadians view the United States as an 'enemy' country

Do I foresee little ProfessorNougatScience babies in the future...?

I understand that options aren't available to everyone

A mixture of emotions. In my case,

1.) I live in Illinois and bought a home in 2020 when the interest rate was 3.2% as a first-time homeowner. If I were to sell and look for a new home, the interest rate in Canada would be somewhere around 4%, plus the cost of living is higher compared to where I live. That's ignoring the complications that could come from obtaining a permanent work visa as a foreign citizen.

2.) I love my job as it is now and it may be difficult to find a job in the same field. Also, my wife recently found a job in her career field and for the first time wants to stay at her employer for the foreseeable future; working in public health and helping the people this horrible healthcare system is failing to care for.

3.) Family and friendship ties to the area.

4.) There's some semblance of hope if we stay. I do still want the best for everyone that I share this earth with. Even if it were financially viable for me to leave, there's millions that aren't so lucky. If I pack up and leave that's one less person voting for progressive policy and advocating for empathy in a country that has real projective power in the world.

5.) Illinois, as a blue state, is temporarily insulated from damaging policy that Trump is trying to enact. JB Pritzker has remained steadfast in his opposition to Trump and regressive political action.

I liken it to French opposition during the period of Nazi occupation. (Clearly it's not a 1:1 comparison.) The french resistance hampered Nazi wartime efforts just enough to keep Nazi logistics from being able to cross the channel and occupy Great Britain. If that were to happen, the United States wouldn't be able to set up any sort of staging area on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. Amphibious assaults would have taken place on the western coast of GB where there's cliff faces rather than the sandy beaches at Normandy. Maybe Germany is then able to allocate more troops to the eastern front in that scenario, who knows. But thankfully that's just a hypothetical and isn't something we have to ponder.

Vote Yes when secession comes up?

The reason you're getting downvoted is it's a problem even here in the country. It's the "Why aren't you doing anything about it?" to all of us.

In the case of me, I live 1000 miles away from the seat of power, our representatives actively are dismantling things we voted for, not national I'm talking, state level, because we're outright surrounded by the people who are actively cheering for this. (and the example of the voting against, state voted to get rid of the most strict abortion law in the country, legalizing it... and now the representatives on state level are trying to get a pregnancy registry "to try to stop preventable abortions." while the state rep at national level is trying to get a national abortion ban going. This is one of many many many things in the state by itself. Hell, I just learned the state just gained police control to the other city after they managed to vote that out.)

I didn't downvote, but I want you to read "What are you going to do about it?" out loud. Hell, you yourself said it's the apathy. But the fuck am I going to do? Show up and wave a sign at the people who already have shown they couldn't give a flying shit about our opinions? Or be there when the fight starts and be a martyr. The second option the best case scenario is getting to be like Tank Man, but honestly demographics I'd be one of the many forgotten in the Tiananmen Square Massacre. And that's what it's going to look like, because this administration you better believe is looking for an opportunity to go full martial law, and if we don't do it, their brownshirts will for them.

So the best I can fucking do is stock up, prepare, keep my head down, keep in contact with the people who are in the same boat as I am being in effectively enemy territory and use the privilege I have of looking like a standard white conservative to see how many I can keep safe when being that demographic is important.

I downvoted you after your edit, because you're a little bit of a dick about it.

I think I'm going to invade that ass

As a Californian, I'm hella stoked for the future nation of Pacifica.

Patrolling the Mojave? Nah, a stroll around the Night City should be nicer even.

It's 1933 Germany at worst. Give them some credit. /s

I have relatives who moved to the states, they tend to come down once a year since they have their own business and can easily take off time whenever, whereas for me as a full-time employee it's not so simple. I've already not visited the states in quite a few years so that part isn't a loss for me at least.

I dunno if they will visit this year though, that will be interesting to see what happens with that.

misinformation farms from Russia, China and North Korea

For those unfamiliar:

• Internet Research Agency

The Internet Research Agency, also known as Glavset, and known in Russian Internet slang as the Trolls from Olgino or Kremlinbots, was a Russian company which was engaged in online propaganda and influence operations on behalf of Russian business and political interests. It was linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former Russian oligarch who was leader of the Wagner Group, and based in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

• 50 Cent Party

The 50 Cent Party, also known as the 50 Cent Army or wumao, are Internet commentators who are paid by the authorities of the People's Republic of China to spread the propaganda of the governing Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The program was created during the early phases of the Internet's rollout to the wider public in China.

Yeah, that's like the one part of America that holds mystique for me too. I guess American Samoa has the weird timezone.

I think there’s concern about the fucking plane crashing on the way. 100% legit concern.

Wow friend, that's really reassuring buddy.

I’m honestly not sure this context is winnable.

Yep. I'm a cishet white dude but even just as an atheist I've never been a "real" American in the eyes of far too many. And now the Christofascists are seizing control.

Precisely the comparison I’ve been trying to make for a while now

It's not even snark, it's a perfectly accurate statement!

Absolutely. Trump's and the Project 2025's "America First" strategy is essentially turning US imperialism inward on its own citizens now that the former global dominance is waning.

Also apparently told Europe that they're pulling out of there unless they accept the deal for Ukraine's surrender...

We've been breaking treaties for as long as we've been a country, just ask the remnants of the native peoples. We've had brief, shining periods as a force for good or scientific achievement, but mostly it's a big, racist shithole.

Money.

Also, people tend to have things like friends and family.

If I could gather all my friends and family with me and move out of this backwards ass shithole, I would. It's not that simple.

This is always the Libertarian shitpost response: "you're free to do what you want" because you don't recognize economic coercion. It's a perfectly OK form of limiting freedom. Fuck off.

I could tell you why I would choose to stay where I am even if I had the resources to leave. It is actually possible for some of us to put together a decent life for our families and try to brighten the lives of those around us.

…Even though our government is somewhere between evil and self-destruct, and our culture is somewhere between “fuck you got mine” and “die woman/jew/brown/LGBT+/other!”

And yeah I’m a straight white dude, how did you guess? :/

But anyway, I’ve lived in the same house for 17 years. It is a 10 minute walk to the elementary/middle school my son will attend for the next 5 years. It is a 6 minute drive to the office for the best job I’ve ever had. We are active in our community and school district, and have some wonderful friends. All my son’s grandparents are within a reasonable drive (but not too close). All my nieces and nephews are similarly close by.

It’s a small modest house that we’ve made our own. In the past 5 years we’ve done some major renovations, repairs, and remodeling. We fenced in the back yard which is great for our kid and our multiple dogs. And our tortoise. Oh yeah, we’re animal lovers. And that includes a koi pond that I built in the back yard that’s literally part of my mental health self-care.

Moving to some place that seems less insane right now would materially change my entire life, not just which government I have to live under.

Was, but a joke :)

You have to understand, most Americans have no idea this is going on, or at least the extent. We live in an information dystopia.

Does that make us idiots? Yeah. But I think "disloyal" is the wrong word, and in fact many Americans are just overly loyal to the feeds and influencers warping their heads.

What would possibly be unclear here

Referring to Canada as the "51st State" and their prime minister as "governor" is a direct attack and invalidation of Canada, its culture, and its people's distinct identity. This isn't just about sovereignty. This is about us trying to erase them

I think it's more like a sibling that you grew up with who was taught the same moral code as you. They were living a healthy, normal life for a while but got offered a very high paying job that is at odds with those childhood morals. They decided to take it, and at first, they did just a few unethical things. Then, they realized that they could make more money by being more unethical and the people who were supposed to be chastising them were not very good at punishing people with money and were really easy to manipulate, so they leaned in to the lack of ethics.

They know what their doing is hurting people, and they don't care because they want to drive their Lamborghini to family Christmas and bring an ostentatiously expensive bottle of wine so that people can praise and fawn over them. But, if you call them on their bad behavior, they become enemies because how dare you?! Now we're the sibling who is powerful but has completely gone awry due to that same power.

I'm hoping we gave a nice family reunion someday where my country has learned the error of its ways and can once again be accepted by its lovely Canadian relatives.

They are compromised.