4 ms·

If presidential election leads U.S. toward violence, should Canada intervene?

3 points by curmudgeon22 5y ago

airhangerf15 5y ago
The same Canada that just took away all their citizen's rights again and imposed lockdowns? The Canada that tried to fine a man 80,000 CAD for a joke? That Canada? Canada doesn't even remotely have the military effective strength to equal 1/10th of the US. The article is paywalled, but the title is just dumb by itself.
- emteycz 5y ago
  Is attacking the country really the only intervention Canada could do? Couldn't they send in peacemakers?
sharemywin 5y ago
What if the US got sanctioned?
haspoken 5y ago
https://archive.is/Gpldj https://archive.is/Gpldj
LinuxBender 5y ago
You asked so I will offer my dumb opinions. I do not share the views of this article. There is too much doom and gloom without specifics. Who is going to attack whom? Certainly not the US military, they are made up of its citizens. Provoking tribalism? That's already been in play for some time. Red vs Blue? That won't work out either as there isn't a clear line such as north and south. Each state has a mix of parties regardless of what color we paint a state. Riots? That does sound like the wide-spread civil violence they describe. Probably but that isn't enough to collapse democracy. I see riots like sprawling disorganized mosh pits. A non-vote of no confidence in the voting system? Maybe by one party but that would just secede presence and power to the other party. A coup? Not likely without first becoming a strong totalitarian regime with all opposing parties culled. The U.S. is rather big and each state has it's own national guard that could choose to ignore federal orders if it came to that. It really isn't clear to me how democracy could be destroyed. Maybe tainted for a bit by a lack of confidence. Maybe some states could lose federal funding for a while. Maybe some chaos and mayhem via rioting. Thinking back to the 60's the U.S. has been through worse times and recovered. Our system is flawed but I think it would have to be significantly more compromised on many levels for democracy to be at risk. I agree riots are a risk but not to democracy. There have been many riots in the last few years and have cost business owners a lot of money in damages. As for asking Canada for aid, sending soldiers without permission from congress would technically be an act of war and they know this. They would be engaged by the U.S. military who would see this as a live training event entirely independent of the riots. More likely Canada and Mexico would just secure their borders, sit back and watch the drama unfold. They know the riots would be short lived given how dependent the U.S. is on trade to and from other countries and how much the states depend on one another. e.g. inter-state rivers for water supply, inter-state crop trade, inter-state power grid, etc... If anything we should ask Canada to help prevent invasions from Russia should the U.S. put itself in such a vulnerable position of cutting off power, food and water supplies to and from other states.
Mikeb85 5y ago
This is a perfect example of the idiotic propaganda that spreads throughout Canada. There is no indication of any chance of true, widespread violence in the US. The worst the US has seen barely qualifies as a riot. Nothing that will come close to overwhelming local police never mind their military. Nothing that actually qualifies as sedition. People who call Jan 6 events a 'coup' have obviously never seen a real coup d'état. And even if the US collapsed, hypothetically (which it won't), Canada doesn't have the capacity to do anything about it. We can barely keep sovereignty over our own borders (talking about the north mainly).

3 points by curmudgeon22 5y ago

The same Canada that just took away all their citizen's rights again and imposed lockdowns? The Canada that tried to fine a man 80,000 CAD for a joke? That Canada? Canada doesn't even remotely have the military effective strength to equal 1/10th of the US. The article is paywalled, but the title is just dumb by itself.

emteycz 5y ago
Is attacking the country really the only intervention Canada could do? Couldn't they send in peacemakers?

sharemywin 5y ago

What if the US got sanctioned?

haspoken 5y ago

https://archive.is/Gpldj https://archive.is/Gpldj

LinuxBender 5y ago

You asked so I will offer my dumb opinions. I do not share the views of this article. There is too much doom and gloom without specifics. Who is going to attack whom? Certainly not the US military, they are made up of its citizens. Provoking tribalism? That's already been in play for some time. Red vs Blue? That won't work out either as there isn't a clear line such as north and south. Each state has a mix of parties regardless of what color we paint a state. Riots? That does sound like the wide-spread civil violence they describe. Probably but that isn't enough to collapse democracy. I see riots like sprawling disorganized mosh pits. A non-vote of no confidence in the voting system? Maybe by one party but that would just secede presence and power to the other party. A coup? Not likely without first becoming a strong totalitarian regime with all opposing parties culled. The U.S. is rather big and each state has it's own national guard that could choose to ignore federal orders if it came to that. It really isn't clear to me how democracy could be destroyed. Maybe tainted for a bit by a lack of confidence. Maybe some states could lose federal funding for a while. Maybe some chaos and mayhem via rioting. Thinking back to the 60's the U.S. has been through worse times and recovered. Our system is flawed but I think it would have to be significantly more compromised on many levels for democracy to be at risk. I agree riots are a risk but not to democracy. There have been many riots in the last few years and have cost business owners a lot of money in damages. As for asking Canada for aid, sending soldiers without permission from congress would technically be an act of war and they know this. They would be engaged by the U.S. military who would see this as a live training event entirely independent of the riots. More likely Canada and Mexico would just secure their borders, sit back and watch the drama unfold. They know the riots would be short lived given how dependent the U.S. is on trade to and from other countries and how much the states depend on one another. e.g. inter-state rivers for water supply, inter-state crop trade, inter-state power grid, etc... If anything we should ask Canada to help prevent invasions from Russia should the U.S. put itself in such a vulnerable position of cutting off power, food and water supplies to and from other states.

Mikeb85 5y ago

This is a perfect example of the idiotic propaganda that spreads throughout Canada. There is no indication of any chance of true, widespread violence in the US. The worst the US has seen barely qualifies as a riot. Nothing that will come close to overwhelming local police never mind their military. Nothing that actually qualifies as sedition. People who call Jan 6 events a 'coup' have obviously never seen a real coup d'état. And even if the US collapsed, hypothetically (which it won't), Canada doesn't have the capacity to do anything about it. We can barely keep sovereignty over our own borders (talking about the north mainly).