Regular readers of the Isaac Brock Society will probably not be among those who believe that it is inconceivable that the United States will attempt to forcibly annex Canada and that I am nuts for thinking it possible. We are already suffering from capricious treatment at the extra-territorial hands of the United States. Besides, I’ve only stated what is obvious from an historical point of view: What does a nation experiencing severe financial difficulties do if it has a powerful military? More often than not, it begins to plunder its neighbors. Moreover, if something is inconceivable or impossible, it may have a 20% chance of coming true.
The United States is on the verge of hyperinflation. A nation cannot remain stable while continuing to borrow over 50% of what it spends, to have a debt which exceeds GDP, to maintain unfunded liabilities up to four times its official debt –it must either cut spending or devalue its currency. Cutting spending will result in riots in the street, mob violence and potentially civil war. How many want to bet the US politicians will choose to debase the currency instead? This will in turn lead to chaos and instability. Gas could go to a $100 per gallon or more. Prices for food, electricity, heating oil, and food will skyrocket, while wages will stagnate. The 40+ million people on food stamps will not be able to feed themselves. Angry, hungry people will require that their political leaders find a solution. But these political leaders haven’t been responsible for decades–what will stop them looking for scape goats, rather than looking in the mirror and blaming their own irresponsibility?
What will be the pretext for annexing Canada? Here are some likely suggestions.
- Expat Haven: Canada harbours American tax cheats and draft dodgers.
- Terrorist Haven: Canada harbours war criminals and Islamic terrorists.
- Unfair Trade: Canada is selling its oil, electricity, natural gas, and lumber at extortionate rates.
- Manifest Destiny: God intends for the United States to stretch from sea to shining sea.
- Operation “Liberate the Lefties”: Canada needs liberation from its oppressive, socialistic government.
- Blame Canada: Canada has caused the economic downturn of the United States.
- Tony Soprano: All Canadians benefit from the military protection of the United States–it is high time they paid their fair share.
In a speech to investors at Casey Research/Sprott Summit, Richard Maybury warns that it will be War that will Kill the Dollar (hat tip Monty Pelerin). He writes that the treaties of the Westphalia (1648) used determined when a nation could go to war (emphasis mine):
The treaties said no nation could attack another unless the other was a clear and present danger. This was a principle of ethics drawn from the old Common Law. My right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins.
[snip]
In 2001, I warned that Clinton’s attack on Serbia and Bush senior’s attack on Iraq were precedents replacing this ancient Westphalian principle with a more primitive Roman one. The Roman principle says, the only justification you need to get into a war is the belief that the other side up to no good.
Qadaffi is one of the least important tinpot dictators of modern times. In the vast array of great political leaders, I doubt he has murdered enough people to rate an honorable mention.
You might remember that until this year, US officials were boasting about taming Qadaffi. They said they had forced him to give up his weapons of mass destruction and he was no longer a serious threat.
Yet this year, on the completely unverifiable assumption the new rulers of Libya will be more ethical than Qadaffi, Obama followed the precedent of Clinton and Bush. He jumped into the North African war on the side of the Libyan rebels.
Maybury believes that it has been the political leaders’ lust for power that leads to war, and that these wars will cause the demise of the dollar. But it is also true that the death of dollar could lead to war. The Weimar Republic first debauched the Mark during and in the aftermath of WWI. Then Hitler rose to power and started WWII a few years later. This is the danger we could face. Hitler’s Germany annexed Austria. Will the United States annex Canada, on the mere pretense that we are up to no good? Will we go down without a fight? Or will we fight the Yanks the way we did in 1812?
Excellent post, Petros. I wouldn’t put it past certain people in US power circles to try to enslave Canada through more bizzare legislation, if not outright invasion.
Reblogged this on Stop Unconstitutional Double Taxation and commented:
An excellent post by Petros from Isaac Brock. When will the US stop? How far will it dare go?
Everyone wish the ACA good luck today – they’re supposedly meeting with members of the US Treasury and IRS officials.
However I am not hopeful. The Treasury and IRS can bend the rules a bit, but they can’t change the law.
Given the reluctance of US policitians to stand up and do the “right” thing with unpopular issues, which policitian is going to risk headlines like “Rep XXXX lets tax evaders off the hook” or “Hard working Americans support ex-pats champagne lifestyle” during an election year.
It’s a complex issue which does not fit into a 5 sec sound bite and probably has the effect of losing far more votes than it will ever gain for a candidate.
Good luck ACA I hope this ends up achieving more than running up the coffee bill and people on both sides “going through the motions.”
The first three of those suggestions have already come to pass in one form or another, depending on how you look at it. And if folks have been paying attention to the goings on at the Summit of the Americas, the Brazilian delegation accused the US of devaluing its currency and flooding Latin America with cheap goods. Alas, we see Harper acting ever the US lapdog by siding with the States on the “War on Drugs” and exclusion of Cuba.
No one can predict the future, but if it gets to the point where the US does attempt to attack Canada, I would hope that the other G8 and maybe G20 countries would step in and help defend us – if not out of some sense of benevolence, then out of self-interest as they all enjoy a good trade relationship with Canada. Surely the other countries would finally wake up and see how dangerous the US will have become and want to stop the insanity in its tracks.
The possibilities of this scenario are just too frightening to play out in one’s mind!
The US supreme court assumed the responsibility of declaring laws unconstitutional in Marbury v. Madison (1803) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbury_v._Madison but I can’t see any reason why officials in the executive branch can’t refuse to enforce laws that contrevene the Constitution.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson predicted it
John Adams, 1776:
The Unanimous Voice of the Continent is Canada must be ours; Quebec must be taken.
Thomas Jefferson, 1812:
“The acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching, and will give us experience for the attack of Halifax the next, and the final expulsion of England from the American continent.”
Oops, maybe I should change my nom de plume 😉 …….. 🙁
Terrifying thought, though I wouldn’t put such an action past a decaying and bankrupt US in ten years’ time. If this happens I hope that the EU, Australia, New Zealand and others allow Canadians to claim political asylum!
Thankfully I think that that the US would never be able to attack the EU (even if the UK bails and turns traitor!)…we would still have France and they are nuclear!
The Annexation of Canada and Mexico is already in process through back door, courtesy of the Council on Foreign Relations:
http://www.cfr.org/canada/building-north-american-community/p8102
http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/NorthAmerica_TF_final.pdf
Well, since we are getting into the weeds here of predictions of U.S. interventions, might I suggest that some at Isaac Brock might like to have this as one of their home pages. It has been mine since before the Iraqi invasion…
http://www.antiwar.com/
It is more libertarian than it is Left or right, and hard to characterize easily. There is an interesting convergence of both sides of the political spectrum here. They are quite happy to criticize Dems and Reps for America’s war making ways.