In January, in response to Donald Trump talking about making Canada the 51st state, Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, made a counteroffer: Canada would be happy to absorb California, Oregon, and Washington.
This was (likely) meant satirically, but join me in a brief thought experiment. What if California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, New York, Maryland, and Virginia became part of Canada? It wouldn’t have to stop there, of course, but for this thought experiment I’ve chosen only the states that A) voted blue in the 2024 elections, and B) are contiguous with other such states (hence, no Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois).
Given the vitriol directed at blue states by red states, seems like a good deal, right? Get rid of your perceived enemies and further shore up your burgeoning authoritarian state.
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Some quick back-of-the-napkin math says that this would shift about a third of the U.S. population (104.3M) to Canada, bringing its total population to 144.4M. This would drop the U.S. population to 230.6M people, making it the sixth largest nation by population (behind India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Nigeria). Canada, meanwhile, would become the ninth largest nation by population, catapulting from 38th.
Economically, this shakeup would subtract $9.4T in GDP off the books of the United States, bringing the U.S. GDP to $15.6. Meanwhile, factoring Canada’s existing GDP of $2.2T, the new Canada’s GDP would catapult to $11.6T, making it the third largest economy on Earth (China would now be the largest economy by GDP). [NOTE: these numbers are intended as generalized estimates—the specifics are much more complicated, and would be even more so in such a geopolitical reordering]
For these reasons alone the likelihood of success in this scenario is low. But rather than concede in advance, what if went through the steps of actually trying to make it happen?
What if we used the legal mechanisms available to us to badger our governors and state legislatures to join Canada? What if they too saw the writing on the walls and decided to go for it? What if, for once, we put the oligarchs and MAGA on the back foot, forced them to spend their time and energy trying to stop such an effort?
Whatever you think about the prospect, the point I’m trying to make is that this is the kind of expansive strategizing and activity we need to undertake now. Mass protests are important signaling exercises but they are not going to cut it—especially because a lot of us already expect Trump & co to inject false flag violence into protests to lay the groundwork for martial law.
We need to think bigger, weirder, messier. How can we use the legal mechanisms (still) available to us to become sand in the gears of the steamroller?
Because the “Dark Gothic MAGA” movement is thinking massively. They are reaching for everything. Unconstitutional? No problem.
Because to recap what I’m sure most of you already know, the U.S. government is currently in the midst of a coup. Between President Donald Trump’s hundreds of executive orders—many of which are unconstitutional—and unelected co-President Elon Musk’s meddling with federal agencies, any semblance of the U.S. government is fast unraveling. It’s always easier to tear down than build up. Ezra Klein is right that the “muzzle velocity” and overwhelm are the point—they want you in a state of fear and helplessness—but he’s wrong that we shouldn’t believe him (or them). The danger is real, it’s present, and it’s intensifying. Even if some of these actions are misdirections, they’re misdirections for even worse activities that we’ll discover later.
Of course we have to push back against these, I’m not saying otherwise. But we can’t only play defense; that strategy is a doomed one. Instead, we have to use our collective numbers to mount simultaneous offensives. From my perspective, using the levers of democracy to ensure states can still practice some semblance of democracy is a noble goal—and why I think, if you live in a state where this might be possible, you should actually consider the actions you could take to propel this movement. Even the near inevitability of its failure is worth your time because it subtracts from theirs, or at least slows them down.
Even if the Canada angle doesn’t appeal to you, there are countless other ideas—one you might build solidarity around. The Dark Gothic MAGA movement has embraced the magical thinking that underpins the tech industry, and it is working for them. They know that most of their ideas will either flop or get discarded, but they don’t care—they’re reaching for everything, setting all the terms of the debate.
Time for us to bring our own version to the table. We need to activate our own magical thinking, step into frames of thought totally outside last year’s logics, and then instead of trying to perfect them at the concept stage, start translating them into action. It can be messy—in some sense the point is to make a mess.
We’re in for years, probably decades of heartache as the U.S. descends into authoritarianism—all while the consequences of the polycrisis become ever more obvious across extreme climate events, economic shocks, and civil strife. There’s no way around this. That’s all the more reason to step outside conventional frames and put our smarts, savvy, and solidarity to action.
Do you have any big ideas to share? Leave your thoughts in the comments for other people to see.
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