I was listening to three of the most astute political journalists in the country the other night on CBC, and the one phrase that kept coming up was, “It’s not making sense.” Andrew Coyne went so far as to say, “Are they just stupid?”
Which is an echo straight out of my book, “Why Are People so Stupid?” In that book, I give an example of “stupid” as the driver in front of you who slams on his brakes for no reason. I mean, how stupid is that?
Face it, how many people slam on their brakes “for no reason”? The obvious answer, at least to me, is that the speaker is looking at the scene from the wrong point of view. The most logical explanation is that the other driver can see something you can’t.
So, when we are trying to figure out the Americans, we desperately want it all to make sense because then we can figure out how to handle the situation. It isn’t going to happen.
Occam’s Razor
If you want the answer with the least number of “what ifs,” there is only one that wins hands down. What if Donald Trump is a sociopath on the grandest scale, and lives only to cause pain to other people? The man who co-wrote his biography says he is. If that is the case, we can see places where his actions are completely logical.
The Putin Factor
The only element that has been unchanging in the last ten years is Trump’s relationship with Putin. Others have commented on Trump’s love of dictators. If he’s a sociopath, he probably wants to become one. He certainly wants their approval and is willing to go a long way to attract it. It is therefore completely possible that Putin is playing Trump for everything he can get. Putin wants Ukraine; Trump removes US support. Putin wants to encroach on Canada’s Arctic resources; Trump weakens Canada’s economy.
And somewhere in the back of his dementia, a little voice is telling him that if he can take over Canada, he can one-up Putin and be the top dictator in the world.
On the Other Hand
Sociopaths understand the application of power. When Trump starts a trade war with Canada, the only force that can hold him back is the American business interests that support him. So, he makes a widespread attack to see which business sectors complain the most, and backs off on them. Any business who doesn’t stand up and fight becomes collateral damage.
The Bottom Line
Treat the American president like you would any other sociopath. Meet strength with strength, and whatever you do, don’t expect fairness, consistency, or logic. If he is pushed hard enough, he will sooner or later antagonize enough of his own party that they will rein him in.
An Off-The-Wall Idea
There is one way Canada can confound Trump; do what he wants.
Increase spending on our military, but put all the money into the Arctic. It will satisfy our NATO allies, stymie Putin’s ambitions, and stimulate our economy. It’s about time we paid our fair share, anyway.