From an American-
I’m sure by now you all have seen our government’s ‘official response’ to your wildfires. I saw that, and as an American I am beyond appalled. Please know that the public statements made by our government do not reflect the thoughts and beliefs of the majority of the American people.
When the US had wildfires, Canada sent us significant support including numerous firefighting aircraft, air crews, and support equipment. This was not a small token contribution, it made a real difference. It saved lives and property and forest. That is how neighbors and friends are supposed to help each other out, and we appreciated the hell out of it. It is not forgotten.
To hear that our ‘official response’ to your wildfires is to threaten… I have no words to describe the feeling. I am proud to be American, I love my country, but today I am ashamed. That these things are being said as representative of me and my countrymen… it is beyond shameful. We are supposed to be better than this. Better allies, better neighbors, better humans. I am ashamed and angry that my government is representing me and my fellow Americans in this manner.
I can only say that the majority of Americans do not feel this way. Forget the propaganda you see on the news (and it is mostly propaganda). The people of this country love our northern friends, we feel for you. We don’t want to annex Canada or punish you for a natural disaster or any of this crap. We want you all to be safe. We want to help.
THAT is who we are, even if we suck at electing politicians that represent that belief.
Stay safe. Be well. We love you.
Je passe ce texte par Google Traduction car mon français est médiocre…
De la part d’un Américain…
Je suis certain que vous avez tous vu, à présent, la « réponse officielle » de notre gouvernement face à vos incendies de forêt. En tant qu’Américain, j’en suis profondément indigné. Sachez que les déclarations publiques de notre gouvernement ne reflètent ni les pensées ni les convictions de la majorité du peuple américain.
Lorsque les États-Unis ont été touchés par des incendies, le Canada nous a apporté un soutien considérable, notamment en envoyant de nombreux avions de lutte contre les incendies, des équipages aériens et du matériel de soutien. Il ne s’agissait pas d’un simple geste symbolique ; cette aide a fait une réelle différence. Elle a permis de sauver des vies, des biens et des forêts. C’est ainsi que les voisins et les amis sont censés s’entraider, et nous avons énormément apprécié ce geste. Nous ne l’avons pas oublié.
Apprendre que la « réponse officielle » de notre pays face à vos incendies consiste à proférer des menaces… les mots me manquent pour décrire ce que je ressens. Je suis fier d’être Américain et j’aime mon pays, mais aujourd’hui, j’ai honte. Que de tels propos soient tenus en mon nom et en celui de mes compatriotes… c’est tout simplement honteux. Nous sommes censés valoir mieux que cela. Être de meilleurs alliés, de meilleurs voisins, de meilleurs êtres humains. J’éprouve de la honte et de la colère de voir mon gouvernement nous représenter, mes compatriotes et moi, de cette manière.
Je tiens à dire que la majorité des Américains ne partagent pas ce point de vue. Oubliez la propagande que vous voyez aux informations (car il s’agit bien, pour l’essentiel, de propagande). La population de ce pays aime ses amis du Nord ; nous sommes de tout cœur avec vous. Nous ne voulons ni annexer le Canada, ni vous punir pour une catastrophe naturelle, ni rien de tout ce non-sens. Nous voulons que vous soyez en sécurité. Nous voulons vous aider.
C’est cela, notre véritable nature, même si nous sommes incapables d’élire des responsables politiques qui incarnent ces valeurs.
Prenez soin de vous. Portez-vous bien. Nous vous aimons.
We’ve done it. We’ve tried. Most of the south 30% just doesn’t want to hear it, they’re tricked forever. We’re gerrymandered and rigged and cheated and they’re trying to cheat harder. I’d love to hear what I can do besides what I’ve already done - call, write, vote. What else?
Send help
Nobody is riding in on white horses to save the USA from itself.
Your country caused this, it’s up to you to work together with your fellow citizens and fix your own damn country.
The rest of the world will do what we can to protect ourselves from the harms the USA is inflicting on us, and that may weaken the bastards and help you in your efforts, but we’re doing that primarily for our own defence.
Read “The State and Revolution” and then find your local socialist organization to help build mutual aid and alternative infrastructure so we can create a dual-power struggle to replace the gerrymandered rigged cheating bullshit system where your phone calls and letters are ignored. The next time they throw a No Kings parade, instead of marching in a circle and then going home, go talk to one of the organizations with a booth or table set up. If there’s not organizing in your town, then they’re in the nearest big city to you.
You’re not getting out of this by voting every 2-4 years and behaving in an orderly fashion in the in-between.
Organize. Find out how you can hurt red state money and go out and do it. Money is the only thing that they care about protecting.
You haven’t tried very hard.
I’ll be blunt: This is nobody else’s fight but yours. Nobody else needs to help, and nobody else is going to help until you stand up for yourselves first. How hard did people have to try to declare independence from the King of England? How hard did people have to try to end slavery? How hard did people have to try to get women the vote? How hard did people have to try to end segregation? Did you need help with those things? Did you wait for someone else to tell you it had to happen before you acted?
Nobody in the US is mad enough yet. Baffling, perhaps, but true. You’re getting there, but it’s time to start withdrawing from the systems that are oppressing you and starving them of everything you can while building a new more supportive and humane system. Rebuild your local communities and organizations into something capable of fighting back. Stop participating in things that aren’t contributing to that goal. Stop letting your money go to billionaires. They are not your friends, they are not your people, and they are not making things better for any of us. Convenience is not worth the cost. Find more inconvenient ways to live, and that will also make things inconvenient for billionaires and bureaucrats. Buy local. Do business in person, with real people. Reconnect to the world around you. Spend more time touching grass. I know it sounds trite and you might not understand how that is going to change anything, but the beauty is you don’t have to understand it, it has complex systemic effects and it will start to move the needle. Will it move the needle fast enough? I don’t know, I don’t have a crystal ball, I don’t know if the world is going to burn down around us in 20 years. I don’t have all the answers, but I know what has worked in the past, and I know what they don’t want us to do. So I recommend doing that. If the government is becoming unjust, become ungovernable, do everything you can to avoid participating in their systems, maybe it’s too late already I don’t know, but I do know it’s worth trying anyway even if it is too late, there is no better option than to try anyway.
You’re wrong. We haven’t done shit. We just talk about it.
Words will not fix this - written, spoken, or otherwise.
Then what will fix this? Everyone’s so quick to tell me what won’t work. I’d love to hear what will work, and what others are doing that’s effective such that I can multiply those efforts
You’ll figure it out. You’re so close.
I’ll put this in the “vague nonsense” pile
Or the, “it’s better not to record shit for posterity and prying eyes on the internet” category.
Cheers.