As we try to understand the strange things happening these days in the United States of America, two acclaimed writers may help us – the sometimes-shocking satire of Jonathan Swift and the chilling insights of George Orwell on how dictatorships work.

Back in 1729 Swift made what he called A Modest Proposal, an essay suggesting that poor people in Ireland could ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food to the elite. Swift wrote the essay to highlight the dehumanising approach towards the Irish poor by both the British government and the wealthy local landowners, repeatedly mocking their indifference and exploitative behavior.

His  essay went still further:  "A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout."

Swift’s intent was to shock and shock he did.

George Orwell, whose birth name was Eric Blair, also satirized in his novel 1984 the powers-that-be, with the role of “Big Brother” and the monitoring and control of citizens through telescreens and language which he called Newspeak.

On Jan. 9, Democratic Governor Tim Watz of Minnesota, an experienced educator and former candidate for Vice-President in the 2024 election, cited Orwell’s book 1984. “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears, it was their final, a most essential command.”
In reference to Trump administration’s handling of the shootings by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Waltz said; “The nation is looking to us to hold the line on democracy…hold the line on accountability…hold the line on decency.”

The man, who is known to local police, was escorted out by security to applause. As for Trump, Omar said the U.S. President has “a creepy obsession” with her. 

Following on from Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal made 234 years ago, perhaps his radical suggestion could be applied to Donald Trump and his administration in the United States.

Writing in the prestigious U.S. magazine The New Yorker, American writer, Bill McKibbon speculated that the United States could become one of what Prime Minister Mark Carney had described as the world’s “middle powers” and thereby offer the “possibility of a calmer future.”
 
Afterall, McKibbon didn’t note it, but after Carney has reached a deal with China to pause levies on Canadian canola and allowing up to 49,000 electric vehicles into Canada, Trump at first said that was fine.

But after Carney’s now famous speech prompted a standing ovation at Davos and grabbed the attention of the world, Trump had a fit of jealousy and changed his mind about the e-cars.

McKibbon wrote that Carney’s Davos speech “was Canadian in its modesty and in its remarkably tranquil resolve…He made no effort to say, unlike American politicians of all stripes, that his is the greatest country on earth—instead, he described Canada as one of the “middle powers,” neither impoverished nor overpowering.”

McKibbon continued, “Now he has the task of helping organize the rest of the world amid the debris from America’s bewildering decision to set fire to its own house.”

The U.S. ambassador to Canada continued this firestorm by threatening more over-flights of American-made F-35 Fighter Jets above Canada, a thinly veiled threat about Canada thinking about acquiring Swedish-made Saab Gripen fighter jets to complement its existing fleet of F-35’s.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to flood American cities with ICE agents, recently extending those intrusions into the mild-mannered State of Maine, a next-door neighbour of New Brunswick.
 
Citizens like Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Minnesota’s decent, sensitive and redoubtable Governor Tim Waltz continue to stand against these intrusions.

Returning to the satire of Jonathan Swift 234 years ago and Bill McKibbon’s plea today for a calmer more modest U.S.A., we can now launch a 2026 Against the Flow Modest Proposal for what McKibbon called “a southerly Canada, a de-facto eleventh province. Wouldn’t that be calm?” 

 In what will likely be remembered as his “finest hour” Prime minister Mark Carney gave a calm but forceful speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, taking his place as a strong leader of the middle powers of the world.

The impressive position Carney put forward came as U.S. President Donald Trump beat a hasty retreat from his bravado about a military takeover of Greenland and imposing additional tariffs on the European nations who were out of line with his approach.

Critics of Trump observed that the U.S. President took a typical TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) approach, announcing in Davos that he no longer intends to use military force to take over Greenland and will drop his plan to impose the additional tariffs on the eight northern European nations sending small contingents of troops in support of Greenland’s sovereignty.

For his part, Carney told the Forum: “Today, I'll talk about the rupture in the world order, the end of a nice story and the beginning of a brutal reality where geopolitics among the great powers is not subject to any constraints.

“But I also submit to you that other countries, particularly middle powers like Canada, are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that embodies our values, like respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.”

He quoted the Czech dissident Václav Havel, and later president, who in 1978 wrote an essay called The Power of the Powerless. And in it, he asked a simple question: How did the Soviet system sustain itself?

His answer began with a greengrocer. Every morning, this shopkeeper placed a sign in his window: "Workers of the world, unite!" He doesn't believe it. No one does. But he places the sign anyway to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along.

​The land that Donald Trump covets, GroenLand (Greenland) was named by Viking explorer Erik the Red close to 1,000 years ago. He saw the lush green waters along the southern coast of the massive island, the largest in the world (yes, smaller than Australia which is considered a continent). 

The Inuit name for Greenland is Kalaallit Nunaat, “Land of the People.”

A recent poll of Greenland’s population found that just 6 per cent of Greenlanders are in favour of joining the USA, with 85 per cent against it. U.S. President Trump asserts the USA will own it. In fact, he is willing to pay up to $100,000 per Greenlander to become Americans, surely such an offer would only insult decent people everywhere.