Stop Threatening to Move to Canada

I hear it all the time: America is doomed! It’s a dumpster fire! Democracy is over, etcetera, etcetera! Let’s all move to Europe! Oh wait, they have far-right, anti-immigrant leaders, too? Okay…New Zealand? Or there’s always our good old friendly neighbor to the north, right?!?!

Lefties have been threatening to move to Canada, off and on, since George W. Bush was elected in 2000. The cries grew significantly louder after Trump’s first and second elections. And I get it—these are two administrations that were elected despite losing the popular vote; two administrations who have launched unnecessary foreign wars while simultaneously chipping away at American civil liberties. And let’s be real, Trump’s greed, narcissism, and lust for power makes Bush look like a thoughtful elder statesman in comparison.

Of course, we despair when it felt like our votes didn’t matter and as we’ve watched congress and the courts cede more and more of their duty to act as checks and balances.

But I’m not ready to give up on America, and neither should you.

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America is Not Nazi Germany

World War Two looms large in the American imagination, and with good reason. There’s been plenty of scholarship devoted to recording and sharing the stories of those Hitler persecuted, particularly Jewish people. Who upon hearing these stories of lucky escapes, doesn’t imagine themselves in their shoes, fleeing the Nazi death machine? Who among us doesn’t scan the headlines from time to time, wondering about our country’s own descent towards fascism?

And yet, thankfully, we are not there. Yes, there has been persecution of certain groups, particularly Brown and Black immigrants. This is awful, disgusting behavior that we should not tolerate. And the good news is, most Americans (60%) don’t.

We saw the power of resistance in the fight for Minneapolis last January. We’ve seen it in the national outcry against Trump’s thuggish policies. And we’ve seen it in Trump’s cratering approval ratings. Yes, there is a core of MAGA followers who, it seems, will follow their dear leader to the gates of Hell, but most Americans won’t.

Using Our Privilege Wisely

It’s one thing to stand in solidarity with those who are persecuted, it’s another to imagine ourselves persecuted when we are not. As I wrote about last month, we must always check our fears against evidence. And when I look at the evidence I see that I, a middle-class white woman living in Seattle, am not being persecuted.

What to do with all this privilege, then? Move to Canada out of some fear of what could, hypothetically, happen?