We need to stop pretending that ‘soft power’ is anything other than a comforting justification for being weak.
There have been numerous reports that China is considering offering concessions to the US in an effort to lower the US trade deficit with the Communist State. Meanwhile, Canadians are being detained, mistreated, and sentenced to death in the Communist country.
The Saudis remain cozy with the US, while treating Canada like garbage.
And Canada’s voice on the world stage has never been less relevant than it is today, even with a PM who constantly tries to cozy up to the global elites and serve the interest of foreign countries.
What does all of this have in common?
Nobody takes Canada seriously.
There are two big reasons for this: Justin Trudeau is seen as weak, and our country has very little military strength.
For a long-time, Canada’s failed elites have tried to convince Canadians that we have ‘soft power’ and ‘punch above our weight.’
Those were comforting talking points, meant to distract from the fact that our military has been horribly underfunded for decades.
In reality, our country is only safe because of the implicit idea that the US will defend Canada if we ever get in trouble, which is an embarrassing position for a sovereign nation to be in. We don’t have control over our north, our navy is tiny, our airforce is flying obsolete planes, and while each individual Canadian soldier is at the top of the class worldwide, there simply aren’t enough of them, and equipment like tanks are in brutally short supply.
In response to this, the elitist political class claims two things:
First, that ‘hard power’ like military strength doesn’t matter since Canada has ‘soft power’ (AKA ‘respect’ worldwide).
And second, that Canada is too small to have a strong military.
Of course, both of those things are BS.
Canada has a GDP comparable to Russia, and Russia is widely seen as having the world’s 2nd or 3rd most powerful military. So – with far more fiscal room and a much higher per-capita GDP than Russia – Canada could certainly afford a much stronger force.
When it comes to ‘soft power,’ we are seeing how empty that talking point is as our nation is shown to command zero respect worldwide.
And that’s due mostly to Justin Trudeau, who may have a disposition that’s good at getting media attention, but is dismissed as laughably weak on the world stage.
As we’ve seen with other leaders, even countries that are in a poor strategic position are able to command respect through leaders who have toughness and a touch of ruthlessness.
Meanwhile, Canada – in perhaps one of the greatest potential strategic situations in world history – has a leader who makes our country look toothless and like a beaten-down supplicant.
Canada has no capacity to project power or even defend ourselves, and since most world leaders judge adversaries – and even allies – by their ability to stand up for their own nations with actual power, our country gives others no reason to fear or respect us.
So, the combo of Trudeau’s weakness, and our lack of military strength means nobody takes us seriously, and the consequences for Canada are adding up.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
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