Given all the rhetoric and verbal diarrhea going back and forth across the oceans, I thought it would be a good time to provide some perspective, which I know a lot of people already have, but in the interest of filling the void with truth as opposed to lies, here it is.
I am a Canadian, born and raised and proud of Canada, especially now with its Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, whom I have always considered to be a good and inspiring leader, stepping into the ring and throwing some good punches at Canada’s neighboring regime.
I moved to the United States when I was 21 and lived and worked there for 34 years - and yes, it’s a great country and I met wonderful people, but, America has lost its way over the past fifteen or so years, ever since 9/11 when its Administration of the time decided to introduce surveillance on its own people and started to tie up its borders to let in only “acceptable” ones - moreover, resorting to mass deportation making America no longer the “land of opportunity” for all ethnicities - and now of course, with the new dictatorial regime under Donnie and his groupies, we see a version of America that we never thought possible - one that is now being run with the hand of a dictator, controlled by billionaires and oligarchs, where the needs of the people are back seated to other agendas.
I moved to Europe fifteen years ago, maintained my Canadian citizenship and forfeited my American permanent residency in lieu of a nation, Sweden, where democracy was and is, still, in vogue. I recently applied for Swedish citizenship and now hold citizenship in two countries and I am proud of being a part of the EU and I will tell you why:
The EU has a stronger grip on the notion of democracy than America at this time. They know what is at stake with Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine, because just 85 years ago, most of Europe was overrun by another dictator and it took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to crush the NAZI regime. EU was formed, not only for commercial and trade benefits, but like the United Nations, to UNIFY all the different countries, ethnicities and people under a common flag to help ensure that no dictator would ever set foot in Europe again.
While Trump, Musk and other members of that disastrous Administration, one that is leading America over the edge of the cliff, attack the EU and call it a weak democracy, I dare say that the shoe is on the other foot right now, because the EU is standing by democracy, not pulling back, and certainly NOT allying itself to the oppressor (Russia) which Trump and his Administration are doing.
Having lived in Canada, the United States and now Europe, I can tell you first-hand, that in many countries here, the level of democracy, the quality of life, the infrastructure provided for its people, is miles above the United States. And while Trump and his Administration like to preach that “America is the greatest nation on Earth” - that mantra does not hold water today, and this is no slight on my American friends across the pond.
By pounding that mantra into your heads, you are being deluded into thinking that having no or little affordable health care, is good for you, and that systems, such as we have here in Europe and even Canada, where healthcare is available to everyone, is “socialism”. They are merely redefining the word to fit their agenda. That propaganda is designed to blind you to the truth, that here in the EU we have a better infrastructure in many countries, a workable one that takes care of the health of its citizens. Case in point, an operation that I needed some years ago, one that would have cost me between $4,000 to $12,000 in the United States, cost me $30 out of pocket - and it was life-saving. That is the USUAL - not the exception here.
You walk the streets of Sweden and find virtually no homeless people, because the system helps them too. There is a safety net in Sweden, and other EU countries, one that ensures that no one goes hungry or lives on the street, and YES, it isn’t perfect, and it is violated and taken advantage of by those who manipulate it, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is there for the majority of people. What is more important than being healthy - because without good health, life can become terrible.
I lived in Los Angeles for 25 years, the heart of Hollywood, and at any time of the day or night, you would find homeless men and women, in fact, Los Angeles alone has 80,000 or more homeless people - living on its streets.
Look, I could go on, and my aim is not to say that America is bad and the EU is better, but the facts do speak for themselves, and when regimes like Donnie and his groupies come out and attack the EU, trying to make it look bad, when in fact, they should be pointing their grimy fingers at themselves, I am going to speak up on behalf of my fellow Europeans.
America has never been attacked on its borders, not like the EU, with the exception of Pearl Harbor in 1941, and if you want to draw a long beard, 1812, when the Canadians burned down its White House at the time. 9/11? Well, if you believe that two planes systematically demolished two towers, and a third building across the street (a 47 story structure) that was never hit by anything, but also crumbled in its footprint, you really do need to stop listening to the rhetoric and lies coming out of the White House and look at what the real agenda was about.
I stand by Canada, I stand by my American friends and all Americans who support true democracy and not the clown show in the Oval Office, and I certainly stand by Europe and the EU.
We are not letting go of our democracy - whoever threatens that, Trump, Putin or the dogs of hell - the EU will remain strong.
Réal Laplaine
Author of high-concept thrillers
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