PM Carney was right to say Canadian values have more in common with Europe. I hope the US will get there at some point, but we have years ahead to make that work and make the changes stick.
I love this idea. It's the ultimate irony that by trying to undermine NATO, Europe, and Ukraine, Trump has inadvertently created an environment for rapid innovation. Europe seems to be filling the gap in supporting Ukraine and is coalescing around standing up for itself. The idea of taking the next step, and creating a new alliance from a position of strength, is smart. For those of us in the U.S. who care about bringing our country back to the path of leadership among democracies, a D7 would act as a lighthouse and incentive for future American leaders to get back in the game.
Theres an alternative to a deeply centralized, deeply standardized, decision-making-access-exclusionary, and centrally planned joint-system; we could enter into an old wester-West’s style federative structures with legal/regulatory variability and policy variability down to the local level, local fiscal primacy, diffused-pluralized-localized financial structures, ect. thats held together by strong horizontal integration and coordination structures, not vertical ones.
The USA internally, at least in its NE, Mid-West, and West regions operated together in such a system for hundreds of years until well after WW2. It is an option.
I specifically like the idea of "super-majority voting", rather than every country having a veto, because an organisation with lots of members, if every country has a veto then it ends up with nothing ever being able to be decided on.
In particular the "economic article 5" against economic coercion (e.g. by USA), and acts of aggression less than (e.g. by Russia) need to be triggerable on a supermajority (something like 65% of members, with members' weights being roughly proportional to GDP and military spending).
I dislike the idea of "light governance", though: the D7 should have democratically elected leadership, maybe a 5 member team elected by STV, and each member should have a permanent representative (like an ambassador) to the organisation. This would make it easier for decisions to be taken in a hurry where necessary.
Excellent idea. I have always felt that a "League of Democracies" might assume many of the functions of the UN, though I do think the UN is useful as representing the worlds governances.
By the criteria of the Freedom House Index rating of "free" the countries mentioned represent the free countries but also much of Latin America, a few countries in Africa- Senegal, South Africa. Brazil in particular has a free rating and is the 10th biggest economy in the world. I think tying membership into the group on their maintaining civil liberties and electoral democracy would incentivize that.
Great concept. As such, meetings to flesh out the administration structures, organization functions and accountabilities and funding commitments need to occur sooner than later.
Americans Watch As Nazi Republicans Bankrupt The Country
Since “retired” president Nixon took us off the gold standard in 1971 the Nazi Republican policy has bankrupted the country with a $39T national debt This neoliberal policy created by the ultrawealthy from Reagan to the Bushes to Cheeto has led to a financial catastrophe and more than likely will lead to some form of another Great Depression And MSM and even Substack channels don’t understand this basic economic fact(https://bit.ly/3R81rjn)
Only 10% of Americans were in the middle class when Democrats took office and by 1960 more than 60% were in middle class in part because of the WWII effort but also because of the policies that FDR instigated to weather the depression brought on by the Republicans in the 1920’s with the tariff policy of Hoover, the straw that broke the camel’s back and brought about the Great Depression
Now since Reagan the “free trade” neoliberal Nazi Republican agenda is clear….use the levers of government to enrich the already wealthy, decimate the middle class, and make sure that the power of the government be used to consolidate that control by the rich upper class and create an oligarchic “blue blood” ruling class
How the Nazi Republicans have brought along some of the American electorate is not as so often reported the “MAGA” crowd but by the moniker of Christian values, the CNPP(Christian Nationalist Pedo Party) To gain power Hitler proclaimed “We tolerate no one in our ranks who attacks the ideas of Christianity. Our movement is Christian.” (Adolph Hitler 1928) Actually MAGA is code for Christian Nationalism so call it what it is, not what Cheeto calls it WE the People have been duped for 10y
So here we are, a debtor nation China knows this and calls our nation in decline And China is right All thanks to the Nazi Republican tax, nonregulatory, and “free trade policies exploiting the middle class and creating an oligarchic ruling class WE the People and not the Democratic party will be responsible for pulling the country out of this financial abyss, all created by the Nazi Republican over the last 46y
Theres an alternative to a deeply centralized, deeply standardized, decision-making-access-exclusionary, and centrally planned joint-system; we could enter into an old wester-West’s style federative structures with legal/regulatory variability and policy variability down to the local level, local fiscal primacy, diffused-pluralized-localized financial structures, ect. thats held together by strong horizontal integration and coordination structures, not vertical ones.
The USA internally, at least in its NE, Mid-West, and West regions operated together in such a system for hundreds of years until well after WW2. It is an option.
Great article! In this alternate universe unity of the like minded is essential.
PM Carney was right to say Canadian values have more in common with Europe. I hope the US will get there at some point, but we have years ahead to make that work and make the changes stick.
I love this idea. It's the ultimate irony that by trying to undermine NATO, Europe, and Ukraine, Trump has inadvertently created an environment for rapid innovation. Europe seems to be filling the gap in supporting Ukraine and is coalescing around standing up for itself. The idea of taking the next step, and creating a new alliance from a position of strength, is smart. For those of us in the U.S. who care about bringing our country back to the path of leadership among democracies, a D7 would act as a lighthouse and incentive for future American leaders to get back in the game.
Excellent idea.
The link to the full paper doesn't seem to work? Love the idea. Global democracies need to do this ASAP.
Some good proposals here. How are they advancing?
“The door should remain open to the United States”.
— No, they’d only try to take over and impose their will, Including under Democratic presidents. An alignment might work, but not membership.
This sounds fantastic. Why not invite progressive states in the USA, like California and New York?
Theres an alternative to a deeply centralized, deeply standardized, decision-making-access-exclusionary, and centrally planned joint-system; we could enter into an old wester-West’s style federative structures with legal/regulatory variability and policy variability down to the local level, local fiscal primacy, diffused-pluralized-localized financial structures, ect. thats held together by strong horizontal integration and coordination structures, not vertical ones.
The USA internally, at least in its NE, Mid-West, and West regions operated together in such a system for hundreds of years until well after WW2. It is an option.
Yes
This makes a lot of sense, and reminds me of my 2024 proposal for a European Military Alliance: https://pontifex.substack.com/p/european-defence-policy-how-europe
I specifically like the idea of "super-majority voting", rather than every country having a veto, because an organisation with lots of members, if every country has a veto then it ends up with nothing ever being able to be decided on.
In particular the "economic article 5" against economic coercion (e.g. by USA), and acts of aggression less than (e.g. by Russia) need to be triggerable on a supermajority (something like 65% of members, with members' weights being roughly proportional to GDP and military spending).
I dislike the idea of "light governance", though: the D7 should have democratically elected leadership, maybe a 5 member team elected by STV, and each member should have a permanent representative (like an ambassador) to the organisation. This would make it easier for decisions to be taken in a hurry where necessary.
Excellent idea. I have always felt that a "League of Democracies" might assume many of the functions of the UN, though I do think the UN is useful as representing the worlds governances.
By the criteria of the Freedom House Index rating of "free" the countries mentioned represent the free countries but also much of Latin America, a few countries in Africa- Senegal, South Africa. Brazil in particular has a free rating and is the 10th biggest economy in the world. I think tying membership into the group on their maintaining civil liberties and electoral democracy would incentivize that.
Great concept. As such, meetings to flesh out the administration structures, organization functions and accountabilities and funding commitments need to occur sooner than later.
Americans Watch As Nazi Republicans Bankrupt The Country
Since “retired” president Nixon took us off the gold standard in 1971 the Nazi Republican policy has bankrupted the country with a $39T national debt This neoliberal policy created by the ultrawealthy from Reagan to the Bushes to Cheeto has led to a financial catastrophe and more than likely will lead to some form of another Great Depression And MSM and even Substack channels don’t understand this basic economic fact(https://bit.ly/3R81rjn)
Only 10% of Americans were in the middle class when Democrats took office and by 1960 more than 60% were in middle class in part because of the WWII effort but also because of the policies that FDR instigated to weather the depression brought on by the Republicans in the 1920’s with the tariff policy of Hoover, the straw that broke the camel’s back and brought about the Great Depression
Now since Reagan the “free trade” neoliberal Nazi Republican agenda is clear….use the levers of government to enrich the already wealthy, decimate the middle class, and make sure that the power of the government be used to consolidate that control by the rich upper class and create an oligarchic “blue blood” ruling class
How the Nazi Republicans have brought along some of the American electorate is not as so often reported the “MAGA” crowd but by the moniker of Christian values, the CNPP(Christian Nationalist Pedo Party) To gain power Hitler proclaimed “We tolerate no one in our ranks who attacks the ideas of Christianity. Our movement is Christian.” (Adolph Hitler 1928) Actually MAGA is code for Christian Nationalism so call it what it is, not what Cheeto calls it WE the People have been duped for 10y
So here we are, a debtor nation China knows this and calls our nation in decline And China is right All thanks to the Nazi Republican tax, nonregulatory, and “free trade policies exploiting the middle class and creating an oligarchic ruling class WE the People and not the Democratic party will be responsible for pulling the country out of this financial abyss, all created by the Nazi Republican over the last 46y
Theres an alternative to a deeply centralized, deeply standardized, decision-making-access-exclusionary, and centrally planned joint-system; we could enter into an old wester-West’s style federative structures with legal/regulatory variability and policy variability down to the local level, local fiscal primacy, diffused-pluralized-localized financial structures, ect. thats held together by strong horizontal integration and coordination structures, not vertical ones.
The USA internally, at least in its NE, Mid-West, and West regions operated together in such a system for hundreds of years until well after WW2. It is an option.