Last nights atrocious spectacle was a wake up call. And we may not have many of those left. The speech Trump gave before the US Congress was a glimpse into the madness he has in store for all of us. The United States is rapidly falling into the maw of fascism before our very eyes and there is little organized political opposition from the anemic Democratic Party to stop any of it.

For those of us on the margins of American Empire, we cannot afford to ignore this. Trump’s imperialistic fantasies are not only disgusting, they are serious. He is demolishing the current arrangement of power on the global stage, not to empower the people, but to consolidate even more power and wealth into the hands of a few oligarchs and despots.

Like all US presidents, he has opened the coffers for Israel to continue its apartheid and genocidal project. When he shared a vulgar AI-generated video of a Trumpified Gaza, complete with casinos and an enormous gold statue of himself, he gave us insight into his depraved narcissism. He has no capacity for empathy or grace.

This was also on display with the shameful shakedown of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office by him and his sniveling side kick. His admiration for dictators and war criminals, from Putin to Netanyahu, should be seen as the cruel template he plans to implement against his neighbours in the Americas.

For those of us here in Canada, Trump’s continued ridicule and threat of making our sovereign country the 51st state is no joke. As in Greenland, he is eyeing Canada’s rich resources, from petrol to timber to minerals to water. He sees the imperial benefit of a melting Arctic Sea. And no matter how unhinged these threats may seem, he intends to make good on this by attempting to collapse the Canadian economy with draconian tariffs.

If there is any silver lining in any of this, it is that there is still some time to resist. The Trump regime is not all powerful. Fascism is gaining ground, but has not taken complete control… yet. And they have demonstrated a striking aversion to facts which will likely lead to their downfall.

In addition to this, the American Empire is in steep decline. Its economy is no longer the only dominant one on the world stage. Its infrastructure is crumbling. Its military is over-extended as its soft power around the world wanes. All while others rise, namely China and the BRICS coalition of nations. Most of its leaders are fatally corrupted, duplicitous and stupid. And its populace is struggling while a wealthy minority blames them for their plight and laughs in their faces. They are getting more and more angry, and things are likely to boil over soon.

For the world, the downside of all of this is a that we inhabit a very different portion of human history now. One with the looming existential behemoth of climate chaos on the horizon, the specter of artificial intelligence, and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation. As it descends, the American Empire will lash out even more violently to regain its former glory, even if it is merely a myth. And this makes the next few years the most dangerous in all human history.

Like all empires, the American variation will eventually collapse. We can only hope that when it does, it won’t take everyone down with it as it goes.

Kenn Orphan, March 2025