"We actively take on the world as it is, not wait around for a world we wish to be." - Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, Davos, January 20,
Canada has had enough of the charade.
That was one of the main messages from Mark Carney in Davos yesterday - and judging by the global commentary online, Canadians and many throughout the rest of the world (ROTW) have had enough. (Meanwhile, if you want to find the small, petty, angry, and vindictive minds among us, just seek out the very few comments online where people mention Brookfield or other such 'code phrases,' and you'll know all you need to know.)
Here are the words he spoke, and this is the mindset people feel.
"The capacity to stop pretending, to name reality, to build our strength at home and to act together.”
It has rapidly become apparent that there are some adults in the room, not just those with the accelerating madness of dementia on full display. Most sane people in the world pray that their sanity rules.
Carney's words were resonant, powerful, and to the point.
Let me be direct: we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics laid bare the risks of extreme global integration. More recently, great powers began using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited. You cannot “live within the lie” of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination."
Not only that, but this:
“The old world is not coming back. Canadians know that our old, comfortable assumption that our geography and alliance memberships automatically conferred prosperity and security is no longer valid. This is not naive multilateralism. Nor is it relying on diminished institutions. It is building the coalitions that work, issue by issue, with partners who share enough common ground to act together. Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. We are engaging broadly, strategically, with open eyes. We actively take on the world as it is, not wait for the world as we wish it to be,” Carney said.
It was interesting to see him refer. to the fact that nostalgia is not a strategy. That was post #3 in my Uncertainty seriesfrom last year - "If you want to be part of what's next, leave your nostalgia at the door."
I've covered this idea a bit in my time - because only a fool allows nostalgia to define their future!
The best line?
"Middle powers must act together because if they are not at the table they are on the menu"
If you haven't seen it, the full video is online.
The fact that it has captured GLOBAL attention says it all.
It's well worth your time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqtDxkuvUdM
After all, there might be some hope after all.
Futurist Jim Carroll knows that the global conversation has shifted in the last 24 hours, and that the ROTW has finally lost patience.