I’m going to start with a quote from 1984, even though quoting 1984 when talking about tyranny and political badness is such a cliché.
“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”
But here’s the thing. I wish for the days of 2+2=5. Because it was better than what we have now. As illogical and irrational as 2+2=5 was, it was better than what we have in 2026. Because the dominant philosophy of 2026 seems to be, 2+2=rectangle.
Here’s an example of the 2+2=rectangle thinking of 2026. “Just because they landed a boat there 500 years ago doesn’t mean they own the land.”
Denmark’s claim on Greenland isn’t legitimate, because they “Landed a boat there 500 years ago”, but Israel’s claim on Palestine is legitimate because of something that happened thousands of years ago?
2+2=rectangle!
And I’m not even necessarily saying that Denmark has the right to Greenland. I believe that comes down entirely to the people of Greenland. If the people of Greenland want to stay with Denmark, that’s fine. If the people of Greenland want independence, that’s equally fine.
“We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbour.”
“I would like to make a deal, the easy way, but if we don’t do it the easy way we’re going to do it the hard way.”
Nothing on Earth, nothing in the galaxy, nothing in the whole goddamn universe, can justify the most powerful country in the world, the country with the most nuclear weapons, threatening a country like Greenland, that has never done anything to anyone. How do you even parody this? And don’t think I haven’t tried:
I believe if Trump is able to take over Greenland, well, that’s kind of the end of all rationality. Because if he’s able to do that, the pretense of it making sense is no longer even required.
What Is The Pretense Of It Making Sense?
There’s a guy on you tube called Man Carrying Thing who does short comedy videos, I think a recent video from him sums up how the “Pretense Of It Making Sense” is no longer required in our modern political landscape.
In order to invade Iraq, the United States had to go to the trouble of constructing some bullshit about weapons of mass destruction, that was later proved to be lies:
For Venezuela, pretty much all Trump had to say was, “oil”.
And yes, he made a bit of noise about Maduro’s human rights violations. And he HAS committed human rights violations, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. Amnesty International has an article on that here:
But, is Trump removing Nehenyahu from power, a man guilty of committing a live-streamed genocide for over two years? Is Trump removing the RSF from power, the organization responsible for the horrific genocide in Sudan that is currently taking place? No, interestingly enough, the only human rights violator Trump has removed, is the president of a country who’s oil reserves he talked about over and over again. The pretense of it making sense is no longer necessary.
How Could This Happen?
I know there are going to be people who hear Trump’s extremely intimidating rhetoric on Greenland, and wonder, how could this happen? And I think deep down they know how this happened. I’ve written about the long term consequences of either ignoring or justifying a livestreamed genocide:
So, to all the people who witnessed Gazan children losing their limbs, witnessed people burning to death, witnessed people being shot, being bombed, witnessed people starving to death, and responded with the disgusting trio of excuses, “It’s complicated” “We need to remain apolitical” and “Israel has a right to defend itself” well, a peaceful, all in all fairly harmless country like Greenland being threatened is the natural outcome of your excuses. The Western powers have seen how they can simply get away with being complicit, in ANYTHING in Gaza. What in God’s name did you think was going to happen next? That Trump, Starmer and all the others would obliterate Gaza and then return to a simple life of looking after injured puppies? No, they’ve seen what they can get away with, and now that they’ve seen what they can get away with, they’re more dangerous than ever. So, how is Trump getting away with threatening Greenland with invasion? Every time there was an image of a dead Palestinian child, or a parent crying for their family who had been completely wiped out, or the sight of people slowly starving to death, every time you responded to that with, “Israel has the right to complicatedly stay out politics”, that’s how you get Trump threatening Greenland. Tell Trump he can get away with anything, and he will do anything he wants. It’s not rocket science.
Nobody Is Safe Now
Let’s be blunt about this, the potential invasion of Greenland represents an existential threat to, the kind of people who have the luxury of saying “I stay out of politics” when it comes to Gaza. While Greenland itself’s population consists of mostly Greenlandic Inuit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenlanders
Denmark, the country that Greenland is a territory of, is, to put it bluntly, a mostly white country. If Trump can attack a territory belonging to a white country, well, things have gotten very scary haven’t they. It was fine when it was the people of Gaza, or the people of Sudan, they don’t really look like us, so WE should be fine. But Trump is threatening Greenland, and so is, by extension, threatening Denmark. Well, we’re all kind of in danger now aren’t we?
How do I know other white, privileged people are worried about the situation in that way? Simple, because I am. I’m not proud of it, but despite the fact that I have spent over 2 years begging people to care about the lives of the people in Gaza, I’m still a guy who lives in comfort in a country called Ireland, and as I watched the horror unfold in Palestine, I felt safe, I felt safe the whole time.
If Trump invaded Ireland tomorrow, I have no idea if he’d be stopped. Now, you can argue, why would he have any interest in doing that? And he probably doesn’t, Micheál Martin is sufficiently subservient for his liking. Why invade a country that’s already voluntarily handed itself over to you? But let’s run the thought experiment. Trump invades Ireland tomorrow because he wants, eh, I don’t know, The Rock Of Cashel? Would anyone stop him? Would the BBC talk about how Trump has “acquired” Ireland, refusing to use the word “invaded”? Would Trump’s lies about how Ireland was a threat to international peace be just accepted without question? If Trump decided he wanted to take over Ireland tomorrow, would that simply be the end of that?
Now to be clear, I am not particularly worried about the idea that this is something Trump would do. I’m more kind of worried in a general sense that Trump can basically, do anything, without opposition. There doesn’t seem to be any limit. My answer to the question of, if Trump did, anything you like, the most heinous thing you can imagine, would anyone stop him?, my answer is, I don’t know.
How is he managing to get away with all this? Why doesn’t there seem to be any check on his power? Will we ever get back to the days when 2+2=5, or better yet, a distant, mythical past where 2+2=4? Hopefully some day, but for now, two plus two most definitely equals rectangle.
Ponderings Of An Autist 