Buoyant blog of septuagenarian (77) Kanadian poet and haikuist Chris Faiers/cricket. People's Poetry in the tradition of Milton Acorn, haiku/haibun, progressive politikal rants, engaged Buddhism and meditation, revitalizing of Callaghan's Rapids Conservation Area, memories of ZenRiver Gardens and Purdy Country LitFests (PurdyFests), events literary and politikal, and pics, amid swirling currents of earth magick and shamanism. Read in 119 countries last week - 43,329 readers in September.
We're geographically located between two aggressive imperialist powers, the U.S and Russia. In 1969, while living as a resident alien in the U.S., I organized against their war on Vietnam. I refused three draft notices in a week, and wished I could have found a way to fight for the Viet Cong in their war of national liberation. When I returned to Canada in 1972 I joined a ragtag group of mainly uni student in The Canadian Liberation Movement - CLM. We were half a century ahead of our time ; )-
The government has finally laid its cards on the table. The threat against our nation is real. That is why the Department of National Defence (DND) announced its plans to establish a 300,000-person citizens’ army.
This would be one of the largest civilian reserve mobilization efforts in recent Canadian history.
Details are vague, but the plan seems open to people not of traditional military age and those who might not normally meet the rigorous basic training standards of the regular army.
The government politely explained that this citizens’ army would be used to help fight forest fires and other emergencies. And yes, that work will matter but in reality, the government is sending a message to Donald Trump.
This will be a volunteer army trained in weapons and the use of drones. Canadians have watched the horrific war in Ukraine and understand the danger of hoping for the best in dealing with an aggressive neighbour. The release of the Trump doctrine lays out how serious MAGA is in taking down global democracies and reducing Canada to a vassal state.
The government is now moving from tiptoeing around the thug to making long-term preparations. DND has announced an ambitious plan to raise military readiness with 185,000 soldiers and 100,000 reservists. But the move to establish a 300,000-strong civilian defence force shows us just how seriously the government is taking the threat to our sovereignty.
I have been thinking a great deal about how a proactive civilian defence plan would work. Here’s what I would recommend:
Choose an inspiring name rooted in Canadian pride and patriotism- perhaps the Maple Leaf Battalion.
Build from the bottom up. Decentralized local networks of resistance will foster esprit de corps and can respond quickly in the event of a local emergency.
Equip members properly with a uniform and access to a weapon so they can carry out their responsibilities confidently and safely.
Draw on the expertise already in our communities: involve health care and front-line workers, community planners, retired military and police.
Invite the Canadian Rangers to play a role in establishing local training programs and consider a Junior Rangers-style program for our young people.
Prioritize training in first aid, communications and logistics that can be used at the local level in case of emergency.
Bring in Ukrainian trainers to help with drone skills and civilian-defence expertise.
Give the battalions a strong social media presence to highlight local service and build national unity.
I have spent my whole life working for peace and the de-escalation of conflict. But I fully back Prime Minister Carney on this issue because the threat is unmistakable.
This is an unprecedented moment in our nation’s history. A people’s army is a nonviolent demonstration of resolve. By building networks of grassroots resistance, Canadians are showing our determination to defy the MAGA pressure.
But should an increasingly erratic or desperate Donald Trump choose to cross the line, we need to be ready.
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When Donald Trump first came to power in 2016, his chief henchman Steve Bannon bragged that the new era would be as “exciting as the 1930s.” That alone should have raised all the necessary alarm bells.
How could anyone long for a return to a decade of intense poverty, economic collapse and fascism? In that same interview, Bannon bragged that “darkness is good.”
We now see darkness descending on the Western world, and it is far from good. But as Leonard Cohen reminds us, there is a crack in everything, and that’s how the light gets in. And there is a serious crack appearing in the gangster fascist regime.
Trump’s attempt to impose 1930s-style economic principles is having a serious impact on the economy and his base. We need to pay attention to this crack. It reminds Canadians that if we hold the line, we can get through this dark time.
The crack is Farmaggedon.
In a year of record harvests, the American farm belt is facing the loss of family farms and the dramatic deterioration of the rural economy. The causes are obvious – high input costs from Trump’s tariff war and collapsing markets.
Trump has brought the ideology of the dirty thirties to the rural heartland.
Trumponomics is based on two seriously bad 1930s economic principles.
The first is the Nazi vision of “autarky” – that a nation can go it alone by cutting ties with the weak liberal democracies.
In The Death of Democracy: Hitler’s Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic, author Benjamin Carter Hett writes:
“Autarky was the idea that the country could cut itself off completely from the world economy and rely on its own resources… Autarky was central to the Nazi’s political campaign, and the theme of freeing Germany from its dependence on a hostile world struck a chord with voters… Globalization was not a word anyone used in the 1920s or 30s, but people were familiar with its reality. More than anything, the Nazis were a nationalist protest against globalization.”
What the Nazis soon learned was that an economy without markets couldn’t make it. This necessitated a smash-and-grab foreign policy based on looting the resources and wealth of neighbouring nations.
The Trump version of autarky is to shakedown former allies like Canada to make us subservient to the economic whims of the United States.
The other 1930s-style approach that Trump has embraced is the tariff wall.
The Great Depression is often pegged as beginning on the morning of “Black Monday,” October 28, 1929, when the Wall Street market began a brutal slide. The Wall Street bloodbath of late October 1929 certainly had a major impact on the global economy, but in the new book 1929 Andrew Ross Sorkin writes that by the end of the year, nervous journalists and investors were breathing a sigh of relief that the worst might be over.
As the market began to rebound in early 1930, Congress passed the Hawley-Smoot Act, which raised tariffs on imported goods by 60%. This was America “going it alone” and being “great again.” Other nations immediately responded, and the result was a global economic catastrophe with factories shutting down, credit drying up and mass unemployment.
This is the “exciting” vision promoted by Bannon and the MAGA right. Once again, they are determined to put up the wall and go it alone.
When Bannon gave his 2017 interview about the exciting back-to-the-future promise of the 1930s, Trump was launching a full-on trade war with China.
A new study from the University of Illinois provides the numbers on what a train wreck the farm belt was. Following Trump’s unilateral declaration of economic war in 2017, the bloodletting on American farms was dramatic. The losses to soybeans were 71%, to wheat 61%, and to corn 88%. This led to losses of $14 billion in agricultural exports.
Trump didn’t learn any lessons from this debacle. He went all in with a reprise of the Smoot-Hartley plan with his so-called “Liberation Day” announcement of massive tariff walls. The impacts are now being felt dramatically in farm country.
American farmers are facing $44 billion (U.S.) in losses this year, and the agricultural trade deficit has jumped to $49 billion.
Like the 1930s, Trump has created the perfect domestic storm. The tariff war with Canada, Europe, China, etc, has had a huge impact on input costs on everything from machinery to fertilizer. Trump’s relentless attacks on his former allies are alienating purchasers in markets that American farmers must hold on to.
The result: plunging prices and rising costs.
Trump is pushing hard into the chaos by threatening a “severe” tariff on the Canadian potash that is vital to American farm production. Good luck with that, Donald. Such a move will result in the collapse of the U.S. farm economy.
He is now having to pump $11 billion in emergency funds to deal with the crisis that he has created.
On top of this, American consumers are taking a massive hit from Trump’s tariff war.
A new report shows that it has cost every U.S. household $1,100 in 2025 and will rise to $1,400 in 2026. Trump believed that the rest of the world would obediently go along and pay the gangster administration whatever Trump demanded.
That isn’t happening.
Countries like Canada, Brazil, Australia, and Mexico are moving into markets that were previously dominated by the American brand. Our allies know longer see the United States as a reliable partner.
This has resulted in real benefits for Canada.
We are witnessing a huge increase in corn exports – particularly to Europe, the UK, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. An RBC report states Canada could increase global sales by 30% with the key element being to diversify from the American market.
At the same time, there has been a huge uptake in domestic production as Canadian farmers and entrepreneurs move into areas once dominated by the U.S. Domestic food security must be considered a vital strategic goal because, as economic losses mount south of the border, Trump will start to play hardball.
The only way we get through to the other side of this dark time is to diversify, hold the line and deny victories to an increasingly desperate MAGA machine. In the fight against the 1930 gangster revival, Canada must last one day longer and be one day stronger than Trump.
We’ve got this.
Charlie Angus / The Resistance is a reader-supported publication - please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thank you.
Thank you for reading Charlie Angus / The Resistance.If you’d like to upgrade to a paid subscription your support will help keep this project independent and sustainable. I’m grateful to have you here - thank you for your support.
We're having a very snowy December this year in Ontario. Most recent years there hasn't been a decent snowfall by Christmas. A memory from the early 1950s when I was in first grade, walking to school through tunnels of snow.
winter sunrise a squadron of flamingos fly past the moon --Francoise Maurice (Draguignan, France)
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peek-a-boo moon the child in me awakes --Tony Williams (Glasgow, Scotland)
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stubble moon at the edge of winter a touch of frost --Marion Clarke (Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland)
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children’s misery… the soft light of the moon --Helga Stania (Ettiswil, Switzerland)
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the wolf moon-- barking of the neighbour’s dogs calling... --Julia Guzman (Cordoba, Argentina)
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onset of winter a wolf’s howl merging with the wind --John J. Han (Manchester, Missouri)
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in the shade of the cedars-- a pack of wolves howl at the moon --Giuliana Ravaglia (Bologna, Italy)
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icicles some trunks blending in more easily --Jerome Berglund (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
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windless night the way of the moon seaside hotel --Doc Sunday (Hiroshima)
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freshly fallen moonlight through the trees owl calls echo --Steve Schultz (Georgetown, Texas)
------------------------------ FROM THE NOTEBOOK ------------------------------
winter night sky the overturned ocean frozen starfishes --Tejendra Sherchan (Kathmandu, Nepal)
The haikuist upended the heavens. Maya Daneva headed home before a winter storm reached The Hague, Netherlands.
short day the shore calls my fishing boat first snowflakes
In this column, haikuists wax elegantly in tonight’s full moon. Joshua St. Claire turned on artificial lights.
half-remembered song the scent of honeysuckle under the mercury vapor moon
Chen-ou Liu exhaled in Ajax, Ontario. Pitt Buerken undressed in Munster, Germany.
my breath curling through my wife’s first frost
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first night frost the walnut tree sheds its leaves
Valincia Richard studies haiku at Mississippi Valley State University under the tutelage of her professor, John Zheng.
moonlight we forget who leaned first
In Tokyo, Murasaki Sagano cooled her burning heart in moonshine.
The cold night grated ginger in miso soup my heart burns
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moonlight poured stories into his tumbler cut crystal glass
Slavica Mileva poured a drink called loneliness in Skopje, North Macedonia.
Fog thickens-- in the empty home tea with rum
Sipping Japanese rice wine in San Diego, California, Richard L. Matta cheered the arrival of a colorful male waterbird: perhaps it paired with a little brown hen swimming on a winter pond with a nest in a nearby tree.
sake sharing-- the mandarin duck makes a landing
The master poet Yosa Buson penned this line in 1751: Oshidori ni bi o tsukushite ya fuyu kodachi
The mandarin ducks they’ve exhausted all beauty-- winter trees stand stark
On visit to a park in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Julie Ann Lebitania from Sorsogon, Philippines, saw an example of the winter season word “yukitsuri.”
trees at Kenrokuen supported by ropes the touch of first snow
Masumi Orihara was saddened that “as it gets colder, there are fewer children playing in the park.”
gradual decay ginkgo nuts on a swing wintry park
Refika Dedic’s mother leaves a small bowl of salt by her kitchen window and a saltlick by a tree for animals wintering near Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
winter night salt left in the forest
Fred Blakey shivered in shadows. Facing a winter squall, Joanna Ashwell flung her arms upward in desperation.
alone in dark bars deep in the city naked an icicle tree
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advancing closer every oak and elm akimbo in the storm
In Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Hifsa Ashraf shuddered. Compare her three lines below to these penned in 1923 by D.H. Lawrence: Never swallows! Bats! The swallows are gone.
dead of night-- bats emerging from the moon
Teiichi Suzuki shone brightly last night in Osaka.
The full moon though it’s a perfect circle someday will wane
At twilight in California, Monica Kakkar spotted the planet nicknamed the Evening Star.
Half Moon Bay... opening the night Venus in winter
Ravaglia sketched a silhouette. In Lazarevac, Serbia, Dejan Ivanovic sketched in monochrome. Philmore Place regrets having left Minsk, Belarus.
cut flowers-- in the shadow of the room ribbons of the moon
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first snowflakes a black hand strews seeds upon the earth
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abandoned garden don’t let me go again ghosts from the past
Mahfouz conjured a ghost in Paris, France.
Full moon mountain hare Snow coat heathland camouflage Devours fogbow, wights
Ravaglia sensed the touch of a ghostly wind. Arvinder Kaur wondered if soldiers would soon return home. Archie G. Carlos was caught between a rock and a hard place in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
empty chair-- as the moon rises it swings
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moonlight rising from the trenches end of war
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dad’s firm stand about a nursing home hard frost
Angela Giordano penned this line as she walked by a cold home in Avigliano, Italy.
An old man locked in his house out of fear of the unknown
Christina Chin weathered through “a hair-raising experience” at a friend’s house in Kuching, Borneo.
the soothsayer reads her card and sprinkles salt and black pepper
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throwing salt around the house she rids of the spirits
Charlotte Bird whispered a prayer in Phoenix, Arizona.
the floorboards strewn with salt prayers-- dark November
Zoe Mahfouz reported on why old weather lingers in Paris, France.
Winter storm clusters Forecasters gone with the wind Polar vortex eye
Remarking that it was “the first snowfall in Nagoya in a long time,” Satoru Kanematsu enjoyed inspecting this line of troops in the snowball corps.
“Good morning” parade of snowmen made by kids
As a wintertime game in Oroslavje, Croatia, Gordana Vlasic recalled exhaling white vapor.
smell of smoke the boy shows off in front of his friends
A.J. Johnson cleared snow and ice from out front a home in Stephens City, Virginia.
cold wind leaf prints fade on the sidewalk
Marilyn Humbert was suddenly dusted by snow in Sydney, Australia.
possum paws slip crossing a frosty roof first winter night
Jennifer Gurney began her morning where it left off last evening in Broomfield, Colorado.
the day unfolds cold and crisp, a sheet left overnight on the line
Dorna Hainds wore this white dress just once, before folding it away in Lapeer, Michigan. Richard L. Matta squeezed in another hanger in San Diego, California. Williams’s family insulated the entrance way to their home. Pamela A. Babusci got ready to color winter in Rochester, New York. Govind Joshi washed woolens in Dehradun, India.
folded snowflake-- in the back of the closet, a wedding dress yellowing
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edge of winter the thickening of the coat rack
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second frost-- our thicker coats move up a peg
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end of autumn sorting my winter berets into colors
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handwashing pullover the heaviness of winter
Writing from Seattle, Washington, Horst Ludwig felt as though he had entered the winter of life. In Paris, France, Emil Karla felt life slip away through his hands.
Is age a season? One of my questions no more not still wide open
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fallen hair the bathtub white of a winter morn
Tim Dwyer reflected on his years in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
rising moon almost touchable… how I have lived
Sagano compared sepia photos taken at the end of World War II and several years later.
Parents photo from an album put aside
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Soldier’s uniform changed into business suits father’s photos
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On father’s coffin hand-woven silk kimono loved wearing at home
Cornelia Rossberg reached up in Coburg, Germany.
Top shelf row in the shop window winter boots
Ram Chandran can’t be cured of what ails him in Madurai, India. Stania knows what to drink when it snows on the Swiss mountains. Buttoning up his overcoat, David Cox recalled his warm holidays in Palermo, Italy.
winter solitude-- a never ending love sickness
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Italian coffee and Swiss chocolates-- snow falls
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holiday flat-- saying my goodbyes to the coffee machine
Slawa Sibiga turned to the December page of a tradwife calendar in Tychy, Poland. Chen-ou Liu noticed the lost and found in Ajax, Ontario.
first snow the poster girl in a red bikini
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a red bikini pinned to the noticeboard... sunlit waves lapping
Opening her curtains in Iasi, Romania, Mirela Brailean was pleasantly surprised. Simona Brinzaru was surprised by a Christmas cactus in Transylvania, Romania.
the first snowflakes a rose blooms behind the curtain unknowingly
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unexpected flower on the desert ground hope--still there
Yutaka Kitajima welcomed “a newcomer to our region in Joetsu, Niigata. Its natural habitat has moved northward due to global warming.”
Tonight too gray-bellied gecko on the pane
Morgan Ophir is eager to play outdoors in Sydney, Australia. Marek Printer rekindled the spark of pure, uncontainable joy in Kielce, Poland.
first snowfall two kitten noses pressed against the window
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first snow... the kindergarten window filled with nose prints
Tsanka Shishkova watched the day begin from behind a soundproof window in Sofia, Bulgaria. In St. Andrews, Scotland, David Greenwood was startled when an animal returned his stare.
in the morning silence sound of frozen branches leaping squirrels
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autumn alders the dancing squirrel checks that I’m still watching
Melissa Dennison watched a startling replay. Philip Davison drove through river mist in Dublin, Ireland.
Amur tiger sizes up the camera trap in the snow
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astray on the road cataract headlamps lighting the nightjar’s domain
Forsaking his hometown, James Penha resolved, “I never want to experience another New York winter.” Sipping a hot “kava” while listening to robins sing in her garden, Mihovila Ceperic-Biljan recommended wintering in Rijeka, Croatia.
Bali heatwave perspires and inspires dreams of winter
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climate change coffee on the balcony-- first day of winter
Artur Zielinski lost sight of the trail he was following in Gdynia, Poland. Leon Tefft has lost contact with old friends in Greenville, South Carolina.
Morning frost dusts the cranberry red-- the track disappears
The year-end issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network will appear Dec. 19. Readers are invited to compose a haiku about a swansong and send it by postcard to David McMurray at the International University of Kagoshima, Sakanoue 8-34-1, Kagoshima, 891-0197, Japan, or by e-mail to (mcmurray@fka.att.ne.jp).
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David McMurray
David McMurray has been writing the Asahi Haikuist Network column since April 1995, first for the Asahi Evening News. He is on the editorial board of the Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, columnist for the Haiku International Association, and is editor of Teaching Assistance, a column in The Language Teacher of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT).
McMurray is professor of intercultural studies at The International University of Kagoshima where he lectures on international haiku. At the Graduate School he supervises students who research haiku. He is a correspondent school teacher of Haiku in English for the Asahi Culture Center in Tokyo.
McMurray judges haiku contests organized by The International University of Kagoshima, Ito En Oi Ocha, Asahi Culture Center, Matsuyama City, Polish Haiku Association, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Seinan Jo Gakuin University, and Only One Tree.
McMurray’s award-winning books include: “Teaching and Learning Haiku in English” (2022); “Only One Tree Haiku, Music & Metaphor” (2015); “Canada Project Collected Essays & Poems” Vols. 1-8 (2013); and “Haiku in English as a Japanese Language” (2003).
