Probably yes it does trade with Canada.
According to US Census Bureau data, Canada was the top export destination for 32 states in 2016, by far the most of any country. So far in 2018, Canada is also the top export destination for US goods, with over $98 billion worth of goods going over the border.
Of the 32 states that count Canada as their biggest export destination, 20 voted for Trump in Election 2016.
Populism establishes a beachhead in Canada's most prosperous and most important province of Ontario.
To understand what will happen with American politics and upcoming elections, I find exploring elections in other Western democracies to be an essential tool.
Last Thursday night, Doug Ford was elected as the next Premier of Ontario. A new expansion of populism now confronts Canada. Think Trump lands in Ontario.
CBC's Chris Hall wrote, "Doug Ford — the bombastic, blustering and populist former Toronto city councilor — is going to be the next premier of Canada's most populous province. His victory, convincing as it was, came with an exclamation mark. He put an end to 15 straight years of Liberal rule."
Toronto Star columnist Edward Keenan echoed the same scripting "Ford era promises a rocky road ahead for all of us."
He went onto say "the next four years under Premier Doug Ford: constant reasons to wonder about the malice vs. incompetence debate, with a loud portion of Ford’s supporters hoping and cheering for the former option. And many of the rest of us hoping instead for the latter, because perhaps if a problem is caused by incompetence, there is some hope it will be fixed, as those who caused it realize their mistake or grow more competent and capable."
@Richard_Florida tweeted: Ontario went from being a pro-urban province/ state like California or New York to joining the ranks of anti-urban Red states ...
I don't see the expansion of populism around Great Lakes stopping any time. Until CEOs of multinational corporations, Governors, and Mayors show leadership and engage voters in the Midwest on the value of globalization, this will be the result at the ballot box.
Endless outrage by the coastal elites will do little to change election outcomes.
Cross the Hudson and be in Cleveland.
Cross the Potomac and be in Detroit.
This is the three-part question facing US voters in 2018 and 2020: Do we protect the jobs of the past or invest in the jobs of the future? Do we subsidize the grey hairs or invest in today's 8th graders? Do we want to be part of a global world or not?
Voters today want protection, subsidies, and unilateralism.
Plan accordingly.
-Marc A. Ross
Marc A. Ross is the founder of Caracal Global and specializes in global communications, thought leader management, and event production at the intersection of international politics, policy, and profits. Working with senior executives from multinational corporations, trade associations, and disruptive startups, Marc helps business leaders navigate globalization, disruption, and American politics.
The art of staying focused in a distracting world.
That is the title of an article I dumped into my Evernote "Must Read" folder five years ago.
Five years ago.
Someone sure is distracted.
This article from The Atlantic is actually an interview between James Fallows and a longtime tech executive Linda Stone.
Stone has been working on technology longer than many of us reading this were even cognizant of activities beyond our neighborhood, and our only escape was playing floor hockey, reading the latest issue of National Geographic or mastering the foreign lands of Dungeons and Dragons.
She began working on emerging technologies for Apple and then Microsoft in the 80s.
In the early years of this century, she coined the term "continuous partial attention" to describe the modern predicament of being constantly attuned to everything without fully concentrating on anything.
Stone isn't critical of this paradigm stating that "continuous partial attention is neither good nor bad. The important thing for us as humans is to have the capacity to tap the attention strategy that will best serve us in any given moment."
This ability to execute an attention strategy is within all of us.
Most of us learned this skill in our childhood when engaging in sports or crafts or performing arts. However, some of us might need additional training that involves managing our breath and emotions—what Stone calls "bringing one’s body and mind to the same place at the same time."
She reminds us self-directed play allows both children and adults to develop a powerful attention strategy, a strategy she calls "relaxed presence."
As a kid, you developed a capacity for attention and for a type of curiosity and experimentation that can happen when you play. You were in the moment, and the moment was unfolding naturally.
Stone says" when we learn how to play a sport or an instrument; how to dance or sing; or even how to fly a plane, we learn how to breathe and how to sit or stand in a way that supports a state of relaxed presence. My hunch is that when you’re flying, you’re aware of everything around you, and yet you’re also relaxed. When you’re water-skiing, you’re paying attention, and if you’re too tense, you’ll fall. All of these activities help us cultivate our capacity for relaxed presence. Mind and body in the same place at the same time."
Maybe this is why I long for a black diamond ski run on a daily basis?
I find propelling my middle-aged body down a deep, steep, heart pounding, and knee grinding ski run to be the ultimate state of relaxation - it's just so darn fulfilling.
Descending a ski hill is by far when I am at peak relaxed presence.
How do you get into peak relaxed presence?
For me to find this state, I must put it on my calendar. I put this relaxed presence time there today, this week, this month, and this year.
I find being constantly attuned to everything without fully concentrating on anything hurts my performance, my relationships, and my health.
Making relaxed presence a habit you'll find getting offline for a spell is fine. All the noise from a distracting world you left behind will be there when you get back.
I promise.
No need for FOMO.
But there is a need for peak relaxed presence.
-Marc A. Ross
Marc A. Ross is the founder of Caracal Global and specializes in global communications, thought leader management, and event production at the intersection of international politics, policy, and profits. Working with senior executives from multinational corporations, trade associations, and disruptive startups, Marc helps business leaders navigate globalization, disruption, and American politics.