I once went to school with a sociopath. Grade seven, his name was Brian. Big kid.

Brian’s only real consideration was himself. He didn’t hold doors because there was nothing in it for him. He would walk up and take food straight out of your lunch, no asking, no eye contact. If you spoke to him and it didn’t benefit him, he simply didn’t answer.

Rules are fine, as long as they apply to someone else.

Then one day, Brian came walking down the hall. He was in tears. The vice principal was in tow. The two of them came up to me and a couple of kids in the hall, and the vice principal said “Brian wants to know why you hate him so much.”

The United States invaded another country and kidnapped its president earlier this month. It was illegal, both under international law and its own laws, but I think it’s obvious to any country other than itself that it has simply suspended law now.

The U.S. is often confused by how other countries see it. The most clear example of this came on 9/11. Here, outside the States, we watched news reports of Americans being interviewed, and almost every one was some variation of “Why would they do this to us? What have we ever done to them? Don’t they like freedom?”

No, what we don’t like is arrogance and hypocrisy.

Somehow, the U.S. bought into the mythology that it’s the world’s police force and justice system. We already have institutions for that—courts, treaties, inspectors, and rules—meant to bind everyone, especially the big kids.

But the U.S. has opted out of major parts of that system.

Rules are fine, as long as they apply to someone else.

That pattern didn’t start yesterday in Venezuela.

The justification for Venezuela was fentanyl. It’s not even made there. If this is about drugs, why did the U.S. pardon the president of Honduras, who was convicted of trafficking 400 tonnes of cocaine into the States?

Of course it’s the money. Trump even said so the day following the action: The U.S. would take control of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves and recruit American companies to move in.

In other words, your sovereignty is an inconvenience to us.

Let’s be clear. What the U.S. did was an act of war.

And it should be a stark warning to nations like Greenland and Canada, with all our oil reserves the U.S. wants, and the critical minerals it desperately needs. Trump’s spent more than a year laying the groundwork with false claims about fentanyl here.

If you think I’m overreacting, know that the Canadian military has confirmed it’s setting up air defence systems and hiring more forces. Reports say it’s considering how a civilian force would work.

That, my American friends, is why the world doesn’t trust your country.

It’s not about freedom. It’s about decency.

Being strong doesn’t mean you get to ignore the rules. It means you’re strong enough to follow them, even when you don’t like the outcome.

Brian didn’t think he was a villain. He thought he was practical, efficient. Above the inconvenient rules of the classroom. Teachers spent years cleaning up his messes, while the rest of us learned to keep our lunches close and our expectations low.

No one trusted him. No one wanted to be around him, even when he needed help.

And eventually, everyone noticed that wherever Brian went, things got worse.

— 30 —

Join the discussion about this issue in my Discord community