Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Paul Krugman discusses how one of the top priorities of the second Donald Trump administration is to trash public health in the U.S. And CBC News reports that the Libs are cutting public health staffing even as COVID continues to circulate and new threats emerge while the U.S. vacuum undermines any international response.

- Hamilton Nolan writes that Trump's ascent makes for a painful political application of the Greater Fool Theory in action - and that the only path to reversing it is to engage in opposition rather than attempts to foist costs onto others. Thor Benson interviews David de Jong about the history of corporate oligarchs making common cause with fascists in order to entrench their wealth and power. And Nora Loreto writes that the rise of fascism can be traced to the displacement of democratic power by neoliberal capitalism.  

- David Climenhaga discusses Steve Verheul's recognition that Danielle Smith is looking to sell out Canada to benefit Trump, while Stephen Magusiak notes that Scott Moe and other right-wing politicians are joining the anti-Canada coalition. And James Magnus-Johnston writes that we can't take for granted that a US takeover is impossible when a substantial base of institutional power is perfectly willing to collaborate with it. 

- Noah Berlatsky writes about the need to support the people who dare to speak out against the abuses of the Trump regime, even as Parker Molloy points out the rage machine seeking to impose intolerable costs on anybody who does so. Grace Blakely discusses how only collective action will offer a viable alternative to the descent into authoritarianism, while Sam Pressler points out the dangers of thinking we can make progress without engaging people directly. And David Zipper notes that car-centric urban design has made it needlessly difficult for people to interact socially. 

- Finally, Jake Landau comments on the importance of providing refuge for trans people and others fleeing the U.S. But Emma Weller reports that the Libs are instead slashing our immigration resources while holding to the claim that there's no concern about anybody's safety.