Two posts in one day about Greenland? Well, yes, when it warrants it. So it is today. President Donald Trump has finally ruled out taking Greenland by military force. That’s a good thing, because our men and women in uniform did not sign up to die so a president, no matter how awesome he is, can take a country that is nothing more than an island and that is not necessary to our survival.
No, there will be no force, at least for now. Trump has another idea and this one actually makes sense, although he’d be playing with taxpayer money if it succeeds. In any democratic society, what do you do when an issue is brought before the citizens? You vote! And that’s apparently what Trump wants to do: hold an election that he hopes will see Greenlanders secede and join the United States.
But he comes to the Greenlanders bearing gifts, gifts to the tune of $1 million per person. He’s hoping that that will convince them to break away from Denmark. That’s going to be a hard sell to say the least. The responsible thing to do is hold a national election with a referendum before ever presenting it to the Greenlandish people. “Shall the nation offer $1 million per Greenlander to take over the island from Denmark?” Or something like that.
If there were to be an election, I am certain that the referendum would not pass. If Trump then respected the will of the people, he would abandon the idea of taking control of Greenland. Seriously, we don’t need it. If we truly needed it, we’d have it by now. We don’t have it, so why is Trump spinning his wheels?
I’m sure that Trump’s people have convinced him that we need Greenland for national security so that China or Russia cannot seize control? Those countries would almost certainly choose violence. Even if one of those countries took over, it doesn’t mean much to us. If they were to cause problems for us, then and only then should our military personnel be asked to potentially die for our country in the name of national security.
Unless and until one or both of those countries actually do something that poses an immediate and considerable threat to our country, and I don’t think there ever will be such a threat, it would be irresponsible and wasteful to have anything to do with Greenland. In fact, we should pull all of our interests from the island and call it a day.
If Trump’s latest plan succeeds, and it won’t, we as taxpayers will be shelling out billions of dollars for an island of 57,000 people who aren’t important to us at all. A multi-billion dollar island. Am I the only one who thinks that that’s just retarded?
Even if 60% of the island’s voters chose to secede, Denmark would certainly object. They may object to a level that requires serious action. Is all of this money and potential for war really worth it? Over an island? I keep repeating that, but it does bear repeating: it’s just an island. Quite honestly, it’s an island that could disappear tonight and the world would likely never notice. That’s the kind of island that’s worth billions?
At this point, it’s been amusing, but the time for amusement is over. Leave Greenland alone and use those billions to actually fix things here in our country. Or is that too much to ask?