U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Prime Minister of Iraq Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Trump effect
Re “Donald Trump has (accidentally) made the world a better place” (Editorial, July 13): To those who argue that Donald Trump is a temporary challenge, I would respond that he has shown the outrageous extent to which any president can go.
His presidency is a surprise, but we are now forewarned and therefore forearmed. It is also historically not a one-off: Isolationism and “America First” have a long history.
The implicit bargain had been that allies buy American weapons in exchange for American protection, thereby helping to pay for American supremacy to the benefit of all. Mr. Trump has now managed to turn allies into competitors: With Western nations jointly developing their own weapons systems, the United States may come to rely on Europe and Canada for protection against Russia.
A similar process is developing in trade. If tariffs continue for the foreseeable future, American manufacturers will become uncompetitive and sell almost solely to the American market, with the American consumer paying the price.
Michael Di Paolo Toronto
In addition to spurring other NATO countries to spend more on defence and diversify trade, Donald Trump has done the world another big favour: He has stimulated the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
Photovoltaic panels and electric vehicles are having their day in the sun as sales boom across the world. Meanwhile, fuel prices gyrate as its availability becomes questionable.
Glen Estill Northern Bruce Peninsula, Ont.
Oil well
Re “Alberta, Ottawa and top oil producers agree to advance the Pathways carbon capture project” (July 14): A “non-binding deal?” How can I get one of these with my landlord or car dealership?
Ab Dukacz Mississauga
Re “XL, TMX, West Coast II, Sarnia” (Editorial Cartoon, July 8): It would do the country good if you could put imagination toward something that ties resource wealth and revenue to paying for our very expensive social welfare economy.
Without it, sooner or later taxes will need to rise significantly to pay for it.
Martin Wale Dorval, Que.
Age of AI
Re “Across Canada, the fight against artificial intelligence goes offline” (July 13): As a high-school student, artificial intelligence has gone from something a select few used to cheat to something I can’t escape in just a few years. I’m not opposed to AI, but I don’t need it to summarize my searches or text messages.
There are applications where AI can genuinely improve lives. Researching Canada’s environmental assessment process has shown me that major infrastructure projects often require Indigenous communities to interpret thousands of pages of highly technical information. Using AI to help synthesize scientific models, monitoring data and more into clearer, more accessible reviews could really help the process.
The solution I have come to is not to panic and try to eliminate AI, but to push for more conscientious AI usage at both the state and personal level. In doing so, we may be able to slow the “AI takeover” and the rapid, perhaps unnecessary rollout of data centres.
Julia Gillis Toronto
My thoughts went to the British Industrial Revolution, where dependence on agriculture ended with the rise of industrialization and the beginning of capitalism.
The movement of the workforce from rural to urban centres gave rise to slums and abominable wages. Fortunes were made by a few riding on the backs of the poor.
Which brings us to the meaning of work, since artificial intelligence is rapidly taking over many routine office and factory jobs and others we haven’t thought of yet. People work for a variety of reasons: to supply family necessities, to gain recognition in their fields and perhaps power or status.
Will we still have to make money to keep our current standards of living? Or will the state take care of our housing, food and entertainment?
AI is delivering another major social upheaval to all our different cultures around the world.
Rosamund McLean Victoria
Analog analogy
Re “Kids’ tablets aren’t the villain we have been told to fear” (July 13): The concept of “screen time” always struck me as unhelpfully broad.
Just imagine a similar moral panic over “paper time,” which would conflate the time children spend reading, drawing, doing their homework and writing to friends.
David Arthur Cambridge, Ont.
Faster, higher, stronger?
Re “The participants in the Enhanced Games were not coerced” (July 13): In reading this, one gets the impression that there are no negatives attached to taking performance-enhancing drugs.
There exists huge competition among children and young adults to grasp the brass ring of financial reward at the top levels of sports. If the use of these drugs were allowed, children would start taking steroids and the like to keep up.
A small minority may some day be rewarded, but the vast majority will not. Look up the negative side effects of these drugs to see the damage they would do on a wide scale.
Herbert Belman Toronto
A level playing field for sports is unattainable, it is argued, because not everyone can access high-tech swimwear, running shoes and so on.
There’s a remedy which obviates the need for vetting such gear: Compete naked, like ancient Olympians. Too bad society’s irrational body shame renders this unthinkable.
Greg DePaco New Westminster, B.C.
Heads up
Re “In Vancouver, cycling volunteers help seniors break out of isolation and feel the wind in their hair” (July 14): A helmeted cyclist driving around 92- and 101-year-old passengers without the same degree of head protection. It looks to me like a pickup truck driver wearing a seat belt with people riding in the back.
Gerret Kavanagh Midland, Ont.
Play on
Re “You don’t need bribes to fix a World Cup, only status” (Sports, July 13): As a hockey fan watching the World Cup, I am struck by the relative lack of randomness. The pace of the game and round ball leads to a more deliberate sequence of events.
The proportion of luck to skill in the outcome is vastly different: Hockey, like golf, is more like real life with fluky events while soccer is fairer, more like our ideal of how we would like life to be.
That is an important part of soccer’s appeal, one the powers that be should not trifle with.
Chris Stoate Oakville, Ont.
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