Trump was the perfect guinea pig.
Scratch that.
Trump’s experiment did show that the people of the United States of America were the perfect guinea pigs for some of the worst economic ideas in the history of mankind.
In such a short space of time, Americans got a crash course in what protectionism feels like in the 21st century, with other nations adopting positions which brutally exposed the extraordinary stupidity of their malignant narcissistic leader.
And however mad Canadians were at Justin Trudeau for opening their borders to citizens of the global south, they understood that plumping for Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative party would be a profoundly bad choice.
And this line of thought has returned the former governor of the Bank of England to the premiership of his country, albeit needing a coalition, having failed to secure a full majority.
With Mark Carney who has a lifetime of experience in working in some of the most consequential institutions, Canada has a fighting chance of withstanding some of the worst effects of Trumpian economics.
And a chance of offering leadership across the western hemisphere.
But we must ask, will it be enough to save the west?
The short answer is no.
The decline is quite steep and it is not wrong to state that the current incumbent of the White House has accelerated the pace of decline with his hare brained policies.
At times like these, nuance is always at the bottom of the pile and yet it is needed more than ever.
The notion of exporting jobs to places where there was no such thing as unions and you could pay less than a dollar a day was incredibly alluring that no thought was given to the fact countries like China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia would pick up a trick or two and turn the tables on the west.
And China with its political dispensation and its population, has outcompeted America, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Canada, leading to massive identity crises and not to mention immense economic difficulties.
If anything, America would be better off collaborating very closely with its allies in seeking to neutralize its closest rivals, but it is much too busy cutting its nose to spite its face.
And this is precisely why any goodwill which has been generated by Carney’s partial victory will quickly evaporate.
The economic model of the west, which is currently underpinned by endless exploitation and the undermining of nations of the global south, is simply out of step with the times.
There’s been stiff resistance and push back from the leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic (not to be confused with its southern neighbour — Nigeria)
And all this isn’t helped by the fact that leading western politicians haven’t found the courage nor the wit to explain the true state of affairs to their citizens.
Instead it has chosen to resort to demonizing its non-white citizens, who have borne the brunt of some of the most egregious social darwinian policies known to man.
And this simply means that there won’t be any progress so long as the likes of Farage, Meloni, Orban and Trump remain in charge of their nation’s affairs.
Foreign Exchange are op-eds from writers who do not live in the U.S. They have thoughts but don't have a dog in the race.