The Great Gatsby was a warning about the foundations of America

By Michael Giles

Sept. 14, 2026

One of my courses in university was on American literature. Among the books studied was The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It seemed at first glance to be a flamboyant and fascinating portrayal of a flawed man who rose from nothing. On closer study, it was much more.

Fitzgerald’s book was a warning about the foundations of America, a prediction and a masterpiece of introspection, all at the same time. It was not about one man’s flaws; it was a study of America and the enduring contradictions and mysteries that are at its core. 

More than ever, we are witness to what is the most monumental transformation the world has seen in hundreds of years. American leadership has descended into a miasma of madness, institutions are failing, governance structures are dysfunctional to put it mildly and enduring relationships and alliances that have been nurtured for generations are disintegrating before our very eyes. 

The late Senator John McCain summed up what he saw approaching, and what we are now living, when in his final speech before he died stated, “We weaken our greatness when we confuse our nationalism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.”

Some short days ago, we in Canada reluctantly conceded that beyond our words we now had to live in the reality that saw the closest and most enduring relationship that has ever existed, that bond between the United States of America and ourselves, relegated to an unrecognizable mess.

Relentless infantile exhortations like “51^st state” and “governor” have given way to real madness. If King George III, the British monarch who lost the North American colonies to revolution, was the “mad king” by right of birth, then the current U.S. president is the new “mad king,” by virtue of election.

We know not where this will all end, but the evisceration of the most mutually beneficial trading relationship that has ever existed is surely an act of madness. To come excruciatingly close to a deal only to see it exploded because of some petty last minute ridiculous provisions is truly a reflection of insanity. 

We do know that the “Carney Doctrine” is focused on broader relationships beyond the U.S.  We are also aware that Canada’s current prime minister, Mark Carney, has carefully developed a plan now in progress to dramatically transform the country’s trading relationship away from the U.S. as much as possible. From the now-famous Davos speech to the pending Guest of Honour Speech at the European Union’s Parliament in a few weeks, the financial expertise and discipline honed over a lifetime, coupled with relentless cultivation of contacts, trade deals, investment strategies and overall “big bang” style expansion of our country’s options is going to manifest in many ways, some painful but most beneficial.

We may still get a deal but continue to transform we must, for who we are dealing with now may come to pass again and next time we must be better prepared. 

If we have learned anything from evolving events since January 2025, it is that our complacency and limited reliance on one major partner is beyond misguided, it is unsustainable.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, speaking of two main characters in the Great Gatsby who are eerily familiar as today’s U.S. leadership, concluded his book with this observation, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”