Carney was also in the exact right place at the right time, no? A central banker already in the race when a trade crisis erupts; you can't make that stuff up.

but now it doesn’t really feel like Canada understands that they just pulled the handbrake and powerslided narrowly out of a catastrophe… and Carney isn’t in any sense an alternative or a solution, but rather a plug shoved into the dam.

Unfortunately, voters dont think very long term, in aggregate. We just have to hope the short term aligns with the long.

...when centrist status quo managers begin to lose a belief that if they screw over the average person enough they will turn on not just the people shittier than them (conservatives spouting violent and racist rhetoric), but them too. This is the opening all extremist, rightwing and violent movements exploit.

And their supporters, too. I distinctly remember all the hand-wringing from fiscal conservatives in the US that co-opted the far-right forever... they are all but extinct, now.

I'm afraid Europe isnt in such a "fortuitous" crisis though. The countries mostly dont have economic apocalypse and annexation hanging over their head, nor an obvious "solution" like Carney, excepting the countries near Russia and Ukraine (who seem to have woken up).