emily on Nostr: I've been learning a little bit about Newfoundland's history over the past few months ...

I've been learning a little bit about Newfoundland's history over the past few months (a very cool person put me onto it) and it's stuff that would make you mad even thought it happened a long time ago. The traditional story of how #Newfoundland joined confederation with #Canada in 1940 is waaaaay different from what actually happened, in that was NOT a democratic decision by Newfoundlanders.

Basically Britain and Canada secretly negotiated Newfoundland's future, as a partial forgiveness of Britain’s war debts, by ensuring Newfoundland joined Canada. Canada wanted us for the strategic military location, plus natural resources (thriving fisheries, HUGE hydroelectric potential in Labrador, mineral deposits, timber…)

The referendums held in 1948 were pre-determined.

Public opinion was heavily manipulated, and a truly democratic process requires every voter is fully educated! Newfoundland’s economic viability was purposefully misrepresented - we were inaccurately portrayed to the public as financially desperate.


It sounds like a wild conspiracy theory but there is documentation for all of this; messages openly admitting hidden agendas and clear political/economic motivations that the public had no idea about at the time. It’s all documented in this book called Don't Tell the Newfoundlanders by Greg Malone… There is a docuseries coming out soon based on it which I’m v stoked for!!!

I still haven’t finished the book but I am already thinking about it through an orange lens haha. I want to research it more. I know John Maynard Keynes was super down with all of this and makes a few appearances in the documents. I’m curious if/how a debt-based fiat system (Newfoundland and Canada each came off the gold standard in the early 1930s) contributed to creating an environment where this could happen - but I’m not sure because I think Britain and the US were still on a gold standard at this time and I admit my bias/bitcoiner-tendency to blame everything on fiat, despite not fully understanding the other factors at play and not being an expert (at virtually anything). Need to think/read more about it and hear perspectives from people who knows more about #economics than I do :)

Either way, learning this as a Newfoundlander was crazy, knowing much I learned in school about our history was inaccurate and decided without any transparency or meaningful consent by those who lived here... Mind blowing!

Dont Tell the Newfoundlanders is (so far) a great read, especially if you're into #geopolitics #PoliticalHistory #NewfoundlandHistory #CanadianHistory #sovereignty #Nationalidentity #EconomicManipulation #diplomacy etc 😃