Winston Smith 🇨🇦

Clifford E. Stanley has worked in finance and mortgage lending for most of his life in California and describes himself as a “patriotic capitalist.” He says he has been both homeless and a millionaire, but today he lives on a monthly pension payment of $2,000. He says he has spent almost all of his savings on the trip to Greenland. Back in February, he came up with the idea of holding a homemade referendum. He does not have the money himself. But if he can get more than 60 to 70 percent of the population to participate in the referendum, he says he will take the proposal to the White House and to a monetary fund in Saudi Arabia to secure what would amount to around $12 billion. The American believes the Saudis would gladly provide the money to the United States because it is “small change to them,” and because they have good relations with Donald Trump. As repayment for what he calls his “procurement agent work,” he says he wants a small piece of the pie — a bit of commission, which he describes as “one percent of the contract” — if the United States were to gain control of Greenland. Clifford E. Stanley says he has been met with a harsh response from Greenlandic citizens and institutions. Bank of Greenland threw him out on Friday morning before he had the chance to explain what he wanted. He also contacted Arctic Print Solutions for help with printing, but they wanted nothing to do with him. Although he says he is concerned about interfering in another country’s internal affairs, he remains firm in his position: “What else was I supposed to do with my life? Sit at home and wait until I die?” If the population is not receptive to his proposal, he says he will move on to his next project. According to him, he is also working on a homemade referendum campaign for Canada. —KNR