100 Days of Change, the United States Has Changed the World, and We Have Fallen Into the "Rabbit Hole"

Chinese writer Yan Mo

Pepe Escobar initially pointed to this great essay whose content is clear from the title. Eventually, Trump’s behavior is compared to some of China’s past Emperors whose actual doings aren’t critical to know as the context provides enough information. And yes, as with Lewis Carrol’s two books about Alice and her Wonderland, there’s plenty of humor and “gee you know he’s right” moments. Today’s chat between Nima, and Drs. Hudson and Wolff also discussed the many oddities of Trump’s behavior that fit rather well with the prose that follows.

It has only been 100 days since Trump took office, and it seems that 10 years have passed, the United States has changed the world, and we have fallen into the "rabbit hole".

The rabbit hole of Alice in Wonderland is now described as falling into a bizarre world. There is nothing better for the world than a rabbit hole to account for what happened in 100 days. In the rabbit hole, truth and its opposite can be truth at the same time. In the days to come, there will be many interesting things.

Trump's character, first and foremost, the white rabbit in a vest and a pocket watch, hurriedly leads the curious us down the rabbit hole. Then he became Humpty Dumpty, arrogantly saying, "When I use a word, it means what I choose, no more, no less".

He said that the trade deficit between China and the United States is one trillion US dollars, which means one trillion US dollars, no more, no less. He said again, TSMC has increased its capital by 300 billion, which means 300 billion, no more, no less. He also said that the Panama Canal is American, and now it has been "recovered", which means that the United States has been recovered, no more, no less.

Mr. Eggman uses a lot of data and words, the meaning of which is the meaning of his choice, and has nothing to do with the original meaning of the word and the real data, which is our first bizarre experience in the rabbit hole.

On the first day of his inauguration, Trump announced that he would impose 25% tariffs on his neighbors Canada and Mexico, and Canada and Mexico could not believe it, especially the Canadian people, who could not accept that their close neighbors would wield the tariff stick against them, and the US-Mexico-Canada agreement was like a piece of waste paper. It was as if they had walked up to a big mushroom and were coldly thrown by the caterpillar with a philosophical question: "Who are you?" "Are you...... I am...... You and I ...... Who am I? Where am I? A bunch of inexplicable question marks hung on the Canadian's forehead.

On his second day in office, Trump signed an executive order confirming that there are only two genders. American teenagers with 97 genders are confused, and Trump now plays the moral duchess and says to teenagers—never imagine yourself different from what others see you are, or you will not be what others think you should be.

On the ninth day of his inauguration, Trump reformed the federal employment system, a large number of civil servants were furloughed and fired, and people who had lost their livelihood asked Trump's Cheshire cat: Please tell me, where do I go? The Cheshire Cat said that it was all the same, no problem, as long as you went far enough, you would definitely get somewhere.

On the 25th day of his inauguration, Trump met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came with a big gift of lowering tariffs and buying more fossil fuels and armaments, and asked Trump the same question: Tell me, where do I go? The Cheshire Cat always replied that if you go far enough, you will definitely get somewhere. I don't know if Modi had an epiphany, but in the rabbit hole, there is no answer to the question, and the answer is made up of one question after another.

On the 40th day of his inauguration, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, and he now plays the Queen of Hearts, threatening to cut off people's heads at every turn. The Queen said to Zelensky, you have no cards in your hand! Only then did Zelensky know that he was in the White House card room, so he had to helplessly say "I don't want to play cards", and scolded Trump in his heart: "You are just a deck of cards"

On the 43rd day of his inauguration, Trump and TSMC CEO Wei Zhejia announced in the Roosevelt Room of the White House that TSMC would increase its capital by 100 billion in the United States. Since that day, the Queen of Hearts has been carrying TSMC's head everywhere to show off, and I won 100 billion without spending a dime. No, 200 billion, no, 300 billion!

On his 62nd day in office, Trump thanked Musk for helping astronauts trapped in the "rabbit hole" return to Earth. They went on a business trip for 8 days but worked overtime for 9 months, and experienced an exciting journey because of the failure of the Boeing spacecraft. The day after returning home, Boeing was awarded a major contract to produce America's next-generation fighter jets. Astronauts should be happy for future fighter pilots, because only Boeing's products can take humans down the rabbit hole.

On his 68th day in office, the Trump administration notified Congress that it would formally shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an organization that not only aids foreign countries but also instigates color revolutions. Foreign netizens who receive money to work for the United States find themselves playing card soldiers in the garden and must secretly paint white roses red because they accidentally plant the wrong flowers, and if they don't, they will be beheaded by the Queen of Hearts.

On the 73rd day of his inauguration, Trump announced the reciprocal tariff rate, and the world was in an uproar, everyone was pondering the ridiculous "reciprocity" algorithm, Trump and Navarro are now playing "griffons" and "fake turtles", they say that they learn arithmetic not Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, but Ambition, Distraction , Uglification, and Derision.

On this day, investors on Wall Street and around the world finally found themselves falling down the rabbit hole, their money would evaporate, and their lives would not be guaranteed, so they began to sell US stocks, US bonds and US dollars. Analysts say it's an unprecedented "sell-off of America," and that's something that only happens down the rabbit hole.

On the 80th day of his inauguration, Trump announced a 90-day moratorium on so-called "reciprocal tariffs" (except for China), and he now plays the Mad Hatter who offends time, and the offended time is always stuck at the tea party where US stocks, US bonds and US dollars are sold off in large quantities. How boring it is to drink afternoon tea endlessly; Trump has to keep imposing ineffective tariffs on China to "pass the time".

On the 92nd day of his inauguration, Trump threatened to fire Powell in order to force the Fed to cut interest rates so that time could not be moved forward, because this afternoon tea was too much to drink. The Mad Hatter attacked Powell as "Mr. Too Late", but it was he who offended "Time." The president's pressure on the Fed chair caused the market to collapse even more, and the situation of U.S. stocks, U.S. bonds, and the U.S. dollar accelerated its deterioration.

On the 93rd day of his inauguration, financial markets were in deep anxiety over Powell's threat of dismissal, and Trump changed his tune and said he had no intention of firing Powell. On the same day, Trump, who has always been tough on China, suddenly denied that he was tough on China, and instead emphasized that he would be friendly. The world gradually figured out the character of Queen of Hearts's "sentencing first, then tried", and no longer worried about what punishment she was sentenced to, because the prosecution had not yet "collected evidence".

On my 100th day on the job, I didn't know what to expect because it was a rabbit hole.

Which change in Chinese history is most similar to Trump's change?

In the world civilization, perhaps only China knows best that Trump's change of law is ultimately a chicken feather, because in our long history, there is only one successful case of law change, that is, the change of Tang Taizong led Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, which created the rule of Zhenguan. The main reason for the success of Tang Taizong's reform was the gradual adjustment of the system.

The other changes failed because they were rushed and the New Deal was short-lived. But even the failed changes in China's history have not been more urgent or larger than Trump's. So, in just 100 days, the world has become aware that the odds of Trump losing are very high unless he changes course.

From a historical point of view, although the purpose is to save the country, the essence of the reform of the law is actually a large-scale power struggle. The script is usually that an emperor wants to change the status quo, so he enlists the help of some people on the fringes of the power spectrum to fight the powerful ministers in the core of power and the existing interest structure behind them.

The vigorous and resolute action in the early stage of the reform of the law has indeed brought about a new atmosphere. But usually the powerful ministers who are being fought just sit on the cold bench and are not defeated, and the interest structure prompts them to unite and wait for the opportunity to fight back. The timing of the destruction of the results of the reform is often after the death of the emperor and the transfer of power. Political "change" is greater than "change of law", so the executor of the change of law will be wiped out together with the new policy.

China's changes have always been infighting, but Trump has drawn almost the entire world into a power struggle. It stands to reason that the larger the scale, the higher the failure rate, because the various power relations are intricate, the variables are proportional to the scale of the struggle, and it is easy to get out of control. The more out of control, the more bizarre the phenomenon, so much so that the world seems to have fallen down a rabbit hole.

So, which of Trump's changes in Chinese history is most like?

Excluding Fang Xuanling, Guan Zhong, Shang Ying, Wang Mang, Wang Anshi, Zhang Juzheng, and Wuxu Six Gentlemen, these cases of law change can all find similarities with Trump. However, I personally believe that Trump is more like Wang Mang's "Togu reform".

"There are only two genders", which is normal in other countries, seems to have become an outdated classification in the United States, so Trump wants to "togu", return to the traditional track, and suppress progressive ideology.

In addition, Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with the status quo by admiring several previous US presidents. For example, Jackson, the seventh president, was praised by Trump for his populist and anti-establishment style of governance. Another example is the 25th president, McKinley, known for his high tariffs, annexation of Hawaii, and control of Cuba and the Philippines, which made Trump fall for himself. "It's still a good old day," Trump and Wang Mang empathize.

Wang Mang was the most special emperor in China other than Wu Zetian, and his "anti-establishment" was manifested in the implementation of bold institutional innovations in the name of "retro". His "populism" is manifested in the extremism of Confucian culture to subdue (buy) almost all the intellectuals in power. These two main features of Wang Mang's reform are similar to Trump's, and they also involve the people of the time in a rabbit hole, and absurdity covers reality.

In terms of foreign policy, Wang Mang advocated "Huairou Anbian" and opposed the use of force, but in practice, he frequently interfered in the internal affairs of other countries, demanded the obedience of foreign races, and copied his new political order, and the result was a war with the Xiongnu and Goguryeo. Although Trump is very rude to foreign countries on the surface and feels very ungentle, he is very similar to Wang Mang at the level of implementation, mainly asking other countries to obey the new order and abandon the old order.

Wang Mang is as happy as Trump, and this kind of political leader is often surrounded by sycophants, and the characteristic of sycophants is that they can't do anything except pat on the back. Wang Mang's accession to the throne with "three resignations and nine resignations", and sycophants made up Fu Rui auspicious omen, which is the same as the American evangelicals calling Trump "God's chosen man" and the Republican Party National Congress calling "God's chosen man", the ancient and modern scenes.

However, after ascending the throne, the emperor had only a handful of "adults in the room", and those who were a little talented were all squeezed out of the core of decision-making. But there is one thing that Trump may be luckier than Wang Mang, that is, less than 100 days in office, Trump found out that the sycophants were bad. The main reason is that China is tough enough and resolutely opposed, and the American creditors are also clever enough to withdraw when they should withdraw, and they quickly exposed the mistakes of the White House.

As we all know, the failure of Wang Mang's reform of the law can be summed up in four points: ideals are divorced from reality, policies lack operability, anger the elite and interest strata, and foreign relations are broken. These four points can probably also summarize the situation of Trump's 100-day change.

Internally, it is Wall Street that Trump is angry with, including his key financiers, and it is the hegemony of the dollar that is being undermined. Externally, China and the EU are rigid about the "new order", and other countries will inevitably turn to the sidelines, because no one is interested in the new order, but they have to make a false deal with Trump for a while.

100 days later

Having said that, we can't underestimate Trump, even though the law has changed for 100 days and is full of slots, but Washington still benefits. Among other things, Trump plundered $5.2 trillion in domestic and foreign capital in 100 days, five times more than Biden's 4 years in office.

While we know that this is a maximization of the "aftermath of America" and that the negative consequences may be five times greater than under Biden, Trump still has more than 1,300 days to adjust his policy, and it would be unwise to underestimate his flexibility.

Let's not forget that we are down the rabbit hole, and it is not surprising that US policy has made a 180-degree turn. From China's point of view, Trump still has cards in his hand, and he is very fickle. The fairy tale characters listed in this article, including the Queen of Hearts, the Caterpillar, the Mad Hatter, and the Duchess, are all changeable and take crookedness for common sense. As I said earlier, Trump's turn to China is also in his strategy toolbox.

To deal with fickle characters, you must keep your distance, never promise anything easily, and don't trust the other party, only the benefits that can be realized immediately are worth negotiating, and you must confirm that the benefits have entered your own pocket before you can give an exchange. The point is that you can reciprocate the peach, but you can't ask for five cents, I'll give a piece, and the reciprocal exchange is the top.

The world down the rabbit hole is unpredictable, but as long as we stand our ground and believe in it, we can enjoy this amazing journey. [My Emphasis]

I must applaud Yan Mo’s imagination and intellect go construct this tale straddling fantasy and reality. One point Yan fails to mention is the fact that Trump’s Outlaw US Empire is on its downward slope and isn’t nearly as strong as it was even during Trump’s first term. Trying to entice more into the military while drastically mauling the Veterans Administration—almost 100,000 jobs and vital programs axed so far—is but one example of Trump’s rabbit hole policies. As many are pointing out, there’s no certainty at all with anything, so rational planning can’t be done. Some push-back is happening, but the public must realize that the Ds are merely Trump-lite and serve the same interests, which aren’t the general publics. The mid-term elections are 1.5 years away, and a great deal of damage can and will be done before the opportunity to change the Congressional chemistry arrives. That it takes a Chinese writer to inform Americans about Trump’s genuine nature is also a shame.

*

*

*

Like what you’ve been reading at Karlof1’s Substack? Then please consider subscribing and choosing to make a monthly/yearly pledge to enable my efforts in this challenging realm. Thank You!