there is a difference between draining the swamp, and making another one... this is sort of like the swamp near belarus where the usa members died, from falling into it in their 60 ton tank... trump is making a different kind of swamp, with swamp rats like elon musk and etc... so much for draining the swamp.. these folks are real swamp creatures themselves..
In other words business as usual in DC where each party gaining the WH wrests control from the other and lays in another layer of bureaucratic rewards to itself. It's why the constitutional government can never work.
i think both parties are serving the oligarchs and corporations interests, although they have a different way of going about it.. one wants to build up the bureaucracy and the other appears to want to tare it down.. in that regard it is biz as usual..
Whilst the Russian diplomats play footsie with the gringos, it has to be asked (and nobody appears to have), what do the ruling class, the core political class, ther heads of the corporate media, the military etc, make of Trump's dumb shit? Do they endorse it? Are they part of it? Does it have a 'Mad Hatter's Tea Party' logic to it? Whilst Trump is playing at being president, is another agenda being played out that we can't see?
Are the Russian political class just playing along with Trump's insanity? I mean how can anyone deal with a man like Trump who behaves like a petulent child? It's like everyone is pretending that Trump does have a suit of clothes on when they know the guy is butt naked! And all the while, the Empire of Chaos is blowing men, women and children to pieces and bullying the planet, in other words, going about business as usual.
You raise a valid question. Senator Booker’s gig was backed by the D-Party, meaning it was okayed by the Donors. IMO, the American Imperialists are happy with Trump; what remains of American Industrialists are not. The Neoliberal Parasites are licking their lips at the opportunity to rake in more rents—Trump’s their FIRE Sector ally. The nation’s commonfolk are beginning to see betrayal—again. This compilation of recent polling results doesn’t really show anything definitive, although the numbers certainly aren’t glowing, https://wccfradio.iheart.com/content/2025-04-02-where-trumps-approval-rating-after-first-2-months-ranks-among-presidents/
As for Russia, the only improvement is dialog instead of stonewall. IMO, their expectation on negotiations weren't at all high with the main goal being restoration of basic diplomatic relations, which still hasn't been 100% attained. The key as many have noted lies in what he said in his address to the Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and to the sub crew--the expectations are very limited aside from what the Russian military can accomplish.
So the guy is not so popular, I wonder why? Yeah, okay, in the short term, rake in more dosh but the deficit goes on climbing up and up, sooner or later, the bubble will burst. But then the US ruling class have never been known for their forward thinking.
Your 2nd para just appeared! The thing is this, the Russians have always played by the book, they want a 'proper' relationship with the US, of course they do but clearly, those days have long gone. The US is pissed of that after 1990 when the treasure was within their grubby hands, Putin snatchedit away from them, so they hate the guy! But I think it's too late, the US has missed the boat as it were, so they turn their attention elsewhere, hence Palestine, Syria, Yemen and now Somaliland. So I suppose Trump is the right guy for US imperialism after all. Nasty, vindictive, psychopathic imperialism and joined wholeheartedly by that other psychopathic imperialism, the UK.
They're polling dissenters who have been strung up and beaten to a pulp after being kidnapped by Mossad style operatives on US streets and threatened with deportation.
I'm quoting a veteran State Security Service Stasi (Double SS) colonel when he said, 'what's happening in America today I would never have gotten away with back in the day, if only I was 50 years younger, stop, you're making me all emotional'.
Under those circumstances I myself would give a most favourable opinion of Trumplethinskin.
G'day Karl, it seems to me that thinking Senator Bookers effort was something to be proud of my words, maybe something positive is off the mark by a long way. I can't see how that is as if you play in their parlour they control everything and you cannot win. Will words make the bankers et al provide a decent pension, health, education and reasonable infrastructure for the average Joe. I think not and to be looking at the Dems as something positive has me perplexed also.
Even workers with jobs are having conditions and wages attacked and union leaders are conniving for a positive solution for the bosses.
There is only one solution which is not in reach as yet but after the depression of the 30s was and had mass support of the majority.
Russia approach to amerika's silliness is be nice as we don't want the madman to throw a real temper tantrum, whereas China's approach is to call the madman an ignoramus for they aren't
in a hot war with amerika at this time. Iran has tried both but have seemed to go with the same approach as China right now, we've had enough of your bullying and you next punch will be answered in a way that we dictate.
As for Booker did he even mention Gaza or the Ukraine?
Trumps use of McKinleys tariffs will be the downfall of the empire. Does Trump the know it all
know anything or does he truly believe that he's doing gods work. He seems to be Hitler before he entered the bunker.
Something has to snap soon, this shit just cannot continue without a mistake being made very soon, for the lunatics in amerika are in charge
I looked to see if a transcript exists, but none has surfaced yet. From the news items I searched, the speech seemed to focus on domestic issues, which IMO is quite appropriate given his audience—C-SPAN and other domestic media as he read many letters from constituents describing how Trump’s policies were hurting or the fear of what he’s likely to do like kill Medicare and Social Security, along with his nutty in reality unconstitutional tariff policy—there cannot be an emergency existing for each and every Tariff he’s put in place.
In regards the constitution and Trumps use of tariffs one could say a precedent has been set and no turning back the clock. Then Trumps thoughts on the constitution I reckon would be that it is a hindrance to him and thumbs his nose at it and unless both houses of government united against him its a fait acompli that he will carry in crazy reactionary way bouncing from one thing to another.
Yeah, the balancing institution’s supposed to be the Judiciary, where we’ve seen pushback. It’s early and I’ve written about the shortcomings of the US polity before—we have millions of people who quite frankly don’t know what they’re supposed to do as citizens, which is where the problem ultimately lies. Ralph Nader calls it Citizenship Illiteracy, and it’s rampant.
So Japan, Korea, and China are speaking with each other as both Korea and Japan try to save some vestige of economic capability in the face of US tariffs/on-shoring. Let's see how far they get when Trump yanks the chain. Make America Go Away is totally appropriate but for these two backsliding won't work as it's clear it will require quite some political pain that US vassals are unaccustomed to bearing. Over the past few years it's nice to see that China is being more direct in asserting its interests, and like Russia actually has a plan that anticipated the outlaw empire's coniptions.
South Korea’s been going through a political wringer with all the machinations and intrigue. The business oligarchy is keen to refocus on trade and to anticipate the sort of financial attacks the Empire made in 1997-8. IMO, Eurasian economic power is going to shine in the face of Trump’s tariffs, and they’ll not worry too much about leaving the American market as plenty of other opportunities exist.
Westerners are incredibly ignorant and think that the US market is the biggest and bestest! Huawei is producing amazing tech and their comms infrastructure is frankly the best, period. Samsung needs to get on board or be left behind, or face face the prospect of becoming an "American" company. For Japan's auto industry I fear its too late.
“Mainstream economics” is a bunch of hooey—Junk Economics as Hudson calls it. I see Powell doesn’t allow comments, which is sad. It’s good to see him rip the Neoliberals, and I’m only in his introductory paragraph.
“The US itself is sick but is forcing others to get treatment,” Wang Li April 25
A symptom of that sickness is Obsessive-Compulsive projective Belligerence: obsess: have to think war; compulsion: have to do warring. It is a cancer of governance which metastasises throughout a state administration.
Another symptom is Inductive Belligerence: foment others to war of the blood-feud form: reciprocal exchange of atrocities, each inducing and justifying the next. Attributed virtual [made up] atrocities trigger virtual or actual exchanges. [false flag atrocities]. External and internal dynamic: Feed the feud. Sudan is currently infected.
An extreme symptom is Suicidal Belligerence, where a state wars on itself. Pol Pot's Cambodia exemplifies it, as does Nazified Ukraine.
China and Russia and most of the global south are free from this disease.
In people, OCD is a a think-do recursive format - it continually, habitually triggers itself - it is homeostatic - regulating itself to stay within its operational values. Resistant to therapeutic intervening disturbance. External disturbance ➜ self-reset.
The disease in Nations can't be treated. Other nations can avoid infection by functional insulation and disengagement from the infected party.
The hegemon is the worlds largest bully and needs an ass kicking in the worst way. If Trump is stupid enough to bomb Iran then this country is going to learn a lesson that they've had coming for decades. The global south is no longer going to be the USSA's bitch
It is fun to see China complain about US tariffs. This is that same China which had an official policy "Make It In China 2025". If a Euro company wanted to sell High Speed Trains in China (and most of them did), it had to build a factory in China, transfer the technology, and train Chinese workers. Same applied to many other industries, such as automobiles -- where China is now kicking German & Japanese asses. China's goal is to be completely self-sufficient in manufactured goods. And that is a great goal for any country to have -- whether it is China or the US.
Of course, when foreigners started to complain about "Make It In China 2025", China dropped the name -- but they did not drop the policy. Nor should they have! Against that background, President Trump's drive to Make America Great Again can be seen as simply keeping up with the competition -- and is perfectly reasonable. Of course, the big obstacle to reviving productive industry in the US is internal -- the Democrats, much of the Republicans, many of the judges, most of the lawyers, all of the NGOs, most of the media, much of the Federal bureaucracy -- and the insurmountable mountain of pointless regulations they have created.
Tariffs are a necessary but insufficient element to restore US productive industry, which would a key part of restoring US Budget & Trade balances. The harder part -- dealing with the internal enemy -- still lies ahead.
The leading impediment to the Outlaw US Empire’s reindustrialization is the same element that deindustrialized it to begin with—the Neoliberal Financial parasites and the anti-public policies of American business that’ve existed for over 100 years. Trump’s tariffs are designed to recoup lost revenue from the massive tax cuts he has planned for his top 10% buddies. They have nothing to do with the utterly nonexistent Trump industrial policy. IMO, Trump is a failure as a Capitalist; he has no idea what it takes to enact a successful Capitalist policy.
As for China, it has nothing to fear from Trump’s tariffs as only a small fraction of its overall trade is with the Empire. The recent upgrading of China’s relations with its most important neighbors—South Korea, Japan, and India—is all about offsetting any potential harm from what boils down to NATO trade policy. What Trump and many like him have yet to realize is the Outlaw US Empire isn’t the biggest or only fish in the sea, and if it wants to compete industrially, it will need to radically change its ways domestically, and tariffs have nothing to do with those needed changes.
It is simply impossible to rebuild your industry if your education and training system is screwed by decades of neoliberal grifting and your real estate resources are overpriced beyond capacity to borrow and your financier is just a vulture in a bankers suit.
The usa stood around whistling and drinking imported coffee while the best capitalist bus on the road toured China under the guidance of the CCP. It is too late.
You are totally correct, Uncle T, about the human capital side of the equation in the US -- destroyed by Teachers' Unions and Far Left university professors. Many elements of society will need to be cleaned up in order for the US to be revived.
We have to start somewhere. The feature about tariffs is that the President in the US system can act on those under his own authority. Correcting most of the other problems -- from the education/training system, to the out-of-control regulatory morass, to the destructive legal system, to the Byzantine tax code -- requires Congress to act. Unfortunately, Congress has totally failed for decades, filled with self-enriching politicos.
Holland recovered from the Tulip Mania. England recovered from the South Sea Bubble. France recovered from the French Revolution. Russia has recovered from Communism. China has recovered from the insanity of Mao's Proletarian Revolution. History tells us that the US will recover -- the only question is how long it will take?
Japan & Germany took around one human generation to recover from the devastation of WWII. China took about half-a-millennium to recover from their self-imposed stagnation in the 1400s. We can all agree there is a long road ahead of the US (and the rest of the decadent West). However, to echo Chairman Mao, the 6,000 Mile March began with a single step. And President Trump has taken that step, even if some people are unable to recognize it.
Thank you Gavin. As I see it the immediate expansion necessitates intense reliance on fully automated manufacturing hardware and all new from start. Ask Ford what they saw in China and what they intend to do.
Brand new automation cannot just import new kit from China, it will need to be local. So the predecessor industries will need to be in existence, and have extensive spare capacity to create the robotics necessary to function along production lines. Can all this industry simply gear up in the neo liberal economic straight jacket that now dominates the USA? I doubt it.
Is the metallurgy sufficiently advanced and resourced to make all the pressed component parts to supply long duration robotics and absolutely reliable electronics assembly still extant in the USA? I guess that is problematic given the near war histrionics around Taiwan plus the clearly delayed relocation of mega chip producer TSMC to te USA. Can the USA rely on Japan for this kit now that it has clobbered them with tariffs? Maybe Japan is already expanding in more reliable and less histrionic consumer nations. Especially nations that refrain from stealing their patent and production base like er... the USA.
Assuming Trump has made the first step then he had better make sure that the MAGA rank and file are in step alongside him as it is they who put this bold new plan in the WH and Congress. I dont recall reading a detailed manifesto from Trump that set all this strategy out in te election period. If the MAGA rank and file discover their consumer goods have skyrocketed in price and their wages still sit stationary, then there might be some sort of sh!t show come the mid terms. Already the proposed UN Ambassador has been pulled due to the risk of losing the seat. In 15 more months the MAGA team should be getting some fat pay rises or there could be some fat lips and maybe even some Gillet Jaunes look alikes warming themselves at the Teslas parked at the barricades.
As I see it, Trump has made the last promise and better keep it before a revolution explodes in the USA. Better that he looks after the living citizens of the USA before he encourages more genocide in West Asia and slaughter in Taiwan. But I would punt that he goes with the latter way before he bothers with we the people.
Better than tariffs, massive corporate tax breaks, and global economic warfare, the Trump regime should attract industrial investment to the USA by compelling American workers to labor at the same wage levels (or less) and employment conditions as workers in the Shithole Countries ... I mean.... developing countries.
America is perpetually whining about the outsourcing of jobs or the offshoring of industry.
But what Americans deliberately obscure is that US corporations relocated production to other nations (like China) to exploit their workers for pennies on the dollar and reap superprofits above and beyond what they could reap from workers in the USA.
In other words, America ultimately has been outsourcing exploitation (not to mention pollution) to the Shithole Countries.
So in order to Make America Great Again, Trump must force US workers to the level of workers in the Third World or Global South.
This would be a true America First policy: American corporations exploiting American workers first and foremost!
I am sure that the USA would embrace this policy, as Americans do not think of themselves as so superior or too spoiled to experience the hard labor found in the Global South.
Just think: Corporate investment from around the world would descend on the USA like a starving fat guy pouncing on an all-you-can-eat buffet.
The initial question is Why do American workers have such high wages versus the rest of the world? Initially, it was policy to have US workers paid better than others because it was correctly assumed that better paid workers perform better. And that assumption was made in the Era Trump wants to return the USA to--The Gilded Age. But what has happened between then and now? Most advanced industrial nations that the Empire competes against have an infrastructure and related policies that freely provide for things US workers must pay for--healthcare, transportation, education, and housing being the most important. For American workers to subsist on the wage levels you advocate, all those costs and others must be massively lowered or completely eliminated.
Republican local meetings. Sometimes outside agitators.
An important MD with the acronym IMDOC - internal medicine doctor posts occasionally on Naked Capitalism. His work was important for me in the early days of "the pandemic."
My hunch is this is the same person who posts the very important substack this time using the acronym A Midwestern Doctor, substack https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/ which has the subtitle: The Forgotten Side of Medicine. It is among the top half dozen substacks and can get a million hits a month.
It is not important if they are the same person but people here might have seen one or both.
IMDOC reported going to a meeting with a local Republican representative and took his grandson to see democracy in action. There were full sized busses parked outside with license plates from Oregon, California, and other places. He went early and saw the people from the buses spread out around the room, not sitting tougher in large groups. Local people had never seen them before. They were noisy, asked a lot of questions, and disrupted the meeting.
I have seen reports of angry people in politicians meetings. This one was professionally disrupted. I have no idea how often this happens but it is clear that many people who voted for Trump have been shafted so one could expect upset voters. Democrats also might be in the audience and most are mad at Trump. In fact, many in the world are upset with Trump.
there is a difference between draining the swamp, and making another one... this is sort of like the swamp near belarus where the usa members died, from falling into it in their 60 ton tank... trump is making a different kind of swamp, with swamp rats like elon musk and etc... so much for draining the swamp.. these folks are real swamp creatures themselves..
Good observation, james.
In other words business as usual in DC where each party gaining the WH wrests control from the other and lays in another layer of bureaucratic rewards to itself. It's why the constitutional government can never work.
The reason it doesn’t function is the citizenry doesn’t do what it must do in the system—in that regard, tens of millions are illiterate.
i think both parties are serving the oligarchs and corporations interests, although they have a different way of going about it.. one wants to build up the bureaucracy and the other appears to want to tare it down.. in that regard it is biz as usual..
More Genocide from ZioNazi Israel today
More missiles & toys flown into Poland today
Why would anyone listen to the US and its Satellites economic and military threats?
Hell they lost the war and we should be talking Reparations to Russia but these sad bastards are talking more Sanctions.
Whilst the Russian diplomats play footsie with the gringos, it has to be asked (and nobody appears to have), what do the ruling class, the core political class, ther heads of the corporate media, the military etc, make of Trump's dumb shit? Do they endorse it? Are they part of it? Does it have a 'Mad Hatter's Tea Party' logic to it? Whilst Trump is playing at being president, is another agenda being played out that we can't see?
Are the Russian political class just playing along with Trump's insanity? I mean how can anyone deal with a man like Trump who behaves like a petulent child? It's like everyone is pretending that Trump does have a suit of clothes on when they know the guy is butt naked! And all the while, the Empire of Chaos is blowing men, women and children to pieces and bullying the planet, in other words, going about business as usual.
You raise a valid question. Senator Booker’s gig was backed by the D-Party, meaning it was okayed by the Donors. IMO, the American Imperialists are happy with Trump; what remains of American Industrialists are not. The Neoliberal Parasites are licking their lips at the opportunity to rake in more rents—Trump’s their FIRE Sector ally. The nation’s commonfolk are beginning to see betrayal—again. This compilation of recent polling results doesn’t really show anything definitive, although the numbers certainly aren’t glowing, https://wccfradio.iheart.com/content/2025-04-02-where-trumps-approval-rating-after-first-2-months-ranks-among-presidents/
As for Russia, the only improvement is dialog instead of stonewall. IMO, their expectation on negotiations weren't at all high with the main goal being restoration of basic diplomatic relations, which still hasn't been 100% attained. The key as many have noted lies in what he said in his address to the Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and to the sub crew--the expectations are very limited aside from what the Russian military can accomplish.
So the guy is not so popular, I wonder why? Yeah, okay, in the short term, rake in more dosh but the deficit goes on climbing up and up, sooner or later, the bubble will burst. But then the US ruling class have never been known for their forward thinking.
Your 2nd para just appeared! The thing is this, the Russians have always played by the book, they want a 'proper' relationship with the US, of course they do but clearly, those days have long gone. The US is pissed of that after 1990 when the treasure was within their grubby hands, Putin snatchedit away from them, so they hate the guy! But I think it's too late, the US has missed the boat as it were, so they turn their attention elsewhere, hence Palestine, Syria, Yemen and now Somaliland. So I suppose Trump is the right guy for US imperialism after all. Nasty, vindictive, psychopathic imperialism and joined wholeheartedly by that other psychopathic imperialism, the UK.
Well, as the polling shows, he’s seen as somewhat better than first term.
I'm sure they're only polling evangelicals, that would explain the numbers
I don't think so when you look at the breadth and number of the surveys.
What GG says is true Karl.
They're polling dissenters who have been strung up and beaten to a pulp after being kidnapped by Mossad style operatives on US streets and threatened with deportation.
I'm quoting a veteran State Security Service Stasi (Double SS) colonel when he said, 'what's happening in America today I would never have gotten away with back in the day, if only I was 50 years younger, stop, you're making me all emotional'.
Under those circumstances I myself would give a most favourable opinion of Trumplethinskin.
G'day Karl, it seems to me that thinking Senator Bookers effort was something to be proud of my words, maybe something positive is off the mark by a long way. I can't see how that is as if you play in their parlour they control everything and you cannot win. Will words make the bankers et al provide a decent pension, health, education and reasonable infrastructure for the average Joe. I think not and to be looking at the Dems as something positive has me perplexed also.
Even workers with jobs are having conditions and wages attacked and union leaders are conniving for a positive solution for the bosses.
There is only one solution which is not in reach as yet but after the depression of the 30s was and had mass support of the majority.
As an initial effort, it was just that. How it was received by my fellow citizens is unknown as I haven’t gone out to ask anyone.
Russia approach to amerika's silliness is be nice as we don't want the madman to throw a real temper tantrum, whereas China's approach is to call the madman an ignoramus for they aren't
in a hot war with amerika at this time. Iran has tried both but have seemed to go with the same approach as China right now, we've had enough of your bullying and you next punch will be answered in a way that we dictate.
As for Booker did he even mention Gaza or the Ukraine?
Trumps use of McKinleys tariffs will be the downfall of the empire. Does Trump the know it all
know anything or does he truly believe that he's doing gods work. He seems to be Hitler before he entered the bunker.
Something has to snap soon, this shit just cannot continue without a mistake being made very soon, for the lunatics in amerika are in charge
I looked to see if a transcript exists, but none has surfaced yet. From the news items I searched, the speech seemed to focus on domestic issues, which IMO is quite appropriate given his audience—C-SPAN and other domestic media as he read many letters from constituents describing how Trump’s policies were hurting or the fear of what he’s likely to do like kill Medicare and Social Security, along with his nutty in reality unconstitutional tariff policy—there cannot be an emergency existing for each and every Tariff he’s put in place.
In regards the constitution and Trumps use of tariffs one could say a precedent has been set and no turning back the clock. Then Trumps thoughts on the constitution I reckon would be that it is a hindrance to him and thumbs his nose at it and unless both houses of government united against him its a fait acompli that he will carry in crazy reactionary way bouncing from one thing to another.
Yeah, the balancing institution’s supposed to be the Judiciary, where we’ve seen pushback. It’s early and I’ve written about the shortcomings of the US polity before—we have millions of people who quite frankly don’t know what they’re supposed to do as citizens, which is where the problem ultimately lies. Ralph Nader calls it Citizenship Illiteracy, and it’s rampant.
The markits didn't like the tariffs to put it mildly
https://x.com/WarMonitors/status/1907564628772638803
So Japan, Korea, and China are speaking with each other as both Korea and Japan try to save some vestige of economic capability in the face of US tariffs/on-shoring. Let's see how far they get when Trump yanks the chain. Make America Go Away is totally appropriate but for these two backsliding won't work as it's clear it will require quite some political pain that US vassals are unaccustomed to bearing. Over the past few years it's nice to see that China is being more direct in asserting its interests, and like Russia actually has a plan that anticipated the outlaw empire's coniptions.
South Korea’s been going through a political wringer with all the machinations and intrigue. The business oligarchy is keen to refocus on trade and to anticipate the sort of financial attacks the Empire made in 1997-8. IMO, Eurasian economic power is going to shine in the face of Trump’s tariffs, and they’ll not worry too much about leaving the American market as plenty of other opportunities exist.
Westerners are incredibly ignorant and think that the US market is the biggest and bestest! Huawei is producing amazing tech and their comms infrastructure is frankly the best, period. Samsung needs to get on board or be left behind, or face face the prospect of becoming an "American" company. For Japan's auto industry I fear its too late.
Re Wang Yi and the economic success of China (and Russia):
https://warwickpowell.substack.com/p/chinas-economic-model-revisited?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1965102&post_id=160224861&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2n1i2&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Warwick Powell makes an excellent report on the high order functionality of the Chinese economic model and it is a treasure to read.
I restacked it, but have no idea where it went to.
“Mainstream economics” is a bunch of hooey—Junk Economics as Hudson calls it. I see Powell doesn’t allow comments, which is sad. It’s good to see him rip the Neoliberals, and I’m only in his introductory paragraph.
“The US itself is sick but is forcing others to get treatment,” Wang Li April 25
A symptom of that sickness is Obsessive-Compulsive projective Belligerence: obsess: have to think war; compulsion: have to do warring. It is a cancer of governance which metastasises throughout a state administration.
Another symptom is Inductive Belligerence: foment others to war of the blood-feud form: reciprocal exchange of atrocities, each inducing and justifying the next. Attributed virtual [made up] atrocities trigger virtual or actual exchanges. [false flag atrocities]. External and internal dynamic: Feed the feud. Sudan is currently infected.
An extreme symptom is Suicidal Belligerence, where a state wars on itself. Pol Pot's Cambodia exemplifies it, as does Nazified Ukraine.
China and Russia and most of the global south are free from this disease.
In people, OCD is a a think-do recursive format - it continually, habitually triggers itself - it is homeostatic - regulating itself to stay within its operational values. Resistant to therapeutic intervening disturbance. External disturbance ➜ self-reset.
The disease in Nations can't be treated. Other nations can avoid infection by functional insulation and disengagement from the infected party.
The hegemon is the worlds largest bully and needs an ass kicking in the worst way. If Trump is stupid enough to bomb Iran then this country is going to learn a lesson that they've had coming for decades. The global south is no longer going to be the USSA's bitch
How do you see that “lesson” being taught?
It is fun to see China complain about US tariffs. This is that same China which had an official policy "Make It In China 2025". If a Euro company wanted to sell High Speed Trains in China (and most of them did), it had to build a factory in China, transfer the technology, and train Chinese workers. Same applied to many other industries, such as automobiles -- where China is now kicking German & Japanese asses. China's goal is to be completely self-sufficient in manufactured goods. And that is a great goal for any country to have -- whether it is China or the US.
Of course, when foreigners started to complain about "Make It In China 2025", China dropped the name -- but they did not drop the policy. Nor should they have! Against that background, President Trump's drive to Make America Great Again can be seen as simply keeping up with the competition -- and is perfectly reasonable. Of course, the big obstacle to reviving productive industry in the US is internal -- the Democrats, much of the Republicans, many of the judges, most of the lawyers, all of the NGOs, most of the media, much of the Federal bureaucracy -- and the insurmountable mountain of pointless regulations they have created.
Tariffs are a necessary but insufficient element to restore US productive industry, which would a key part of restoring US Budget & Trade balances. The harder part -- dealing with the internal enemy -- still lies ahead.
The leading impediment to the Outlaw US Empire’s reindustrialization is the same element that deindustrialized it to begin with—the Neoliberal Financial parasites and the anti-public policies of American business that’ve existed for over 100 years. Trump’s tariffs are designed to recoup lost revenue from the massive tax cuts he has planned for his top 10% buddies. They have nothing to do with the utterly nonexistent Trump industrial policy. IMO, Trump is a failure as a Capitalist; he has no idea what it takes to enact a successful Capitalist policy.
As for China, it has nothing to fear from Trump’s tariffs as only a small fraction of its overall trade is with the Empire. The recent upgrading of China’s relations with its most important neighbors—South Korea, Japan, and India—is all about offsetting any potential harm from what boils down to NATO trade policy. What Trump and many like him have yet to realize is the Outlaw US Empire isn’t the biggest or only fish in the sea, and if it wants to compete industrially, it will need to radically change its ways domestically, and tariffs have nothing to do with those needed changes.
It is simply impossible to rebuild your industry if your education and training system is screwed by decades of neoliberal grifting and your real estate resources are overpriced beyond capacity to borrow and your financier is just a vulture in a bankers suit.
The usa stood around whistling and drinking imported coffee while the best capitalist bus on the road toured China under the guidance of the CCP. It is too late.
You are totally correct, Uncle T, about the human capital side of the equation in the US -- destroyed by Teachers' Unions and Far Left university professors. Many elements of society will need to be cleaned up in order for the US to be revived.
We have to start somewhere. The feature about tariffs is that the President in the US system can act on those under his own authority. Correcting most of the other problems -- from the education/training system, to the out-of-control regulatory morass, to the destructive legal system, to the Byzantine tax code -- requires Congress to act. Unfortunately, Congress has totally failed for decades, filled with self-enriching politicos.
Holland recovered from the Tulip Mania. England recovered from the South Sea Bubble. France recovered from the French Revolution. Russia has recovered from Communism. China has recovered from the insanity of Mao's Proletarian Revolution. History tells us that the US will recover -- the only question is how long it will take?
Japan & Germany took around one human generation to recover from the devastation of WWII. China took about half-a-millennium to recover from their self-imposed stagnation in the 1400s. We can all agree there is a long road ahead of the US (and the rest of the decadent West). However, to echo Chairman Mao, the 6,000 Mile March began with a single step. And President Trump has taken that step, even if some people are unable to recognize it.
Thank you Gavin. As I see it the immediate expansion necessitates intense reliance on fully automated manufacturing hardware and all new from start. Ask Ford what they saw in China and what they intend to do.
Brand new automation cannot just import new kit from China, it will need to be local. So the predecessor industries will need to be in existence, and have extensive spare capacity to create the robotics necessary to function along production lines. Can all this industry simply gear up in the neo liberal economic straight jacket that now dominates the USA? I doubt it.
Is the metallurgy sufficiently advanced and resourced to make all the pressed component parts to supply long duration robotics and absolutely reliable electronics assembly still extant in the USA? I guess that is problematic given the near war histrionics around Taiwan plus the clearly delayed relocation of mega chip producer TSMC to te USA. Can the USA rely on Japan for this kit now that it has clobbered them with tariffs? Maybe Japan is already expanding in more reliable and less histrionic consumer nations. Especially nations that refrain from stealing their patent and production base like er... the USA.
Assuming Trump has made the first step then he had better make sure that the MAGA rank and file are in step alongside him as it is they who put this bold new plan in the WH and Congress. I dont recall reading a detailed manifesto from Trump that set all this strategy out in te election period. If the MAGA rank and file discover their consumer goods have skyrocketed in price and their wages still sit stationary, then there might be some sort of sh!t show come the mid terms. Already the proposed UN Ambassador has been pulled due to the risk of losing the seat. In 15 more months the MAGA team should be getting some fat pay rises or there could be some fat lips and maybe even some Gillet Jaunes look alikes warming themselves at the Teslas parked at the barricades.
As I see it, Trump has made the last promise and better keep it before a revolution explodes in the USA. Better that he looks after the living citizens of the USA before he encourages more genocide in West Asia and slaughter in Taiwan. But I would punt that he goes with the latter way before he bothers with we the people.
A modest proposal:
Better than tariffs, massive corporate tax breaks, and global economic warfare, the Trump regime should attract industrial investment to the USA by compelling American workers to labor at the same wage levels (or less) and employment conditions as workers in the Shithole Countries ... I mean.... developing countries.
America is perpetually whining about the outsourcing of jobs or the offshoring of industry.
But what Americans deliberately obscure is that US corporations relocated production to other nations (like China) to exploit their workers for pennies on the dollar and reap superprofits above and beyond what they could reap from workers in the USA.
In other words, America ultimately has been outsourcing exploitation (not to mention pollution) to the Shithole Countries.
So in order to Make America Great Again, Trump must force US workers to the level of workers in the Third World or Global South.
This would be a true America First policy: American corporations exploiting American workers first and foremost!
I am sure that the USA would embrace this policy, as Americans do not think of themselves as so superior or too spoiled to experience the hard labor found in the Global South.
Just think: Corporate investment from around the world would descend on the USA like a starving fat guy pouncing on an all-you-can-eat buffet.
The initial question is Why do American workers have such high wages versus the rest of the world? Initially, it was policy to have US workers paid better than others because it was correctly assumed that better paid workers perform better. And that assumption was made in the Era Trump wants to return the USA to--The Gilded Age. But what has happened between then and now? Most advanced industrial nations that the Empire competes against have an infrastructure and related policies that freely provide for things US workers must pay for--healthcare, transportation, education, and housing being the most important. For American workers to subsist on the wage levels you advocate, all those costs and others must be massively lowered or completely eliminated.
Republican local meetings. Sometimes outside agitators.
An important MD with the acronym IMDOC - internal medicine doctor posts occasionally on Naked Capitalism. His work was important for me in the early days of "the pandemic."
My hunch is this is the same person who posts the very important substack this time using the acronym A Midwestern Doctor, substack https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/ which has the subtitle: The Forgotten Side of Medicine. It is among the top half dozen substacks and can get a million hits a month.
It is not important if they are the same person but people here might have seen one or both.
IMDOC reported going to a meeting with a local Republican representative and took his grandson to see democracy in action. There were full sized busses parked outside with license plates from Oregon, California, and other places. He went early and saw the people from the buses spread out around the room, not sitting tougher in large groups. Local people had never seen them before. They were noisy, asked a lot of questions, and disrupted the meeting.
I have seen reports of angry people in politicians meetings. This one was professionally disrupted. I have no idea how often this happens but it is clear that many people who voted for Trump have been shafted so one could expect upset voters. Democrats also might be in the audience and most are mad at Trump. In fact, many in the world are upset with Trump.