Luke

Ironically you have the most posts on this topic, 105 actually. Most of it is whining how stupid everyone is discussing these tariffs or how stupid the responses are haha.

What does this have to do with anything i have said. Its a non reply trying to insult me?

Sorry but i cant take you serious. You are the only one whining every other thread page of "how terrible the board has become" which i really can not say. This thread alone has a ton of value in it and if you cant see it its your fault. Why are you coming back time and time again, whining about deteriorating quality instead of providing quality yourself? If there is no value here why are you wasting your time frankly?

The tariff phenomenon is an example of how someone with complete ignorance towards economic 101 can make it to the most powerful job in the world. Trump should be some sort of philosopher with deep knowledge of philosophy, politics, economics, psychology etc and have shown over his biography that he is a reliant, diligent and hard working citizen that can bring his country and humanity forward. But he is nothing of that, he had a lot of money and rich donors and appealed to the disenfranchised. He threw the right buzzwords around that people wanted to hear and miraculously made it into office twice. He also has decent rethorics and can bully people while appearing strong to the majority of the crowd. Really a tragic situation the world is in right now. If id had to bet, i think the future leadership will come from china and the CCP. I think they have set themselves up in a bit better position, arguably not perfect but their cards are just a bit better than the US now.

And the feeling of "life is unfair" is tolerable when you feel like things improve. Look at someone in China who was alive in 1995. He had the experience that life got immensely better over time thanks to their government and therefore has a much better outlook. Look at someone who worked in a coal mine in red states in 1995. That person now votes for Trump. Thats what democrats and the central parties didnt manage, provide prosperity and continuous progress. Unfortunately very few got very wealthy, the top 10% to which most on this board count including me are also moderately satisfied but all the workers and citizens below the median in the west are angry, frustrated. Loss of safety, loss of reliance on public transport, health insurance unaffordable and no appointments, wars, inflation, ignorant and partially even stupid leaders that have no knowledge and would not have made it anywhere... Tough nut to crack, i personally hope that those few really smart guys with broad education background somehow make it into politics, maybe via new parties and then achieve some change. change surely wont come via the old structures that can be bought and are dysfunctional.

I think once you can only make it to the top with hard work and skill, people accept that they dont have the same standard of living. What makes people angry if they get the feeling that someone is at the top without having deserved it. You know, people winning the nobel price and 1m USD for bringing new research results that change the world i think most people will say yeah, they deserve that. You also need to set things in perspective again, its just ludicrous how large the salaries are for some managers compared to what the worker makes. Sure, theres gotta be a difference but in so many economic and political areas things are out of order and need rebalancing. Life feels fundamentally unfair in the west and that feeling got a lot stronger over the last 60 years. Sure, some make good money etc and benefit but the large trend is a feeling of "things are fucked up", the government is crooked and the future isnt looking bright. Trump stood for change and promised land, so far i only see disaster, no war solution, no real change. "Change" thats what obama promised, it was not enough change. People want to really feel an impact. I think the next decades or so have way higher risks for fascism to rise because the more things go out of order, the more difficult it is to adjust via parliamentaryy processes. Thats a feeling that was very much alive in the 1920 in germany and gave rise to hitler.

There needs to be a cultural revolution to conquer the division, i also agree with many ideological points of the republicans where some sort of woke ideaology isolted the large part of the population. A new balance needs to be found, people need to feel safe again, have the feeling that life gets better for everyone and their kids no matter what. They need to do progressive economic interventions where universities become more accessable for everyone, have meritocratic regulation where kids get access to educational support no matter their parents pockets so people get to the top with merit and not due to connections or money. Once merit counts again, people will have the feeling of justice and can accept if someone has more money than them too.

The problem is that the MAGA base consists of people who have the feeling they have been left behind, economically, politically, etc. Trump promised them the promised land, more money, nicer jobs, more prosperity for America, fewer drug addicts, safer cities, no more wars internationally, etc. The reality is that the US can not provide these jobs to MAGA voters as you said well. Basic manufacturing jobs pay nothing, high end manufacturing pay more but are sweaty hard work and need highly qualified labor which most MAGA voters are not, also due to limited access to affordable higher education. The United states control an insane amount of wealth, particularly via their international megacaps and largecap companies that have wide moats and operate globally. Now in the 21 century these companies simply can not provide that many jobs to the population anymore and in the future they will be even able to offer less of these jobs because of AI and automatization. There will be few people who get paid handsomely and there will be few money for people who work in the service sector, have access to populist and easily get angry seeing how much wealth is created and how little share they have. The only real solution is to accept the fact that there will be less jobs and more concentrated wealth and that this wealth needs to be redistributed in form of infrastructure investment that is free for the population (free trains, free healthcare, free musuem, free art etc) so everyone in the population has the feeling of progress and general increasing living standards even though jobs become less. Probably some sort of basic income also has to come at some point. Trump unfortunately lives in the 1950s and thinks he can go back to a fordist production mode where indeed, via unions, people earned a good living. That time is gone and it is fleeing with every second of AI investment. If id be president of the US, id continue the globalist modus operandi, strengthen the companies that are superb in the US so the US benefits of their cashflows and taxes, start a big infrastructure program where especially poorer rust belt cities feel an effect of progress although they can not provide towards the high tech economy, solve the drug crisis etc by providing more safety net, cohesion in the population and collectivist living where people have a place of belonging again no matter their job status.

Always a pleasure to read things on this board. So many diverse standpoints, really helps me shaping my opinion on this topic. Keep it up everyone. Fully mean it

I think right now its 60/40 in favour of China. And you dont know how much power Trump will raise, they are trying to get control of all regulatory bodies, judges etc Maybe he will pull some emergency power move at some point, he has a team working on trying to get around third term etc. With China you at least have stability.

Precisely. His moves are impacting investment decisions and partnerships everywhere. It will also impact tourism, education, research cooperation, prestige of brands (look at musk and tesla), look at the abolish US products movement. The list is long. Even with a democract who tries to fix things, 4 years mean a lot in a ever faster changing world and the ball might lie somewhere else at that point. But on the other hand company moats are real and i believe 4 years into the future, many moats will continue to exist in US companies.

Thanks for the thoughtful insights.

Hilarious show. Keep it coming trump!

Right, after you have threatened them, called China peasant on television, big mouthing how garbage the EU is and how the world steals american Jobs.

Hearing with trump gets heated...

highly interesting and no surprise. Watch this clip folks, the economist and prof at columbia says the same thing: Trump does not understand basic economic theory. https://youtube.com/shorts/vAwBDzGxpi8?si=V9IN1lkDW6mCVteh

I personally keep holding all my chinese positions although with less of a comfort than previously. The sanctions against russia came because of a straight out war and not because of some tariffs that trump himself started. I doubt all western nations want to do with china what they did to russia, that would be true madness.

Absolutely. Trumps policies are damaging other nations on false premises to take their wealth and enrich the US. The US is not our ally anymore, has hard as it is to accept it.

We are literally all genetically related, since when does it matter if you have some more similar genes that I should treat you with more favor? Yes because those countries are not self-serving, as trump is now with the US. Stop pretending that some shared ancestor 300 years ago makes any of a difference of how we should treat each other. I never said i dislike all americans, i said that the american state is a threat to other countries and that many americans support trumps practice of america first, rest of the world second. Stop guilt shaming other nations into some imaginary debt that we have to other nations. Should we accept the tariffs because 75 years ago americans helped freeing europe from nazis? What is that for a level of thinking. Who cares if someone is scottish or japanese, seriously? What does it matter. We are all human and if trump had a mother that was whatever makes no difference in how i conduct my personal relationships. You CANT love a country. You can love a person but you cant love a country. If you love a country something is seriously wrong with you. At least you clarified it.

Pretty much the entire world saw Trump's true face last week. It's up to wise leaders now to protect us from economic threats from both the US, China, Middle East etc.

Sorry but "shared people" means nothing and is not the basis for anything. I gladly spent my time with japanese, chinese, americans whatever. We owe each other nothing. Shared values can be seen by a guy who tries to tax everyone on the basis of hot air and threats. Okay, thats why you deserve better treatment from me than random japanese person on the street? I dont think so. Soviet Union bore the brunt of World War II in terms of soldiers engaged, casualties, and fighting the bulk of the German military. About 70-80% of the German military fought on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union lost an estimated 26-27 million people (military and civilian). 8-11 million were military deaths — more than all other Allied forces combined. Comparatively, the U.S. lost about 400,000 soldiers, and the U.K. around 380,000. We owe the most gratitude to what constitutes most of Russia today. Who do you think is more likely to help me in cases of danger, an American or a Japanese person? I eat a lot of sushi, watch anime, i like nature, am i a relative of japanese now? It is not about love, it is about protecting your country from hostile forces that try to harm your economy. Trump and the american state are such a hostile force now not only to the european union but to the entire world. Trump has no friends, he only sees deals and trying to get him the best one.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DILLLdgoPHv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Wise words from Singapore.

Trump is a threat to any economy except the US economy so of course, if you value your own economy and businesses you should root against the Trump administration. Why would you "root" for america if you are not an american, especially with POTUS trump who is a grifter that tries to coerce and blackmail the entire world to take even more wealth for themselves. If you look at the services and foreign subsidiaries of US international companies the entire world is at a gigantic trade deficit with the US but even then americans try to take more and behave like the poor guy, it is insane. I can say that these "crap" goods are the same goods that are sold on amazon but with way less of a markup and they are perfectly fine goods. Still, China is also a security risk for other countries, but right now, less than the US with Trump.

Good.

There could be a lot of bankruptcies coming on when things were financed on previous tariff environments that can't be paid off with current tariffs anymore.