Trump taxes the entire world

It's Liberation Day. Liberation means "freedom" – but freedom for whom? I've been told over and over again that I live in the "free world" – but apparently not.

No matter – Donald Trump has freed… well… something. Just not me.

Depends on definition I guess.

The poor are free to be poorer. The middle class is free to join the poor. The billionaire class and the 10% just below them will get lower taxes . If there is a recession, their net worth might drop a little – but, hey, what's a few million to a billionaire?

Elon has said that he'd on is leaving his post in the White House. Is that an omen? He’s not exactly at “team player”.

Is it because Tesla is going to run out of materials to to make batteries in electronics thanks to Chinese sanctions? An flights to Mars will be delayed for similar reasons – at least until American industry recovers in the 22nd century, assuming that such a thing as "American" exists then

Is it High Noon in Doge? Can we hope that RFK will contract bird flu'?

I sought clarity as we all do.

So, I listened to the Duran and the two Alex's.

No hope there! They think somehow that Trump is a rational person – that there is method in the madness – and in the end, all will be well. And would you please buy one of our T-shirts?

Then I read Gilbert Doctorow. Oh my. He thinks Trump is a genius and that his tariff things genius too , restoring "fairness" to the world economy and enabling America's reindustrialization. All will be well, Doctorow and the two Alex's should get married

The highest tariffs are on the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho, which is obviously standing in the way of American industry. Of course, there is Madagascar too and Guyana. Dark brown is the color for high tariffs — also skin color.

Dimitri Medvedev had an interesting take on all this….

Medvedev:

Trump has roughly bent the global trading system over the table by imposing duties on nearly the entire world. The consequences will be global. Counter-tariffs will be imposed on goods from the United States. Old supply chains will be broken, but new ones will form.

And what about us?

Russia barely does any business with America anyway, or with the EU, for that matter: nearly all trade has been sanctioned. But we are still developing, and at a decent pace: for the first quarter of 2025, growth stands at about 3%. So, no need for knee-jerk reactions.

According to Lao Tzu's immortal advice, we should take a seat on the shore and wait for the enemy's corpse to float by. In this case, the decaying corpse of the EU economy.

I agree!

Out with the old —in with the new.

And what is "the new"?

The "old" is Trump's vision of a modern America, just as it was in the later part of the 19th century – when people, especially people of color and also foreigners knew their place – in with the poor.

This after all was the Age of Empires.

The "new" today, however, is a different civilizational concept.

Remember "the Clash of Civilizations" that Huntington wrote about? It was much criticized at the time of writing because everyone believed there was only one Universal Civilization – the United States . Now it appears the “clashes” actually happened.

And Western civilization has lost. It is declining.

Going once. Going twice. Gone! To the guy in rags gets it for a dollar.

Wait a second – make that yuan! The dollar is not worth anything anymore.

The winner of the clash is of course BRICS, which Trump has been boosting without ever knowing what he's doing.Then again, he never knows what he's doing! That’s the supreme qualification for a US president. Recently anyway.

FDR was able to re-industrialize the US after the Great Depression thanks to policies that would be labeled "socialism" today, building an infrastructural base, building on what remained of the old one, and then leveraging demand created by World War II.

FDR fought against “organized money”.

At the end of World War II, the US was last man standing, the only country with any degree of wealth and resources available to help other countries rebuild – which it did-- of course charging a margin, taking over from all the old empires.

America was a much more equal society than it is today with what would be regarded as exorbitant tax rates for corporations and the rich – which went to expanding the middle class and consumer base.

But since then American wealth has been financial last. It's infrastructure is degraded – not just highways and rail— but social infrastructure as well, including education. The nation is dumb-- getting dumber.

No matter. Most of the smart people who used to make things are fleeing for countries where there is technological progress and real infrastructure – like China and India. The US has no brains to drain. It just flushes.

FDR fought against “organized money”. Trump IS “organized money”

Smart people are imports. I wonder if it's going to be a tariff on them too?

Right now the US is living on borrowed time – and on borrowed money-- as a result of the dollar being a reserve currency.

The tariffs will liberate the rest of the world from having to pay a tithe to the US to do trade using the dollar – they'll go to trading with each other, using new trading systems and their own currencies, bypassing tariffs altogether . Goodbye Dollar.

After the Third World we will have a “Fourth” World—the US and its colonies.

It's not just the corpse of the EU which will be floating down the river. It's Uncle Sam with his guts ripped out.

But don't blame Trump. The US presidential tradition is one of malfeasance and incompetence based on a delusional worldview. He's like Windows 11 . Nothing much has been fixed since Windows 95.

Mourn the passing of the United States of America – or celebrate its demise — but no one will offer to pull the body from the river,

Putin Article.,

Yes, not one article anymore — three!

Here is another Shelter pic. Chappy and a girlfriend.

Chappy and Ichi have been working really hard on this Putin article. They insist on watching the Oliver Stone documentary over and over.

Reward them buying us coffee. Click here!

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