A WORLD ON EDGE
In one of my blog articles I wrote that thankfully Trump is
old, corrupt and an expert at digging holes.
He has come into his second term fast, furious and out of control and it
shows. Time is not on his side. Only diehard Daffy Donald fanatics and
delusional followers will excuse his erratic behavior and shameful rants. Within the span of a few months Trump and
company have turned the White House into a viper’s nest of hooligans, behaving
like gangsters with their threats and bullying and Trump keeping himself busy
with money making schemes to fill his pockets to bursting. A five million dollar gold card for rich
immigrants to buy their way into the United States. No shame.
No scruples. No subtlety. This is a White House out of control.
THE FAT CATS ARE TAKING OVER
There is supposed to be a difference between over and covert,
but the Trump administration seems to have opted for overt and confrontational. They don’t seem to give a damn as to what
anybody thinks or if anybody cares.
Donald’s impatience is obviously getting the better of him as he is
getting on in years and he’s is short on time and . . . patience (not his strongest point, neither is
diplomacy and a raft of other rather dubious attributes). Whatever the plan—if there ever was one—it’s
not working. Not working well at all and
heads are about to roll. The magic wand
of promised wealth and riches was probably bought at a Disney Park. “What!
I paid 2.50 and the darn thing doesn’t work!”
A WORLD DIVIDED
The global economy is doing fine. So is America’s. It is governments that are bankrupt. Even if you let the world’s richest man loose
with a chainsaw on government bureaucracies, to cut, slash and burn, it won’t
make any difference at all. The debt is
still there in all its glorious trillions and government deficits will continue
to pile up. All systems of governance
fail over time, from democracies to communism and everything in between. Time is not kind to governments as needs,
demands and entitlements will eventually outstrip taxation levels. In any nation the private sector is the only
source of income and its taxation is the only source of cash available to
governments. Governments are a cost
factor. Governments don’t produce or contribute
a single buck. What all nations fail to
do, again and again, is enshrine limitations in a nation’s constitution:
limiting the size of government in relation to the private sector, a limit on
taxation and spending, a limit on borrowing, etc. Governments instead grow and grow, spend and
spend, borrow and borrow and then borrow some more, until all that spending and
expansion hits a brick wall. The
inevitable friction unleashed, the instability and vulnerability created,
provides the ideal backdrop for characters like Trump and Putin and likeminded
crackpots to emerge. The world at large
has reached a state of insolvency. The
global raft is taking on water and we’re bailing like mad. A lot of unsavory things happen in the midst
of chaos and mentally we’re most definitely not at our sharpest when trouble
comes knocking on doors.
BARRIERS RARELY WORK
What Trump and company have unleashed on the world in the
form of tariffs is nothing more than a desperation move. There is no substance or a rationale. Throughout history nations have tinkered with
various protectionist measures for a host of reasons; from tariffs to duties,
tolls, blockades, sanctions, anything really to either protect, shield or
improve a nation’s or region’s income.
Or to punish!
MORE IS NOT BETTER
Globally there are two things that are everybody’s
undoing. Our numbers have increased so
dramatically these past one hundred years that it has placed an incredibly
strain on global finances, opportunities and on available options; jobs, food,
energy, income security, housing, education, healthcare, just to name a few. The box of plenty is no more and the bottom
of the money barrel is visible to all. More
and more people rely on some form of government assistance to make ends meet: children,
the sick, the disabled and the elderly.
Taxation can’t keep up as the workforce contributing shrinks in
correlation to the number of people who don’t contribute.
WEALTH DIVIDES
Within all systems of governance, in all nations, there is a
profit driven component in the private sector that defies a fairness of
division; of wealth, of comfort, of inclusion, participation and fair
taxation. Economies are not nice by
definition to people who are not at the core of wealth generation. When it comes to fairness and an equitable
distribution of wealth we are our own worst enemy. There is a level of toxicity, of selfishness,
amongst the Super Rich that appears to suspend their humanity. Those who have the most always want more and
they have no qualms denying even the basics to those who need it the most. We’re not a nice species.
Providing for those who need our assistance defines our
humanity. Fail to adequately provide for
your people and you fail as a nation. We
have created such a disparity in the division of wealth that it has put the
entire world on edge. Tariffs won’t fix
this.
THE NEW REALITY IS A GLOBAL ONE
American businesses didn’t divest or abandon domestic
production solely for the pursuit of cheap labor in other nations, for fewer
restrictions and oversight. They were
eyeing emerging nations for their lucrative potential as new customers and thus
generating more wealth. Providing these
poorer nations with better jobs and pay enabled these people to purchase more consumer
products and improve the quality of their lives. Lift up the poor from poverty. From a motivational perspective one can’t do
better. Ultimately, it was a purely,
profit-driven scheme. It did produce a
huge amount of new wealth—for the rich that is.
Rich people couldn’t care less about poor people, as long as they know
their place and stay in place. Hopefully
you realize that nothing in their schemes will withstand the test of time and
the challenges and conflicts are piling up accordingly.
THE NEED FOR GLOBAL UNITY
Globalization has opened up the world in more ways than one
and without heaping nothing but scorn on the shoulders of industrial tycoons,
there has been one challenge they have met thus far and with a reasonable
measure of success. Providing for a
human population of 8 billion plus is a daunting task and requires an economic
connectivity that has to work seamlessly.
Too many kinks and obstacles in this scenario and we’re in trouble. Wars.
Conflicts. Bad weather and crop
failures. Epidemics. Viruses that kill livestock. It doesn’t take much to upset the applecart
and Trump’s erratic behavior doesn’t help.
Economic connectivity and
integrated economic models are now the new global reality and it is no longer a
choice, but a necessity.
Not a single nation is in a position to boast or make
unreasonable demands when it comes to trade or for calls of protectionism. In this new global reality you negotiate with
trust, with calm heads and not with chaos, insults and threats. There is a global mechanism to settle trade
disputes and it is the World Trade Organization. It examines and evaluates claims and
decisions are made on merit. Not all
forms of government intervention are frowned upon. Sometimes there is a valid reason and some
measures are approved as a temporary measure and others are more permanent
based on circumstance. Examples galore,
but I stay with one simple one.
SAY WINE AND WHAT COMES TO MIND IS FRANCE
Climate change and global warming have wreaked havoc in the
wine growing regions of France.
Everybody has heard of Champagne, the wine growing region and its most
famous product. Vineyards in France are
struggling. Changing weather patterns
are killing the crops, it is either too hot or too dry. The vines are either not producing, growing
properly or failing to produce grapes of the quality they once produced. Growers need time to adjust, to either grow
alternative crops or to develop varieties that are hardier and yet produce
quality grapes. In times of crisis governments
intervene; with incentives, with duties, with subsidies to correct an imbalance
or fix a problem. Everybody understands
that sometimes intervention is necessary.
In time of need nations come to each other’s aid, it’s that simple. The wine growers didn’t ask for climate
change to destroy their livelihoods.
TARIFFS ARE ABOUT EXTRA CASH FOR GOVERNMENTS, NOT THE PEOPLE!
Tariffs take on a much more sinister meaning if they are used
to artificially raise or lower prices, or, as is the case with Trump’s tariffs
threats, force industries to divest, invest, retreat or relocate. In the United States government has borrowed
heavily for decades to sustain their status and standing in the world. Decades of borrow and spend, borrow and
spend. The debt load is crushing and the
needs remain the same. They are not
alone. Around the world we have been
playing this mad borrowing game, to keep the multitudes alive, fed and
reasonably happy. At the same time we
have allowed billionaire capitalists to funnel more and more wealth into their
own pockets. The poor have no tax
exemptions, no write-offs, no lucrative loopholes. The poor can’t afford to purchase a political
office. The poor don’t dictate. All they can do is accept whatever comes
their way.
What has taken the world decades to put in place will not be
undone by Trump and company with threats and bluster. Although he is trying! Meaningful changes take time, planning and
execution. The world anticipated that
Trump’s election would be bad, but not his bad!
His behavior resembles that of a mangy, old dog and his bark is perhaps
worse than his bite, but his unpredictability is what worries nations.
Trump appears to be caught up in a warped sense of reality,
of destiny and if his incessant blabbering is anything to go by, he
increasingly comes across as unhinged.
He turns everything into a performance, needy of an audience, which
correlates nicely with his narcissistic personality, and in my entire life—I am
not a youngster anymore—I have never witnessed an American president belittling
the leaders of other nations, bragging that they will come begging to him for
deals. Degrading. Insulting.
This is not the behavior worthy of a world leader. This is not a man who understands how the
world works and what makes it tick.
His only familiarity is with Real Estate and owning golf
courses. Real Estate is fixed buildings
and infrastructures; places for people to live and work. The economy is people; manufacturing,
processing, growing, buying, selling and transportation. The economy is the beating heart of a
nation. The economy is not a deal you
negotiate because it is an entity that constantly morphs and adapts to all the
changes it is exposed to. You don’t
willy-nilly plunge a knife into it and you cut out whatever you don’t like or
bothers you. The economy is as
susceptible to adversity as our human bodies.
You either treat it with care and respect or you suffer the
consequences.
The world is once more on edge because this particular, unpredictable
crackpot has access to a huge arsenal of highly destructive and lethal
weapons. When we elect the worst in uncertain
times, we need to fear the worst.
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