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I don't care about Trump, in fact his policies may be wrong or he may not be committed to them.
But that being said when China entered the WTO, millions of jobs were shipped overseas, not removed by automation (like some people like to think).
Now you can say that it has lowered the price of consumer goods, made business more efficient, more competitive, etc.
You're probably right, but there is more to life than wealth creation. Having community and jobs in your own town give a sense of belonging.
After the interstate highway was created communities were torn into suburbs and people became distant. Then they needed cars and insurance and COL went up to the point where people couldn't work just locally anymore.
Libertarians and free market economists praise this as a good thing, saying our country is more competitive, but is that the purpose of our country? People needed new purpose so they were sold individual progress. Make more money, buy a house, buy stuff, be happy. And you had to work the right jobs for it because corporations need the right workforce to increase revenue.
So now we don't look after one another, there is no sense of togetherness, and in consequence there is no sense of patriotism. I know many think America is sold patriotism for war, but I don't believe that.
American soldiers aren't told to fight for their country, but to protect it. What does that mean? It means soldiers are conceived to protect our way of life, so you can have all the SUVs, cheap consumer goods, and materialistic lifestyle you need for self purpose. That just means everyone ends up caring for themselves, they give to charity because it makes them feel good, not out of a sense of duty. And when the troops come home they are left to hang, homeless and hungry if they can't become like everyone else again.
And Americans don't care, they say they do but why should they? Their lives are too important; Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, Turkey, some of the worst countries in the world care for their troops in hopes of promoting nationalism. Americans don't because they have no sense of community, place, or country.
Personally I don't like nationalism, and I don't think its an answer. But at least the French, Germans, Russians, Iranians, Chinese, Japanese, and Turks have a sense of place and greater purpose, not just what benefits their own lives.
If you tell an American their cheap consumer goods will have a price jump or that they won't be able to afford it anymore they are enraged and blame politicians for it, for not supporting corporate economics, and lessening the comfort in their lives.
Americans have never faced war on the homeland, they have never had to come together in times of extreme suffering to survive like people in Sarajevo during the siege, or the people of Verdun during the first world war. And sure nationalism is often used by the elite, but even then at least people felt they were part of something bigger, whatever that may have been.
Americans only see instant gratification as what life offers, and policies that don't promote that are wrong. In japan or korea if people were told they must give up some material comfort for their country they would do it in a heartbeat, because they feel like they are part of something.
Americans won't give up anything for any reason. And we are becoming more self centered and even that has consequences. We don't care about our place in the world or who we are as a people. And sure liberals may look towards activism as meaning but these are just false place holders.
Liberals and conservatives disagree only on how to better their own lives. People support Medicare for all because it would lower their costs, and people want lower taxes to benefit themselves.
Small businesses aren't efficient, that is why to get a tax credit you need at least 50 employees. In what world is 50 (!) employees small? It is finance and industry that regulate our lives, but so what.
The same is true with Europe and Asia, the same problems we have they share. But at the very least they have patriotism. We don't.
So when tariffs raise prices or make the economy less efficient, people say Trump hates average people but average people aren't consumers. They are human beings. They're not willing to give up anything, even if it for their country to gain back something it has lost. Because people don't care.
Thank the Republican party China is the result of when you put corporate profits over the American people. I haven't met one person who said buying goods at a discounted price from Walmart was Better than supporting your local businesses. Now that a Republican president has taken Action on this the Republican party has no choice, but to get behind him and "support" it.
Thank the Republican party China is the result of when you put corporate profits over the American people. I haven't met one person who said buying goods at a discounted price from Walmart was Better than supporting your local businesses. Now that a Republican president has taken Action on this the Republican party has no choice, but to get behind him and "support" it.
The party hates it. Even Fox, which is generally pro-Trump is constantly protesting more tariffs.
But I don't believe Americans mean it when they say they support local businesses. Local businesses provide a sense of place and community for people, but they don't offer they same amount of high quality cheap goods that corporations do with supply chains in China.
People aren't willing to accept less so that we can have our soul back.
That is what I think at least, I have no data to back it up.
The media are hyping the bejesus out of these tariffs and it's quite sad how many sorry saps are buying into it...
The tariffs are merely a tool in the trade policy toolbox used to motivate change. That's all there is to it. They are not set in concrete, and can be adjusted or removed at any time... Trump is using these tariffs to light a fire under the butts of these countries so that we can hopefully work out a fairer trade situation that benefits both sides.
Of course democrats and the media want us all to believe that these tariffs are permanent, and that we're all doomed thanks to Trump. It's all nonsense...
The media are hyping the bejesus out of these tariffs and it's quite sad how many sorry saps are buying into it...
The tariffs are merely a tool in the trade policy toolbox used to motivate change. That's all there is to it. They are not set in concrete, and can be adjusted or removed at any time... Trump is using these tariffs to light a fire under the butts of these countries so that we can hopefully work out a fairer trade situation that benefits both sides.
Of course democrats and the media want us all to believe that these tariffs are permanent, and that we're all doomed thanks to Trump. It's all nonsense...
I think it is a good move, but even then what if tariffs remained for a long period of time, or what if the supply chain from China was ruined and prices go up?
So China does not have the right to compete and develop? China must remain an isolated, poor country and it is good for world peace? How does that work for North Korea and Iran?
Delivering low cost products to American people is necessarily a bad thing?
So China does not have the right to compete and develop? China must remain an isolated, poor country and it is good for world peace? How does that work for North Korea and Iran?
Delivering low cost products to American people is necessarily a bad thing?
The OP is not saying is necessarily saying it's a bad thing on its own.
I think he is saying that in the process, we are losing who WE are as Americans - but he wants to be sure that he doesn't lump himself in with Trump or the negative connotation of nationalism.
I kind of agree with the overall sentiment, even though we are probably not in agreement on how to get there.
It was how our government was funded, before the 16th Amendment came along.
Now the regulatory big brother, and the welfare state, has cause tariffs to be necessary, to protect American JOBS. (Proven by TRUMP)
Smoot Hawley went a little too far.
The Tariff Act of 1930, commonly known as the Smoot–Hawley Tariff or Hawley–Smoot Tariff, was an act implementing protectionist trade policies sponsored by Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis C. Hawley and was signed into law on June 17, 1930. The act raised U.S. tariffs to 60% on over 20,000 imported goods
It was how our government was funded, before the 16th Amendment came along.
Now the regulatory big brother, and the welfare state, has cause tariffs to be necessary, to protect American JOBS. (Proven by TRUMP)
Smoot Hawley went a little too far.
The Tariff Act of 1930, commonly known as the Smoot–Hawley Tariff or Hawley–Smoot Tariff, was an act implementing protectionist trade policies sponsored by Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis C. Hawley and was signed into law on June 17, 1930. The act raised U.S. tariffs to 60% on over 20,000 imported goods
So China does not have the right to compete and develop? China must remain an isolated, poor country and it is good for world peace? How does that work for North Korea and Iran?
Delivering low cost products to American people is necessarily a bad thing?
I don't care about China, but if you're asking I think the development of cheap manufacturing has been bad for China. It should still develop, but all wealth is good, much of its culture and heritage have been loss, and its people are becoming more materialistic. But that is none of my business, only my opinion.
My problem is that after China joined the WTO, they offered cheap labor so that American corporations can grow, feed our citizens with cheap products, and destroy local jobs.
We still have jobs, but small towns have suffered, and people no longer have a sense of community. Our wealth has increased to from cheap production of decent quality goods like iphones, but I think that has been bad for society.
If America had stayed a local simpler society with less wealth and a greater sense of purpose, I think it would have been better.
But the libertarian economists convinced everyone that personal enrichment is the meaning of life, and nothing else matters.
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