Recovery*

Since Donald Trump has retaken the office of the President about eleven weeks ago, my personal portfolio has dropped notably. And that is a quite concerning effect of his tariff reset policy.

I’d long held the belief that tariffs were generally counterproductive as typically applied in a tit-for-tat manner, but as I now understand it, Trump is attempting a reset of the whole tariffsphere. Globally, tariffs had evolved to a distinct disadvantage to the United States beginning, I think, after WWII when we were in unrivaled better condition than most other countries. Now, the better part of a century since the end of that war, we find a trade regimen that is manifestly unfair to the U.S., and instituting reciprocal tariffs is the logical, and called for, remedy.

But is an all-around tariff reduction what Trump wants, or does he envision a protectionist tariff regimen?

Unsettling it is, as a bold yet incumbent gamble that may well restructure our world. Now we await the world’s response.

*****

Since, or near simultaneous with, the second coming of The Donald, we’ve seen widespread rejection of “Woke” ideology, though definitely not wholesale. That is the creed of the Left that demands adherence to a world view that, amongst other overreaching things, holds personal initiative in contempt. That it permeated our culture is seen in the corruption of the common speech.

Who can determine the language owns the debate. One thing of note in the lexicon du jour is descriptions of the homeless as people 'experiencing homelessness' that strips the subjects thereof of any personal agency in a manner similar to how the use of the term 'opioid epidemic' removes instrumentality from the individual addicts. Much the same operates from using the phrase 'gun violence' that attempts to shift responsibility from the wielder to the instrument. All of those usages excuse the individual actor.

That misdirection is hardly alone among the Left’s abuses of the discourse.

A favorite of the 20th Century’s Deity of Darkness, Adolph Hitler, was The Big Lie. A political tool, it calls for saying the most outrageous, incredible things about your opposition and repeating it until much of the audience accepts it.

The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.

-         Aldous Huxley

We’ve seen The Big Lie for a while now, going back to the Russian Collusion fallacy, the “fine people” lie, two bogus impeachments, the January 6th “insurrection,” and most importantly, per Huxley above, the thoroughly mendacious characterization of DJT and all who voted for him as white supremacist, homophobic, fascists. We know we’re not, and I think we can say so.

Those descriptors are misleading and annoying, but escalation is here now, and it is dangerous. Leftist America considers any opposition as untermensh not deserving of their reciprocal respect.

After the first assassination attempt, I was initially taken aback at how some bemoaned its lack of success, and now x/twitter is full of posts claiming it was “staged.”

Now Tesla Terrorists are out attacking strangers and their property for…what? The propagandists have succeeded in engraining their subjects with the idea that a certain ‘class’ of people (Tesla owners), based on that one defining trait, regardless of their personal politics, deserves no respect. This is such classic Leftist warmongering, by ‘class.’

* Called such as it’s a return to the blog after a few months of…, uh, “writer’s block.” Or something.