Sculptor wrote:
LOL.
Tariffs are inflationary. If you do not understand that then you are in trouble.
I get it. Tariffs raise prices, at least in the industries being tariffed. But tariffs are meant as a deterrent, not a price control. 4 things can happen when you impose tariffs:
- Companies continue to import goods and pass on the cost of the tariffs to the consumer (<-- that’s your inflation).
- Companies find other sellers abroad.
- Companies start producing/buying domestically.
- Companies just stop buying, possibly going out of business.
We’ll probably see all four at play once the tariffs are put into practice, but eventually 1) will be dropped as more companies embrace 2) and 3) (or 4) happens). 1) will become unprofitable and won’t be able to complete with 2) and 3). So if inflation happens, it won’t last long.
Sculptor wrote:
Trump will not cut taxes for the people, but for his friends in the city and the tech bros.
Am I the only one here who didn’t get a crystal ball?
Sculptor wrote:
Yeah, like LIVE VIDEO of people invading the Capitol is not enough for you??
And what do you take that to be evidence for? That they’re violent? That every single protestor who was there should be locked up? That Trump instigated it? To me, it’s evidence of people invading the Capitol and that’s it (and maybe “invading” should be in scare quotes depending on what video exactly you’re talking about). Anything over and above that is the media telling you how to interpret the video.
Nonetheless, one would have the right to be skeptical of even that. How do we know the video isn’t doctored? How do we know it wasn’t all staged? How do we know it isn’t some 10 year old footage of some street violence in some other country, and only labeled as “live” while airing it in present day American media? I tend not to go that far in my conspiracy theories, but one has every right to raise these questions.
Bob wrote:
Many of the comments here are so disturbing, you might guess that you won’t see much of me again. I had hopes but it seems that even more of you are infected with the madness.
← 
What brand of tissue would you like with your tears? →
It is mostly discouraging that every discussion separates people into left/right factions, whereas some of us are just seeing people suffering, dying, impoverished and exploited, and want it to stop.
← Oh, don’t talk like your not in the gutter with the rest of us. You know very well you’re a liberal, that you trust left-wing media more than right-wing media (you said it yourself). You’ve picked a side! Don’t act like you haven’t, like choosing between left and right never interested you. You might be a lefty without knowing it (that’s how I described myself until around 2014), but so long as you’re echoing all the left-wing talking points (which you do), I have a right to identify you as a “lefty”. →
I just hope that the loudmouthed among you come to see sense before you suffer yourselves. Our world is setting the clock back 200 years politically, and all you can do is bicker among yourselves, just like the tyrants want you to.
← This would be a perfect segment for Sky News’ “Lefties Losing It” →
Goodbye ILP!
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Bob wrote:
We are being fooled into believing that the poor are costing us too much whilst astronomical profits are being made ← Who’s fooling us into believing this? I must have missed the memo. → , and a fraction of those would cover the costs. This is all well documented and people like Bloomberg demonstrate that the rich can contribute.
← Weren’t you gonna leave ILP? →
All the while we have an economic system that increases the gap between the rich and the poor ← Oh my God! This is worse than the gender wage gap myth. → almost without effort on the side of the rich. The corporations blackmail governments and sabotage attempts to get them to contribute.
← Do you have an example of this? →
I am as exasperated as anyone at the ridiculous side issues that the left-centrist governments get themselves entangled with, but the suffering of all people doesn’t seem to interest parties, only the suffering of some. The maddening US attitude that the rich are blessed, and the poor are to blame for their problems only exacerbates the situation.
Something I notice about you, Bob, is that your prone to hyperbole and distortion. Yes, that’s the grass roots conservative view in America (or maybe traditional conservatism or radical conservatism), but I don’t think anyone but the most simpleminded thinks of it in those terms exactly. I think most conservatives recognize the subtleties and nuances of each person’s socioeconomic, psychological, medical, whatever situations, and understand that there are things in life that are out of our control (even for the poor). I think it’s very rare to ever come across a conservative who will say “You’re poor? It’s your fault.” And in all honesty, I think you’re fighting a boogie man, one built out of hyperbole and distortion.
Bob wrote:
'Many millennia ago, our ancestors decided to work together. When they did our survival chances improved dramatically. Indeed, so dramatic was this improved chance of surviving that we came to dominate the world (whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen). As such, any organised ‘State’ must honour this, the very reason we have any civilisation at all."
Dan Goyal’s “The Antidote” on Substack
← I don’t think anyone’s disagreeing with this. We only disagree with how to accomplish it. →
Cooperation doesn’t seem paramount, only greed serves as motivator. This is the antithesis of any moral code ever written, including the American favourite: the Bible.
← Cooperation vs. greed? Those are our only options? There’s also survival instinct, which I think is what greed stems from, but perhaps we call it “greed” when it goes beyond the essential requirements of survival. The need to eat when you’re starving, for example, can often lead to selfish, uncooperative behavior, but I would hardly call it “greed”. →
The real “boom years” in America were the postwar years when the rich were contributing, not the time which Trump alludes to. ← I thought that was the time Trump alluded to, the 1950s… no? → That was fraught by inflation, depression and recession. Only a few came through with riches.
← By postwar, you must mean post-1st-world-war. Personally, I think the 1920s was when the US was at it’s greatest. They were popular enough on the global scene to be revered as the underdogs of the world become heroes, but not yet a world superpower with the ability to make life miserable for millions. →
The ignorance of pro-Trump supporters is deeply disturbing!
The feel is mutual, I’m sure.
