Pretty sure Gary is implying that while those who voted for Trump are responsible to some degree for the current and future mess, there's also the other 88,000,000 million who didn't vote who might be considered also partially responsible for Trump's election win.
Consequences of the US 2024 Presidential Election: Global Geopolitics Edition
- Thread starter CommanderJameson
- Start date
Pretty sure I mentioned non-voters:
So who is Gary. Including beyond who I mentioned? Media? Bureau of Labor Statistics puts broadcast media at a population of 330,000.
I get the world is mad at Trump, but hyperbolic statements about blame don't help anyone.
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Just had a thought:
These trade imbalances Trump and his administration is complaining about exists for a reason. But also, and here’s the thing: Americans are much to accustomed to buying things regularly which are imported from abroad.
In Canada for example people will boycott American goods, so the demand for American goods go down and whatever tariffs have to be paid will be lower because Canada wasn’t importing from the US as much as they were exporting. Exports will be hurt too but I’m speaking from a consumer stand point here.
In the US tho now that the whole world is being tariffed Americans can neither boycott or replace Canadian imports.
Overnight the massive trade imbalance means American consumers will have to be stuck paying through the nose for almost everything because they’ve been the largest consumer of imported goods.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand the knock on effect but it feels like everyone else can off set the difference to minimise the pain while American consumers will experience pain for longer because they can’t even in the short term substitute their regular purchases.
If Trump is playing Chicken he’s doing it with a Boeing 737 Max full of Americans against a balsa wood plane. While that 737 Max will crush the balsa wood plane the 737 Max needs a well trained and informed pilot to stay in the air… okay I lost the analogy. Trump is a dumb pilot; his administration is Boeing; Republicans is the 737 Max - inheritly flawed; Americans are the passengers. The balsa wood is the “trade imbalance” Trump thinks he’s up against.
These trade imbalances Trump and his administration is complaining about exists for a reason. But also, and here’s the thing: Americans are much to accustomed to buying things regularly which are imported from abroad.
In Canada for example people will boycott American goods, so the demand for American goods go down and whatever tariffs have to be paid will be lower because Canada wasn’t importing from the US as much as they were exporting. Exports will be hurt too but I’m speaking from a consumer stand point here.
In the US tho now that the whole world is being tariffed Americans can neither boycott or replace Canadian imports.
Overnight the massive trade imbalance means American consumers will have to be stuck paying through the nose for almost everything because they’ve been the largest consumer of imported goods.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand the knock on effect but it feels like everyone else can off set the difference to minimise the pain while American consumers will experience pain for longer because they can’t even in the short term substitute their regular purchases.
If Trump is playing Chicken he’s doing it with a Boeing 737 Max full of Americans against a balsa wood plane. While that 737 Max will crush the balsa wood plane the 737 Max needs a well trained and informed pilot to stay in the air… okay I lost the analogy. Trump is a dumb pilot; his administration is Boeing; Republicans is the 737 Max - inheritly flawed; Americans are the passengers. The balsa wood is the “trade imbalance” Trump thinks he’s up against.
I think more that he is in an old Chevy Belair heading towards a fleet of modern Volvos.
while some of the crashes may hurt some of the Volvos occupant, nothing will be fatal. Meanwhile the occupants of the Chevy will come to great harm, then no doubt face medical bancrupty as a result of their injuries.
Some may even die.
But at least the US will be back in the 1950s.
Brussels police arrest US State Secretary Rubio's bodyguard
That's some solid PR work on behalf of the US there. "They're not sending their best" or what was it?
The Sheep Look Up
Ars Centurion
Can you imagine having to look at Marco Rubio's stupid, stupid face every single day from a distance of only a few feet? Having your livelihood tied not only into not pushing that sack of garbage in front of a train, but making sure no one else does? On a federal salary that Elon might nuke tomorrow? I, too, would be drinking myself insensate.
I mean, who would have thought that Brussels of all places could even legally close a bar? Last time I was there, it was all fancy beers, fries so thick we would call them 'steak fries' in the US, and mayo that was (thankfully) unrecognizable from the stuff that comes from a jar.
United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the US was “running up the score” by putting tariffs on Australia, according to a report in The Age (paywalled, sorry).
Democrat Senator Mark Warner asked why the US would “hit” Australia when it was one of the country’s strongest allies and one of the few industrialised nations to which the US sells more than it buys.
“Australia has the lowest rate available under the new program,” Greer said, referring to a general 10 per cent tariff on all imports. “We’re addressing the $US1.2 trillion [trade] deficit, the largest in human history, that president Biden left us with. We should be running up the score on Australia.”
Thanks for the reminder that nations don't have friends, they just have interests.
ETA non-paywalled link from Sky News
Democrat Senator Mark Warner asked why the US would “hit” Australia when it was one of the country’s strongest allies and one of the few industrialised nations to which the US sells more than it buys.
“Australia has the lowest rate available under the new program,” Greer said, referring to a general 10 per cent tariff on all imports. “We’re addressing the $US1.2 trillion [trade] deficit, the largest in human history, that president Biden left us with. We should be running up the score on Australia.”
Thanks for the reminder that nations don't have friends, they just have interests.
ETA non-paywalled link from Sky News
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"We should be running up the score"
None of this is a game, you utter insensate sociopathic shitkicking pillock.
None of this is a game, you utter insensate sociopathic shitkicking pillock.
I include the people who failed to vote, and count media as many times the actual headcount. Same with politicians. Each of these people is far more impactful than a single voter - they influence thousands or millions.
Remember that they don’t know what they’re talking about and their seat on the gravy train relies on parroting Trump’s ideas about international trade.
This is a government of oligarchic failsons.
This is a government of oligarchic failsons.
So, I'm guessing the Australians will rethink buying more from the US than they sell now and score a few goals of their own?
Because, quite frankly, the remark is rather idiotic given what the response will be and that response will cost jobs in the US so who is losing what score?
I would shortcut to, "Dictators, by dent of being dictators, do not have to be reasonable or engage in reason, and Trump idolizes dictators."
Possibly. It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.
By category, the biggest sector is transport: cars, trucks and aircraft - there are plenty of options from Japan, South Korea and Europe here - and for the first two, consumer choice could make a big impact. As a cyclist, I'd love to see fewer giant-sized American pickup trucks on our roads.
But we also import a lot of specialised equipment such as machinery, medical imaging and other high tech stuff - I don't know what other countries are making, but I would expect that Japan and western Europe might have the capacity to fulfil many of our needs.
The Sheep Look Up
Ars Centurion
What score?! BPI? GINI? Monthly inflation numbers? GDP? Employment? The DJIA? All headed into the toilet. Does he think prosperity works like golf?
In medical imaging, Canon, Fujifilm, Siemens, and Philips are all top suppliers.
Medicine may be a problem. Medicine manufactory is a crazy web of supplier chain. It is a lot like cars. I think medicine so far is exempted though.
By the way, is Australia still try to buy USA's nuclear submarines?
They should renegotiate those in the light of the tariffs. I hear France makes denazified subs.
Yes, as part of the AUKUS program, the deal is that Australia will pay the US to get some second-hand nuclear subs. Whether that deal survives in its current form is uncertain - a lot of people here are noticing that the current administration is no longer a reliable ally.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are back-channel talks going on with France to see whether they would still be interested. although it might be a tough negotiation after our previous Prime Minister shafted them so badly.
I think they should just get gas-powered subs. Nuclear feels a bit overkill for what they need it from. Japan makes good subs.
The 'best' starts at the top....and in this case, from the 2nd from top
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-chinese-peasants-remark-in-tariffs-interview
jd vance seems blissfully (edit UN) aware that he is married to a different ethnicity wife to be running his gob in such a manner - blink twice Usha, blink twice!
Calling the people that fund your largesse peasants, 4d chess?
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The Sheep Look Up
Ars Centurion
Last I heard, Ukraine was doing a bang-up job producing de-nazified submarines. (Too far a reach?)
The stupid thing (among many stupid things, I know) is that they keep banging on that Australia doesn't allow them to sell US beef here. We've repeatedly confirmed that there is no ban on US beef, merely that all beef entering the country must meet biosecurity regulations and US beef as it's currently sold does not. Note that the media outside Australia don't seem to be sharing that info.
Germany, too. Especially their newest fuel cell U-Boats. Currently, Germany is not selling the good stuff with the highest endurance.
Unlike the US, France is led by adults who deal with reality. Macron knows as well as anyone that the landscape has shifted both globally and in Australia’s politics. I think France would be willing to do a deal with us now, although their priority has to be EU defence and we’re at the end of the queue.
Still, the US will never deliver a single sub under AUKUS. They may have meant to once, but now I am certain their goal is to take the money and deliver absolutely nothing, with a side order of “And what are you going to do about it?”
(N4M8 - I hope I’ve added some value with this post. Now that you’re the thread quality police I want to check that I’m meeting your high standards)
It’s the reverse of the story in the UK. Australian beef is low quality by EU standards but after Brexit the previous UK government was desperate for any trade deals and signed up to allow our beef to flood into the UK, undercutting their own producers. I’ve seen stories about our food production standards from the UK media that slam Australian quality.
I remain convinced that Usha is the power behind the throne, as it were. JD ostensibly used to be somewhat progressive. Usha, on the other hand, clerked for some of the most conservative justices around.
Innnnteresting....like a reverse Handsmaid Tale! Dunno, don't really care, they are both despicable. Wouldn't leave jd alone in my living room given my high end Italian sofa.
Really? I thought Australian ‘wagyu’ beef was second to Japanese. I’m not a big ‘cook steak myself’ person even though I enjoy a good steak at a good restaurant.
What do they mean by production standards? How the cows are raised? Slaughtered? Packed for delivery? Each one is a solved problem. How’s the EU or the UK doing anything extra to be better than another first country’s beef production?
This brings up one enormous issue with the US expectations that is beyond tariffs, they also see regulations and VAT as "tariffs" and wants them gone when they negatively affects US interests. In the extension this means in the extreme tah no other country is allowed to have other views on environment, animal care or pollution, and finally on VAT.
This, so much this.
If you actually take Trump and his administration at their word, the inevitable conclusion is that the only laws/regulations/taxes that are ok are those of the US. Any independent regulation/taxes are per definition "unfair and requiring tarifs".
It all boils down to this binary choice for every country on the planet (short of Russia and Belarus):
- Become a colony of the US
- Fight back
One of the key aspects of Trump and his cronies and followers is that they don't understand the idea that other people have agency.
“Your body my choice” was trending after Trump won. So it tracks.