The offical Trump Tariff thread

Maybe I'm autistic but I wasn't trying to be condescending.

People working long hours and struggling to find time to pay basic needs and finding time to raise children is an immense burden and I have no expectations for people this busy with their lives to be informed on global trade or the history of fascist movements. These people are far more busy and productive than your average corporate executive.

 

I know a lot of people that are just resigned to the fact that they will be paying higher prices but don’t really have a lot of concern about it. Most are upper middle class that I know and some now support the tariffs.

 

Most of the upper middle class are college educate, that is not the MAGA base, ask how that group feel about higher price and the tariff. How about the group that voted against the evil Democrats because of the inflation. I have no love for the Democrats, but this administration is just crazy.

 

Your friends/acquaintances are assholes, no offense (respecfully)

I'm also shocked that anyone in your purview would look at the T-Bill market and support what is happening.

 

Called it

 

I was talking about people like the Lincoln Project...political figures and commentators who are very anti-Trump and have very little voice in GOP politics at the moment.

Again, I was not talking about voters.

 

I gotcha. I can respect them changing course and being against MAGA.

But my standards for these people are much higher and because some of these Lincoln Project dudes created the underlying infrastructure that allowed MAGA to come forth. And also they are educated and are political junkies.

 

I would say that half of the upper middle class I know voted for Trump this time. I know a few that before the election claimed they did not support him but after the election seemed to forget they said they wouldn’t vote for Trump. They think Trump will keep the social order that he made many of these people very comfortable.

What all of this has done is demonstrate that most people will ultimately do anything to protect their social position and advantages. All Trump had to do was say their social standing was at risk and he would protect it. That was enough - for many comfortable people in 2025.

It is also why I laugh when I hear people claim they never would have owned slaves or would free them if they inherited them… or that they wouldn’t have joined the Nazi party in 1933 to move up in their career and social standing. People will gladly bend morals or values for a payoff.

 

They are more acquaintances than close friends. I am part of several large social circles due to career, interests and networking.

No offense taken - many of them are very selfish and hypocrites.

As for them being okay with tariffs. I think most would rather there not be tariffs, but can financially withstand it. Most of those that support him in these groups do so because they know people like Trump or like the social order he represents.

 

Yes - I am sure some were secret Trump supporters or got used to his flaws and ultimately trust he will protect the social order as it is and the privileges they have. Most I think he excuses them being shitty people often times.

To be clear it isn’t all the people I know socially/professionally - just more than I am expected.

 

I would add that I have met very-very few upper middle class and rich people that are very good people unless they inherited their money or made it through some degree of luck (had a great invention/idea and sold it). Those that are actual business people, that prioritize their business above all else (most successful business people) are very money driven and will make personal sacrifices and sacrifice their values to make more money.

 

Average hit per family is probably 5-6k, I can take the hit, but what do we really get with this tariff? Do anyone really think large scale manufacturing will return to this country in the next decade? Unless that was never his true goal, he is using tariff as a threat to get other forms of concessions from other countries. Can he get away with it? We will see in three months.

 

What do “we” get? I think it depends on who “we” is. For white men that have some degree of wealth, they get to keep the social order and status quo. They don’t have to hear about ME TOO, or worry that women or minority men that don’t kiss the ring will usurp them.

As for me? I potentially benefit from the status quo, but from my perspective I despise it because I believe the current social structure isn’t fair to 75% of the people and is incredibly inefficient as well.

At some point enough people will get fed up IF it gets bad enough - but at this point we are very divided and many people don’t really think anything will ever get really bad.

Also yes - I know many blue collar guys who do believe wide spread manufacturing will come back.

 

I feel bad for the group which include many of the MAGA type that live from pay check to pay check but cannot get a break from the Democrats or the traditional GOP administrations. They feel Trump will lead them to a better future but do not understand he will bring on even more chaos and pain for them. I guess dreams are better than reality.

 

Not everybody voted.

There are real people who had nothing to do with Trump bullshit and are being hurt every day (let's take away billions of dollars from education/health in the US)

Let's destroy the science and tech research foundation that we are built on.

Let's drive away any "foreign" talent in our institutions.

Yall are the modern-day witch burners.

 

Trump will cave on those 125% Chinese tariffs as well…the rest of the world knows he’s a colossal idiot who has no idea what he’s doing

 

So we want to bring toy manufacturing back but let chips get made overseas? Sounds like that's backwards from the direction we want to head in especially if we're worried about security.

I'm going to say orange man has no clue as to what he's doing in spite of his declaration.