Every day I see stories about the Trump administration that I think warrant discussion, but that I do not have time to fully address. I am struggling to find a nice thematic way to do so, even if I am just sharing tidbits that might be of use later. I was reminded of the Orwell quote, “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”
In the essay from which the quote comes, he continues thusly.
One thing that helps toward it is to keep a diary, or, at any rate, to keep some kind of record of one’s opinions about important events. Otherwise, when some particularly absurd belief is exploded by events, one may simply forget that one ever held it. Political predictions are usually wrong. But even when one makes a correct one, to discover why one was right can be very illuminating. In general, one is only right when either wish or fear coincides with reality. If one recognizes this, one cannot, of course, get rid of one’s subjective feelings, but one can to some extent insulate them from one’s thinking and make predictions cold-bloodedly, by the book of arithmetic. In private life most people are fairly realistic. When one is making out one’s weekly budget, two and two invariably make four. Politics, on the other hand, is a sort of sub-atomic or non-Euclidean world where it is quite easy for the part to be greater than the whole or for two objects to be in the same place simultaneously. Hence the contradictions and absurdities I have chronicled above, all finally traceable to a secret belief that one’s political opinions, unlike the weekly budget, will not have to be tested against solid reality.
Now, I will admit that I think that I am right about Trump, so I am choosing here to chronicle examples that I think correctly feed that impression. I will admit that I hope this is helpful for those who are in denial to reconsider what is in front of their noses.
I will also note that maybe this will all eventually demonstrate that I was incorrect.
But here’s the first entry from today in Truth Social.
What I would point out about this statement is the following.
- This is essentially an attempt at centralized control of the economic and business choices of a private entity. This is not a free market, pro-business position.
- It is a blatantly dictatorial approach to governing wherein the president declares something and expects it to be done.
- Tariffs are ultimately paid by consumers. This is not magic money. (Yes, I know that some amount of a given tariff might be absorbed by the producer).
- The reason iPhones are made elsewhere is that it makes them cheaper for consumers. Like it or not, that’s market forces at work.
And look, if one has decided that centralized economic planning is a good thing, then at least be honest about it and stop pretending like the current Republican Party is actually the party of free market economics and is pro-business in that sense.
