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> who repeatedly got the short end of the stick by the neoliberal policy of both parties. I agree with this assessment of voter outrage due to economic issues

> who repeatedly got the short end of the stick by the neoliberal policy of both parties. I agree with this assessment of voter outrage due to economic issues in the rust belt and elsewhere, but now what? Walmart isn't buying smartphones made domestically that cost 8x what the ones in China cost because Walmart can't sell them. I can see the complaint, but its a bit like voting against hurricanes and tornadoes. They're bad and we don't like them, but we can't legislate them away. I think Trump's playing up global trade as a conspiracy against "good hardworking people" is fairly disingenuous. Instead of accepting a long changed global economy and re-training these people into the service level sector, they seem to think a little protectionism will suddenly bring back the booming factory work of the 1960s and 70s. Trump has badly misled these people for his own gain. Worse, Trump's own companies are managed in a way against the interests of these people (anti-union tactics, buying Chinese steel, lack of investment in poor rural communities, etc). Trump just follows the laws of economics everyone else does. How does he propose something that even he and his companies would never do? Re-training and investment in the service sector is exactly what Xi Jinping in China is attempting because he knows other Asian nations will continue to successfully poach his manufacturing due to their lowered cost of labor. Meanwhile in the more advanced economy here in the US, we're somehow going to try to compete with factory work in places like Vietnam which has a monthly wage of $145? What did these people vote for other than another empty suit who had made promises he simply cannot deliver?

pron 10y ago
That Trump has misled them is obvious, but not because of any policy he may have suggested, but because he is too preoccupied with tweets, self-portraits, marking stuff with his name, gilded chairs and boobs to effectively enact any policy; it is reported that he is unable to read even short texts or engage in a conversation that isn't about him for more than ten minutes, for god's sake (although I am not yet sure if I'll be horrified or pleasantly surprised if he proves me wrong). But as to global trade, I don't understand your point. What, is there one god-given, "natural" policy and no other? I'd like to believe that societies can shape the economy -- if not fully, then at least in part -- to serve their chosen goals, rather than just serve it.
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  Americans can certainly reshape their society to bring back factory work, but there are practical concerns here. Who are your buyers, what are you making, who are your competitors, etc. Its not all fantasy make-believe on the economic level. There are real economic laws that you can't break via legislation. You guys want to compete with the Vietnamese? Fine, but be prepared to have the lifestyle $150 a month in wages brings. I suspect Trump voters aren't going to find that acceptable.
  - pron 10y ago
    > Americans can certainly reshape their society to bring back factory work, but there are practical concerns here. That's not the policy I was suggesting, but pretending that current neoliberal policies (that aren't shared by all successful countries) are the only option is both false, and the main reason that gave us Trump in the first place.

pron 10y ago

That Trump has misled them is obvious, but not because of any policy he may have suggested, but because he is too preoccupied with tweets, self-portraits, marking stuff with his name, gilded chairs and boobs to effectively enact any policy; it is reported that he is unable to read even short texts or engage in a conversation that isn't about him for more than ten minutes, for god's sake (although I am not yet sure if I'll be horrified or pleasantly surprised if he proves me wrong). But as to global trade, I don't understand your point. What, is there one god-given, "natural" policy and no other? I'd like to believe that societies can shape the economy -- if not fully, then at least in part -- to serve their chosen goals, rather than just serve it.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Americans can certainly reshape their society to bring back factory work, but there are practical concerns here. Who are your buyers, what are you making, who are your competitors, etc. Its not all fantasy make-believe on the economic level. There are real economic laws that you can't break via legislation. You guys want to compete with the Vietnamese? Fine, but be prepared to have the lifestyle $150 a month in wages brings. I suspect Trump voters aren't going to find that acceptable.
- pron 10y ago
  > Americans can certainly reshape their society to bring back factory work, but there are practical concerns here. That's not the policy I was suggesting, but pretending that current neoliberal policies (that aren't shared by all successful countries) are the only option is both false, and the main reason that gave us Trump in the first place.