4 ms·

The way they're going there might not be a government much longer. I really do believe they're that stupid. The entire stock market is premised on the stabili

The way they're going there might not be a government much longer. I really do believe they're that stupid. The entire stock market is premised on the stability of the US government. Without it all their wealth would disappear overnight. All the luxuries they love would cease being produced. They wouldn't be able to fly their private jets anywhere. In the past the rich could stockpile easily-tradable goods like gold in order to maintain a luxurious life even if their government collapsed. When it comes to billionaires that's not possible. The logistics of keeping and moving that much physical currency/gold/etc don't work out in their favor. If they keep this up they're going to lose almost all of their wealth as the world destabilizes. They're also setting themselves and their families up to be assassination targets for the rest of their lives (far, far beyond what they are already). There's people everywhere that will be severely impacted by their actions. There will be nowhere for them to go because the US really is the pillar of the world's economies.

disqard 2y ago
They can operate this demolition op from the safety of their bunkers in NZ. All they need is a way to send messages to their "useful idiot" new college grad minions. True, instigating a global collapse might eventually get to them, but AFAICT, they just want to personally profit from US dysfunction. Plus, it seems like the rest of the world will simply bypass the US and say "you're not dependable any more, so we're just gonna pretend you don't exist". Ostracism (of the US) seems more likely than the entire world destabilizing.
- bloopernova 2y ago
  It'll be just like the 1930s with a deeply isolationist USA. History sure does have an uncanny way of rhyming if not actually repeating. Something that greatly galls me is that the livelihood of tens of millions of families depend on the whims of people who think only in terms of profit. Government is not supposed to make a damned profit! The government's primary role should be to care for everyone, from entrepreneurs to people with disabilities. I'm not saying "handouts for all", I'm saying that the government needs to provide stability, a level foundation for all to build upon. It's like Venkman in Ghostbusters, in the ballroom: he yanks away the tablecloth sending everything flying except "the flowers are still standing!". The rich are the flowers, secure on their own foundation, calm with the knowledge that the guy pulling the tablecloth can't affect them. In other words, the new administration should be carefully enacting new policies not causing chaos by doing everything too quickly. Unless their goal is to destroy the USA, in which case US citizens will need to decide what country they want to live in and whether republicans are capable of delivering that.
  - disqard 2y ago
    Thank you for that mental image of the flowers still standing :D > Unless their goal is to destroy the USA I have indeed heard this, even in his first term -- that people were so fed up of politics-as-usual, that they decided to "send a wrecking ball into the White House". After having seen the damage that wrecking ball did the first time around... to send it back must mean that these folks really want to demolish the very ground they're standing on.
    - bloopernova 2y ago
      My other pet metaphor is that we're all standing on top of wobbling Jenga tower and the republicans want to knock out the blocks beneath us. And thank you :)
      - nick3443 2y ago
        The US is not a wobbling Jenga tower, that's what the news media wants you to believe. They'll keep pushing that story to peddle fear and outrage until they make it true.
  - dkdbejwi383 2y ago
    > Government is not supposed to make a damned profit! The government's primary role should be to care for everyone, from entrepreneurs to people with disabilities. I'm not saying "handouts for all", I'm saying that the government needs to provide stability, a level foundation for all to build upon. My understanding from both reading a lot online and conversations with Americans in person is that a significant number of them would consider the above statement to be “socialism” which is something they’ve been taught to hate, no matter what. I can’t say I understand it. To me, it’s the most basic raison d’etre for government. I’m not sure what the anti-socialism types in the USA think that the government’s purpose is
indoordin0saur 2y ago
Slightly shaky start to the market today but it largely recovered and is just as high as it was 10 days ago. Seems the markets are divided between worried and cautiously optimistic.
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  The markets only care about what'll make them money. The markets responded to the tarrifs, then the same-day (temporary) rollback of them. Sometimes they put their finger on the scale a bit, too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
- Grollicus 2y ago
  Why would they do anything else? Last Trump Presidency caused incredible inflation that for a huge part went into the stock market, because where else can it go?
  - nick3443 2y ago
    This is pretty much my investment thesis for the foreseeable future.
- bloopernova 2y ago
  The markets have been disconnected from reality for a long time, at least a decade.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]

disqard 2y ago

They can operate this demolition op from the safety of their bunkers in NZ. All they need is a way to send messages to their "useful idiot" new college grad minions. True, instigating a global collapse might eventually get to them, but AFAICT, they just want to personally profit from US dysfunction. Plus, it seems like the rest of the world will simply bypass the US and say "you're not dependable any more, so we're just gonna pretend you don't exist". Ostracism (of the US) seems more likely than the entire world destabilizing.

bloopernova 2y ago
It'll be just like the 1930s with a deeply isolationist USA. History sure does have an uncanny way of rhyming if not actually repeating. Something that greatly galls me is that the livelihood of tens of millions of families depend on the whims of people who think only in terms of profit. Government is not supposed to make a damned profit! The government's primary role should be to care for everyone, from entrepreneurs to people with disabilities. I'm not saying "handouts for all", I'm saying that the government needs to provide stability, a level foundation for all to build upon. It's like Venkman in Ghostbusters, in the ballroom: he yanks away the tablecloth sending everything flying except "the flowers are still standing!". The rich are the flowers, secure on their own foundation, calm with the knowledge that the guy pulling the tablecloth can't affect them. In other words, the new administration should be carefully enacting new policies not causing chaos by doing everything too quickly. Unless their goal is to destroy the USA, in which case US citizens will need to decide what country they want to live in and whether republicans are capable of delivering that.
- disqard 2y ago
  Thank you for that mental image of the flowers still standing :D > Unless their goal is to destroy the USA I have indeed heard this, even in his first term -- that people were so fed up of politics-as-usual, that they decided to "send a wrecking ball into the White House". After having seen the damage that wrecking ball did the first time around... to send it back must mean that these folks really want to demolish the very ground they're standing on.
  - bloopernova 2y ago
    My other pet metaphor is that we're all standing on top of wobbling Jenga tower and the republicans want to knock out the blocks beneath us. And thank you :)
    - nick3443 2y ago
      The US is not a wobbling Jenga tower, that's what the news media wants you to believe. They'll keep pushing that story to peddle fear and outrage until they make it true.
- dkdbejwi383 2y ago
  > Government is not supposed to make a damned profit! The government's primary role should be to care for everyone, from entrepreneurs to people with disabilities. I'm not saying "handouts for all", I'm saying that the government needs to provide stability, a level foundation for all to build upon. My understanding from both reading a lot online and conversations with Americans in person is that a significant number of them would consider the above statement to be “socialism” which is something they’ve been taught to hate, no matter what. I can’t say I understand it. To me, it’s the most basic raison d’etre for government. I’m not sure what the anti-socialism types in the USA think that the government’s purpose is

indoordin0saur 2y ago

Slightly shaky start to the market today but it largely recovered and is just as high as it was 10 days ago. Seems the markets are divided between worried and cautiously optimistic.

ceejayoz 2y ago
The markets only care about what'll make them money. The markets responded to the tarrifs, then the same-day (temporary) rollback of them. Sometimes they put their finger on the scale a bit, too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
Grollicus 2y ago
Why would they do anything else? Last Trump Presidency caused incredible inflation that for a huge part went into the stock market, because where else can it go?
- nick3443 2y ago
  This is pretty much my investment thesis for the foreseeable future.
bloopernova 2y ago
The markets have been disconnected from reality for a long time, at least a decade.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]