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People are so desperate for this to be rational. Which itself is entirely irrational given the information at hand.
by spacemadness 2y ago
People are so desperate for this to be rational. Which itself is entirely irrational given the information at hand.
- sneak 2y agoIt could be a very straightforward dump and pump scam, as well. We know this admin isn’t above petty monetary graft. It seems to be the simplest possible explanation, too. Then again, never attribute to malice…
- braebo 2y agoIt’s scary to think that the reality is as simple as “Trump is just an idiot that is incapable of understanding even the fundamentals of global trade and has been obsessed with what he thinks tariffs are for 30+ years and is too stubborn to listen to non-stupid people”, while the rest is just hopeless attempts to rationalize his stupidity. But when you’re in a billionaire bubble isolated from reality, and a dumb grifter who rips off every party in every deal you’ve ever done, it makes sense to assume that global trade is just countries ripping each-other off. The people around him with zipped mouths who know better could very well be treating it as a pump and dump however.
- beezlewax 2y agoIt is very obviously this. These same people made meme coins. Shameful behaviour.
- MajimasEyepatch 2y agoThat's not the simplest possible explanation. The simplest explanation is that he did this because he believes in it. Trump has been saying the exact same thing about tariffs since the 1980s—there's video of him talking to Larry King about it in 1987, using exactly the same phrasing and logic that he uses today. Donald Trump fundamentally believes that everything in life is a zero-sum game, and moreover that everyone is as crooked as him: either you're screwing someone else or you're getting screwed. That's why he's so obsessed with trade deficits specifically, because to him, that negative sign screams "you're getting ripped off." There are other benefits. By imposing the tariffs like this and wielding them through executive power, he can extort countries and corporations to give him what he wants in exchanging for releasing the hostages, so to speak. And I'm sure people in his orbit _also_ used this as a get-rich-quick scheme, because these people are all grifters. But that is all secondary to the fact that he has believed this for forty years and finally got a chance to do it.
- breadwinner 2y ago> finally got a chance to do it He could have done it in his first term.
- SpicyLemonZest 2y agoHe tried to, but his advisors stopped him. Bob Woodward reported that Gary Cohn snatched papers off his desk on multiple different occasions to stop him from starting trade wars at the beginning of his first term.
- breadwinner 2y agoThis time around he has made sure there are no advisors strong enough to stop him. That means he is far more dangerous now than he was in the first term. And not just in the area of the economy.
- Terr_ 2y agoAlso, he was concerned about getting re-elected again. And possibly being prosecuted for crimes, but Republican appointees on the Supreme Court kinda took care of that.
- myvoiceismypass 2y agoThere were adults in the room in the first term. Now, just loyalists, sycophants, and grifters.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Arubis 2y agoIn this case, I think it’s fair to say that it’s both incompetence and malice. It doesn’t have to be just one. It can be two things.
- Aunche 2y agoI usually dismiss conspiracy theories, but if this were a dump and pump, it would be surprisingly clever. 3 hours before he announced easing tariffs, Trump tweeted that it's a good time to buy stocks. If he gave someone insider information, they could use that tweet as a cover.
- fuzztester 2y ago[flagged]
- fuzztester 2y agoalso, hn has plenty of such holier-than-thou types, to its discredit.
- sinuhe69 2y agoCan not agree more. The guy is dangerous. People who underestimated him have all to pay a heavy price.
- Tainnor 2y agoIf you're gonna use historical analogies, it pays off to be accurate. Marie Antoinette very likely never said "let them eat cake" and she wasn't particularly more detached than aristocrats at the time were generally (which, to be fair, is quite a lot, but not all aristocrats were killed in the revolution).
- guizmo 2y agoMarie Antoinette was not killed because she was particularly detached but for treason after plotting against the Constitutional monarchy of 1791 along with Louis XVI and many aristocrats at the time.
- fuzztester 2y agowow, fuck. unbelievable crap, but true, nonetheless: after implying I should be accurate, you go on to make your own statements using weasel words like "very likely never said" and "wasn't particularly more detached" and more on the same lines in the rest of your comment. where is the proof for your weasel words, bro, just like you ask me to be accurate? weasel words are not accurate words, bro, rather almost the opposite. ”physician, heal thyself” - before you fuck around advising other people what to do or not do. i see a lot of trends of this on hn too. pathetic.
- BeFlatXIII 2y ago"very stable genius," indeed
- bauolo 2y ago[flagged]
- steveBK123 2y agoSmart Trumpers are the worst of the bunch. Continuously inventing PHD 5D chess rationalizations for his actions that he immediately invalidates with his next erratic action. Better to just be along for the vibes than to pretend its a strategic, well thought out, well executed plan.
- sn9 2y ago[flagged]
- carlosjobim 2y agoAren't we all, as humans?
- makeitdouble 2y agoI genuinely think it's rational. Not clever, or justified, or well though out, or based on any solid evidence. But there's probably a rationale behind it. Now, ideally, we shouldn't have to care what the rationale was if there was any way of just getting back to "normal", but the same way Mao wasn't a flash in the pan, I assume we're looking at a few decades of it for the US as well.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]