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Because the cost of goods continues to fluctuate wildly due to ongoing tariff wrangling that nobody asked for or needed. Also farmers can’t sell anything becau

Because the cost of goods continues to fluctuate wildly due to ongoing tariff wrangling that nobody asked for or needed. Also farmers can’t sell anything because retaliation has destroyed international demand (I’d say decimated but it’s way worse than reduction by a tenth)

unnamed76ri 1y ago
I don’t know if you can factually back up your claims but I applaud your proper use of decimate. It is a rare thing. One might even say it happens less than 10% of the time.
- furyofantares 1y ago
  Decimation was way worse than reduction by a tenth. It was a punishment in the Roman army where the offending unit was divided into groups of 10 and each group had to draw straws. Whoever drew the short straw must be stoned or clubbed to death by the other 9. If you threatened me with death if I didn't cut off my feet, I wouldn't consider that "reduction by 10%" even if mathematically it might be.
  - analog31 1y ago
    Look on the bright side, it would have been much more harsh, had they worked in binary.
    - djoldman 1y ago
      Yep. 10 times worse.
    - underlipton 1y ago
      Would you say it's half as bad as the worst-case scenario?
    - Agraillo 1y ago
      Hmm.. Is this my brain inference or the parent comment author' too: "Bright side of life" -> "Always look at the bright side of life" from "Monty Python's Life of Brian" -> plot was taking place during Roman times (mentioned in the GP comment)
  - nickpeterson 1y ago
    Could be worse, you could be stabbed.
    - mwcremer 1y ago
      At least it gets you out in the fresh air.
- CorrectHorseBat 1y ago
  It's not proper use, it's archaic use. Do you also claim bread is meat? A cat is a deer?
  - dahart 1y ago
    I wouldn’t say archaic or historical definitions are improper, but you’re right - the primary meaning of decimate in English changed and now means to destroy the majority of. Maybe this is because decimate was always very damaging; threat of death is very serious, regardless of the numbers. That said, I had sweet breads recently. And a cat being a deer sounds strange in English now, but deer is still the word for animal in other Germanic languages today, even if it faded in English, so it doesn’t sound completely archaic.
  - downrightmike 1y ago
    I split the hair where chickens were men
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> farmers can’t sell anything because retaliation has destroyed international demand Not true. At least not yet. Q2 agricultural exports were roughly flat to Q1 [1]. [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/B181RC1Q027SBEA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/B181RC1Q027SBEA
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
  Soybean farmers are predicting a world of hurt as China continues to acquire from South America instead. “Overall, export sales of this fall’s (U.S.) soybean crop are down 81% from the five-year average,” Brasher reported. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/08/20/soybean-farmers-warn-they-cannot-survive-china-trade-war/85738326007/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/08/20/soybean-farme...
  - declan_roberts 1y ago
    South America doesn't produce enough soy beans for them to replace America even if China bought every single ounce of soy. When it comes to soy, America has enormous leverage and China already accepted they're negotiating from a position of weakness.
    - brazukadev 1y ago
      The worst scenario for China is inflation. They are fighting deflation so that would actually help them solve the issue.
    - 0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
      Leverage? Soybeans are the number one US food export (historically mostly to China). To date, China has purchased zero bushels this year. This is with US soy being cheaper than the competition. Maybe China cannot replace 100% of their demand today, but they are showing a united front that their import numbers will be kept as low as possible. …Basse says soybean importers aren’t just snubbing U.S. soybeans. They are specifically being told by the Chinese government to not buy U.S. beans. “So, if you’re a Chinese importer or a Chinese crusher, you’ve been told by the government not to buy U.S. soybeans until they tell you to. This is how China works. Today the Chinese have a stronghold on buying United States soybeans, even though our prices are nearly $1 a bushel cheaper than what they’re buying in Brazil. This is the pressure that I believe the Chinese government is trying to apply on the Trump administration during a trade negotiation,”… https://www.agweb.com/news/crops/soybeans/8-soybeans-thats-reality-some-farmers-china-remains-absent-buying https://www.agweb.com/news/crops/soybeans/8-soybeans-thats-r...
krior 1y ago
> nobody asked for The american public asked for it loud and clear for it last november. We should respect that.
- blackbear_ 1y ago
  Loud and clear? Trump didn't even get half of the votes (49.8%) and almost 36% of eligible voters didn't vote, meaning that not even one third of the American public voted for this.
  - krior 1y ago
    Popular vote does not matter to americans, otherwise they would have changed the voting system. 36% of voters said: I support every outcome of the election, no matter what. And we are now about half a year into his term and I see some complaining, but not one single person seriously opposing him and his politics. If the things he does were really that unpopular, he would not be able to do them. To me it seems like he has the full support of the american public.
    - blackbear_ 1y ago
      > Popular vote does not matter to americans The question is whether and how much these policies are supported, and the popular vote is obviously relevant in this regard. > 36% of voters said: I support every outcome of the election, no matter what That's not really true, for all you know those voters didn't support either outcome. You would expect a "loud and clear" victory not to leave one third of people unconvinced enough to avoid voting altogether. > but not one single person seriously opposing him and his politics Almost four hundred lawsuits have been filed against his administration, thousands of public protest events are happening, and the tariffs themselves were just ruled illegal. What does "serious" opposition look like to you? In any case, this is certainly not what "full support" looks like. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/projects-series/trials-of-the-trump-administration/tracking-trump-administration-litigation https://www.lawfaremedia.org/projects-series/trials-of-the-t... https://time.com/7312601/anti-trump-administration-protests-labor-day-workers-revolt-billionaires/ https://time.com/7312601/anti-trump-administration-protests-... https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgj7jxkq58o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgj7jxkq58o > If the things he does were really that unpopular, he would not be able to do them. What is the logic behind this?

unnamed76ri 1y ago

I don’t know if you can factually back up your claims but I applaud your proper use of decimate. It is a rare thing. One might even say it happens less than 10% of the time.

furyofantares 1y ago
Decimation was way worse than reduction by a tenth. It was a punishment in the Roman army where the offending unit was divided into groups of 10 and each group had to draw straws. Whoever drew the short straw must be stoned or clubbed to death by the other 9. If you threatened me with death if I didn't cut off my feet, I wouldn't consider that "reduction by 10%" even if mathematically it might be.
- analog31 1y ago
  Look on the bright side, it would have been much more harsh, had they worked in binary.
  - djoldman 1y ago
    Yep. 10 times worse.
  - underlipton 1y ago
    Would you say it's half as bad as the worst-case scenario?
  - Agraillo 1y ago
    Hmm.. Is this my brain inference or the parent comment author' too: "Bright side of life" -> "Always look at the bright side of life" from "Monty Python's Life of Brian" -> plot was taking place during Roman times (mentioned in the GP comment)
- nickpeterson 1y ago
  Could be worse, you could be stabbed.
  - mwcremer 1y ago
    At least it gets you out in the fresh air.
CorrectHorseBat 1y ago
It's not proper use, it's archaic use. Do you also claim bread is meat? A cat is a deer?
- dahart 1y ago
  I wouldn’t say archaic or historical definitions are improper, but you’re right - the primary meaning of decimate in English changed and now means to destroy the majority of. Maybe this is because decimate was always very damaging; threat of death is very serious, regardless of the numbers. That said, I had sweet breads recently. And a cat being a deer sounds strange in English now, but deer is still the word for animal in other Germanic languages today, even if it faded in English, so it doesn’t sound completely archaic.
- downrightmike 1y ago
  I split the hair where chickens were men

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

JumpCrisscross 1y ago

> farmers can’t sell anything because retaliation has destroyed international demand Not true. At least not yet. Q2 agricultural exports were roughly flat to Q1 [1]. [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/B181RC1Q027SBEA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/B181RC1Q027SBEA

0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
Soybean farmers are predicting a world of hurt as China continues to acquire from South America instead. “Overall, export sales of this fall’s (U.S.) soybean crop are down 81% from the five-year average,” Brasher reported. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/08/20/soybean-farmers-warn-they-cannot-survive-china-trade-war/85738326007/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2025/08/20/soybean-farme...
- declan_roberts 1y ago
  South America doesn't produce enough soy beans for them to replace America even if China bought every single ounce of soy. When it comes to soy, America has enormous leverage and China already accepted they're negotiating from a position of weakness.
  - brazukadev 1y ago
    The worst scenario for China is inflation. They are fighting deflation so that would actually help them solve the issue.
  - 0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
    Leverage? Soybeans are the number one US food export (historically mostly to China). To date, China has purchased zero bushels this year. This is with US soy being cheaper than the competition. Maybe China cannot replace 100% of their demand today, but they are showing a united front that their import numbers will be kept as low as possible. …Basse says soybean importers aren’t just snubbing U.S. soybeans. They are specifically being told by the Chinese government to not buy U.S. beans. “So, if you’re a Chinese importer or a Chinese crusher, you’ve been told by the government not to buy U.S. soybeans until they tell you to. This is how China works. Today the Chinese have a stronghold on buying United States soybeans, even though our prices are nearly $1 a bushel cheaper than what they’re buying in Brazil. This is the pressure that I believe the Chinese government is trying to apply on the Trump administration during a trade negotiation,”… https://www.agweb.com/news/crops/soybeans/8-soybeans-thats-reality-some-farmers-china-remains-absent-buying https://www.agweb.com/news/crops/soybeans/8-soybeans-thats-r...

krior 1y ago

> nobody asked for The american public asked for it loud and clear for it last november. We should respect that.

blackbear_ 1y ago
Loud and clear? Trump didn't even get half of the votes (49.8%) and almost 36% of eligible voters didn't vote, meaning that not even one third of the American public voted for this.
- krior 1y ago
  Popular vote does not matter to americans, otherwise they would have changed the voting system. 36% of voters said: I support every outcome of the election, no matter what. And we are now about half a year into his term and I see some complaining, but not one single person seriously opposing him and his politics. If the things he does were really that unpopular, he would not be able to do them. To me it seems like he has the full support of the american public.
  - blackbear_ 1y ago
    > Popular vote does not matter to americans The question is whether and how much these policies are supported, and the popular vote is obviously relevant in this regard. > 36% of voters said: I support every outcome of the election, no matter what That's not really true, for all you know those voters didn't support either outcome. You would expect a "loud and clear" victory not to leave one third of people unconvinced enough to avoid voting altogether. > but not one single person seriously opposing him and his politics Almost four hundred lawsuits have been filed against his administration, thousands of public protest events are happening, and the tariffs themselves were just ruled illegal. What does "serious" opposition look like to you? In any case, this is certainly not what "full support" looks like. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/projects-series/trials-of-the-trump-administration/tracking-trump-administration-litigation https://www.lawfaremedia.org/projects-series/trials-of-the-t... https://time.com/7312601/anti-trump-administration-protests-labor-day-workers-revolt-billionaires/ https://time.com/7312601/anti-trump-administration-protests-... https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgj7jxkq58o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgj7jxkq58o > If the things he does were really that unpopular, he would not be able to do them. What is the logic behind this?