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avoiding the parasitic mindset of the U.S. society....Tariff war is not an episode of economic relations; it is a new world emerging. Trump wants to create the conditions inside the U.S. to bring back distributed economic assets—especially industrial ones—from abroad. The goal is to restore economic sovereignty and generate momentum for inner development. THE CRASH TEST STARTS NOW — WHO SURVIVES?
But the question is whether it’s already too late. Trump’s wishes could potentially damage or even destroy the American economy, given how deeply rooted the parasitic mindset is in U.S. society. Few want to produce—everyone wants to consume. It’s a parasitic nation shaped by liberalism, perversion, hedonism, and decay. Perhaps Americans have already been irreversibly transformed into a mass of degenerate junior citizens. Then again, maybe not. We’ll see—this is the crash test. Picture two cars speeding toward a wall: one Chinese, one American. One may survive, one may not. It’s that serious. In my view, China could survive the crash because of its strong cultural identity and the resilience of the Chinese people. This has everything to do with the Chinese people’s historical experience—enduring immense hardship. China doesn’t exist purely in a material world but also in a Confucian ethical and spiritual one, as I understand it. Even if things worsen, China has accumulated a vast technological base and developed a huge market. It can stand alone, if needed. I’m not so sure about the United States. Its people have been immersed in a consumerist culture while producing very little. They are, in effect, parasites. If Trump manages to “cure” them, there’s a chance the country could become strong again. Maybe America will become great again. But the crash test is now. It is unavoidable. But the crash test is here. Russia, for its part, is already in its own crash test. We’re hurtling at full speed toward the wall—Ukraine. We are suffering heavy losses, but we endure. We are already inside the storm. Now it’s America’s turn. This isn’t just a threat for China—it’s a threat to China. Trump wants to force the crash now rather than later. In his mercantilist worldview, China continues to grow at America’s expense. He sees China’s “win-win” strategy as a trap. While China sees mutual benefit, others see themselves as losers in a rigged game. They may reject your strategy—not because they misunderstand it, but because they refuse to accept their role in it. Many economic agreements, investments, and projects across the Middle East, Europe, and beyond—those involving ports and infrastructure—will come under pressure from American political and military power, not just economic force. Some nations might want to partner with China economically, but they may not be able to. China’s Belt and Road Initiative is under attack, including through acts of terrorism. China will be targeted—politically, economically, and potentially militarily. Other countries will suffer from this tariff war. They’ll be forced to reposition themselves. If they give in to Trump’s pressure, they’ll first be pushed toward independence—not from Trump, ironically, but from the globalist system that bred their dependency. In that sense, Trump is attacking the very church of liberal globalization—its parasitism, perversions, and hidden dictatorship. Ironically, he may end up forcing countries—including the EU—to redefine themselves. Tariffed nations must respond. They must restructure their economies. Here, China could play a major role—helping these nations regain some form of independence, but in a very different way than before. A different China will be needed. A different approach. Trump may put tariffs on Europe and simultaneously try to stop it from engaging with China or Russia. He might allow them to survive, but only on his terms. That’s war. It’s economic war. Countries under Trump’s tariff regime won’t become independent overnight. At first, they’ll be confused. They will be perplexed. They’ll think this is temporary. They don’t grasp the seriousness or depth of Trump’s vision: to completely rebuild the global system—not under liberal-globalist ideals, but under a new paradigm of “great spaces,” where power blocs assert regional control. This may be cruel and violent, but at least it’s transparent. The imperial will to dominate no longer hides behind talk of “international rules” or a “liberal order.” It’s out in the open. If you are strong, you can withstand it. It’s not easy—but it’s honest. Trump, however, has no real way to influence two powers: China and Russia. Everyone else bends to their will. You and we are the exceptions. That’s why we must be allies. We must remain close—supporting our friends in Iran, North Korea, and elsewhere—those striving to reclaim their sovereignty as we have. We have many allies. But we must also accept that we can no longer play by the old rules of globalization. That game is over. Liberal elites in both China and Russia must now be discarded. They are no longer useful. They can be sacrificed without hesitation. Editor: Zhiyu Wang
YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.
Gus Leonisky POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.
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victory day....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_RoltpkEsY
Col. Douglas Macgregor: Victory Day - Russia Already Won the WarColonel Douglas Macgregor on Victory Day and the consequences of NATO losing the proxy war in Ukraine
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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.
Gus Leonisky
POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.
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Trump’s tariff war and the breakdown of global capitalism
Nick Beams
This speech was given by Nick Beams, a longstanding leader of the International Committee of the Fourth International and an expert on Marxist economics, at the International May Day 2025 Online Rally, held Saturday, May 3.
Comrades and friends, on this May Day the attention of the international working class must be focused on the historic implications of the tariff war.
On April 2, so-called “liberation day,” US President Trump launched his economic war against the rest of the world. Tariffs against China, the main target, were lifted to 145 percent.
This amounts to an economic blockade, ending all trade between the world's number one and two economies. In essence, it is an act of war.
So-called “reciprocal tariffs,” as high as almost 50 percent, were imposed on a range of countries. Those in Southeast Asia, with close economic ties to China, were a particular target. A 10 percent tariff was imposed on the remaining countries.
There is now a 90-day pause on the “reciprocal tariffs,” supposedly to allow negotiations to take place.
The international trading order set up after World War II, based on lowering tariffs and other restrictions, has been turned on its head.
Nothing like the Trump tariff measures has ever been carried out before. They outstrip, by far, even the infamous Smoot-Hawley tariffs imposed by the US in the 1930s. Those tariffs, based on virulent nationalism, were economic madness. They ultimately produced economic depression, social devastation and World War II.
Today’s Trump tariffs, raising economic absurdity to new heights, bring an even greater danger of global conflagration.
Every commodity today, from the simplest to the most advanced, is the outcome of a complex international division of labour. No commodity is “made in America,” or, for that matter, in any other country.
An “American” SUV, for example, so stamped, has as many as 1,500 parts and components manufactured internationally. Every final product sold anywhere in the world results from a global supply chain.
But Trump’s tariff policy, mad as it is, has a logic to it. It aims to “reshape” US industries vital to gearing the national economy for war. In the executive order on “reciprocal tariffs,” Trump declared the US trade deficit had “hollowed out” its industrial base and “made our nation dependent on other countries to meet our key security needs.”
In a very real sense, a global military war by the US is already underway—against Russia in Ukraine, the enabling of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, with the continued threats against Iran.
However, China is the central target as the US seeks to retain its position as the global hegemon. The spectacular economic growth of China—from a backward country 40 years ago to the world’s No. 2 economy today—constitutes an existential threat to US dominance. All sections of the US political and military establishment agree it must be crushed.
Under conditions where economic measures cannot bring this about, war looms ever larger as the only viable option.
The Trump tariff war and the consequent market gyrations have brought to the surface a long-developing crisis in the finances of the US imperialist state. Its financial structure is shot through with debt and parasitism.
This is expressed in the mountain of government debt, accumulated not least by the continued bailout of corporations and banks, along with increased military spending. It is now at $36 trillion and rising, with an annual interest bill of $1 trillion.
Any other country in this position would have been declared bankrupt. But the US has continued because of the dollar’s supremacy. Now this is being called into question.
Previous periods of financial turbulence have seen a turn to US financial assets as a “safe haven.” Today, the dollar is sliding, and the universal call in financial markets is “sell America.”
This is a crisis of the entire global capitalist system. It is not the creation of Trump. He is only the personification of its death agony.
Workers have no interest in shoring up their “own” national capitalist class. They will impose on the working class the payment in kind to offset the impact of the tariffs. The interests of workers are to unite with their class brothers in China and globally.
The task before the working class, posed more acutely than ever before, is to put an end to capitalism in the fight for the only viable program, that of world socialist revolution.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/05/07/vmbq-m07.html
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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.
Gus Leonisky
POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.