Recently, one of the most highly respected bourgeois newspapers in America, the Wall Street Journal, expressed their opinion, concerning the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, in terms which left no room for any possible misunderstanding:
‘’The trouble with trade wars, is that once they begin, they can quickly escalate and get out of control. All the more so when politicians are nearing an election campaign, as Canada now is. Or when Mr. Trump behaves as if his manhood is implicated, because a foreign nation won’t take his nasty border taxes lying down. We said from the beginning, that this North American trade war is the dumbest in history, and we were being kind.’’
The manner in which the WSJ phrased this is not entirely accurate, but their point is valid. It is also to their credit, that they referred to the so called ‘’tariffs’’, as ‘’border taxes’’, because that is precisely the case. Goods coming into the country will face taxes, which will be paid by the consumer.
The bourgeois economists estimate that this will cost the average American family an extra $6500. per year. When this was pointed out to Donald Trump, he responded that he ‘’did not care’’. And why should he? As a multi billionaire, he can well afford this.
There is also a fine video, on the internet, by MSNBC, in which two journalists express their opinions. As one lovely young lady stated, ‘’It is not clear what the objectives of any of this is, other than the fact that Trump himself is personally enamoured with tariffs…There is no clear objective here….Trump has not been consistent….Is it about fentanyl or immigration or something else….Possibly national security concerns….How do you negotiate with someone who does not know what they want?’’
Absolutely correct, young lady! You ‘’hit the nail right on the head’’! Trump does not know what he wants! He operates on impulse! He has an extremely high opinion of himself, and considers any stray thought that happens to cross his mind, as a stroke of genius.
He is nothing other than a rich, spoiled brat, who never grew up! You are also correct, when you say that Trump is ‘’enamoured with tariffs’’, for reasons which are just now becoming clear.
Trump is actually sentimental, nostalgic for a time which existed, before he was even born. That was the time of President McKinley, at the beginning of the twentieth century. That was also the time of transition, of competitive capitalism, to monopoly capitalism, also referred to as imperialism.
As competitive capitalism necessarily gives rise to monopoly capitalism, it is also referred to as pre monopoly capitalism.
Incidentally, the capitalists of that time, ‘’mere’’ multi millionaires, were well aware that something had changed. They did not understand these changes, and really did not care. They just understood that their profits were sky rocketing, and to them, that was all that mattered. Yet they referred to this new, extremely profitable phase of capitalism, as imperialism.
I mention this, to order to drive home the point that it was not the Marxists, who coined the term ‘’imperialism’’. It was the monopoly capitalists who were responsible for that.
It was Lenin who examined this new form of capitalism, in its monopoly stage. He used the figures, which the finest of the bourgeois economists had amassed, such as the number of industrial enterprises, size of those enterprises, number of workers employed, and the electricity used. Also the amount of goods produced. He published his conclusions in his book, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism.
Among other things, he found that ‘’size matters’’. As Lenin phrased it: ‘’Tens of thousands of large scale enterprises are everything; millions of small ones are nothing.’’
Countless small business owners can testify to the accuracy of that statement! They simply cannot compete with the ‘’multi national’’ corporations, as the monopoly capitalists rather politely refer to themselves. Hence the liquidation of the middle class!
Now we are faced with this rather strange situation, in which the ruling class of monopoly capitalists, the bourgeoisie, have decided to change their method of rule, by abolishing the democratic republic, and replacing it with the rule of an Oligarchy. To accomplish this less than noble objective, they have placed one of their own in the White House, Donald Trump. He in turn, is determined to ‘’bring back the good old days’’, that of competitive capitalism. He is convinced that the way to do this, is through tariffs.
As if taxing goods, coming into the country, is going to break the monopolies! It most certainly is not! It is merely going to drive ever more small businesses into bankruptcy! As well as giving rise to raging inflation, a ‘’deep recession’’, possibly even a ‘’depression’’, according to the finest of the bourgeois economists. This will further impoverish the working class! Which will also result in the further strengthening of the existing monopolies!
As Lenin stated, ‘’The rise of monopolies, as the result of the concentration of production, is a general and fundamental law of the present stage of development of capitalism.’’
The wide spread application of tariffs is not about to break this ‘’general and fundamental law of the present stage of development of capitalism’’! On the contrary, it will merely strengthen those monopolies!
Yet Trump, in the simplicity of his soul, thinks that high prices on goods coming into the country, will force American companies to build factories, in order to service the local market. Reality check! Building factories costs a great fortune! And just where are the companies expected to get that money? From the banks, of course! The same banks which are also monopolies!
No bank is about to invest their money, capital, in a small business, one which has the goal of satisfying a local market.
Lenin had a few words to say about banks in his second chapter, under the title ‘’The Banks and Their New Role’’:
‘’The principle and primary function of banks is to serve as an intermediary in the making of payments. In doing so, they transform inactive money capital into active capital, that is, into capital producing a profit; they collect all kinds of money revenues and place them at the disposal of the capitalist class.
‘’As banking develops and becomes concentrated in a small number of establishments, the banks become transformed, and instead of being modest intermediaries, they become powerful monopolies, having at their command almost all the whole of the money capital of all the capitalists and small businessmen, and also a large part of the means of production, and of the sources of raw materials of the given country and of a number of countries. The transformation of numerous intermediaries into a handful of monopolists represents one of the fundamental processes in the transformation of capitalism into capitalist imperialism.’’
To think that Trump wants to transform these powerful monopolies, both businesses and banks, into competitive companies! It simply cannot be done! The monopoly capitalists would never allow such a thing.
It would appear that Trump is working against the monopoly capitalists, those who are determined to set up an Oligarchy. After all, the Oligarchy is determined to wipe out the middle class, while Trump is determined to restore the middle class.
In fact, the Oligarchy is merely using Trump. He has been put forward as their ‘’Point Man’’, their ‘’Stooge’’, their ‘’Curly Howard’’. They are well aware that his plan has no chance of success. They are equally well aware that tariffs will merely strengthen the existing monopolies, driving ever more small businesses into bankruptcy. Precisely what they want!
As I write this, it is now April 2, that which Trump has referred to as ‘’Liberation Day’’. He just gave a speech, on the lawns of the White House, in which he documented the tariffs to be imposed, upon various countries of the world. Even by Trump standards, he out did himself! That speech was nothing short of a masterpiece, of distortions and outright lies.
One of the finest of the bourgeois economists, Scott Lucas, had a few words to say, concerning that speech:
‘’That was the dumbest, most economically illiterate speech, I have heard in my life. …It was filled with lies and distortions… What you had, was someone who is the President of the United States, speaking almost absolute nonsense, and the biggest nonsense of all is the idea that tariffs can replace income taxes, and that they will lead to economic growth. They will not….If the EU (European Union) and other countries retaliate, the loss to the global economy will be one point four Trillion dollars. The effective tax burden on the US taxpayers will be six Trillion dollars. …It is one of the most economically damaging actions that has been taken, since the last round of high tariffs, in the nineteen thirties, which helped lead to the Great Depression.’’
Precisely right! These tariffs, which are nothing other than taxes, could very well lead to a Second Great Depression.
As this economist phrased it so well, I have decided not to write the ending, which I had prepared for this article. There is no need.
Gerald McIsaac
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 