Tag: china

It is well known that Donald Trump campaigned for the office of President, on the ‘’platform’’, or the promise, of ‘’reducing grocery prices’’, bringing ‘’jobs back into the country’’, bringing inflation ‘’under control’’, and in general, ‘’Make America Great Again’’, or ‘’MAGA’’. 

Just how he planned to achieve these ‘’noble goals’’, is not so well known. At least, not until now. His plan is simplicity itself. It is simply a matter of imposing tariffs! He could not possibly be more mistaken!

As Trump sees it, in the simplicity of his soul, ‘’The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that a company will come into the US, and build a factory, so that it does not have to pay the tariff’’. 

It should be noted that a tariff is nothing other than a tax, on all imported goods, paid for by the company which buys the products, and then passes that added expense, on to the consumer. Higher prices! Inflation! The very thing that Trump promised to reduce!

With that in mind, Trump announced a twenty five percent tariff on almost all products coming into the US, from Canada and Mexico, and a ten percent tariff on products coming from China, starting on February 4. The three largest trading partners, with the US!

To the surprise of no one, with the possible exception of Donald Trump, those three countries responded with tariffs of their own. Imagine that! A good old fashioned trade war! Not at all what Trump had in mind!

Faced with strong opposition to his hare brained scheme, Trump backed down. He announced a ‘’thirty day pause’’, on imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

As one mainstream journalist phrased it, ‘’Faced with real world consequences, Trump ‘blinked’. Many countries have tried various tariff efforts, for many decades, affecting supply chains, products, grocery prices and shipping. A sudden one way effort, which does not tend to benefit the country that started the trade war’’. 

That same journalist then introduced a ‘’Nobel Prize Winning Economist’’, an expert on the subject, who quickly agreed with the narrator. He stated that such a tariff ‘’effectively becomes a new tax, increasing inflation’’. 

The conversation which followed was somewhat disjointed, but I have attempted to reproduce the gist of it here, as the economist stated: 

‘’There is no US manufacturing sector. The free trade area has been integrated for over thirty years now. Different pieces of cars are made in all three countries (United States, Canada and Mexico), components may cross the border seven or eight times, so that tariffs merely impose costs on our industry. If Canada and Mexico respond in kind, that will further increase costs, more hurt to the US. The countries are mutually dependent. A tariff is crazy! It is an effective tax on neighbouring countries, will increase inflation, will not lower prices. Even the threat of tariffs will raise costs!’’
That is the professional opinion of a highly respected, bourgeois economist, one of the finest. In his opinion, Trumps plan to impose tariffs are ‘’crazy’’!All Americans, including Donald Trump, would be well advised to take note!

Yet the Trump plan, that of introducing tariffs, as a means of raising prices to the point that a ‘’company will come into the US, and build a factory, to that it does not have to pay the tariff’’, may make sense to a great many working people. The implication is that the factory would merely sell its products, within the US. 

In fact, this is characteristic of capitalism, in its early, competitive, pre monopoly stage. Although under competitive capitalism, goods were frequently sold abroad.

There is only one problem with this rosy picture. We already live under monopoly capitalism! Imperialism! The ‘’good old days’’ of competitive capitalism, are a dim and distant memory! 

Monopoly capitalism has characteristics which are quite different from that of competitive capitalism, as Lenin explained so well, in his landmark work, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. As Lenin phrased it: ‘’If it were necessary to give the briefest possible definition of imperialism, we should have to say that imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism…..But very brief definitions, although convenient, for they sum up the main points, are nevertheless inadequate, because very important features of the phenomenon that has to be defined, have to be especially deduced. And so, without forgetting the conditional and relative value of all definitions, which can never include all the concatenations of a phenomenon in its complete development, we must give a definition of imperialism that will embrace the following five essential features:

1) ’’The concentration of production and capital developed to such an extent that it creates monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life.

2) ‘’The merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and the creation, on the basis of ‘finance capital’ , of a financial oligarchy.

3) ‘’The export of capital, which has become extremely important, as distinguished from the export of commodities. 

4) ‘’The formation of international capitalist monopolies, which share the world among themselves.

5) ‘’The territorial division of the whole world among the greatest capitalist powers is completed.

‘’Imperialism is capitalism in that stage of development in which the domination of monopolies and finance capital has established itself; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun; in which the partition of all the territories of the globe among the great capitalist powers has been completed.’’

Allow me to stress the fact that ‘’monopolies play a decisive role in economic life’’. In fact, it is ‘’finance capital’’ which gives rise to a ‘’financial oligarchy’’! In America, this small group of multi billionaires are simply referred to as the ‘’Oligarchy’’! They are determined to seize power, to destroy the democratic republic!

As well, under imperialism, it is ‘’capital’’ which is exported, and not just ‘’commodities’’, as are exported under competitive capitalism. This capital includes such items as factories!

We now have ‘’international capitalist monopolies’’, so that the multi billionaires who control them, are members of different nationalities. The American multi billionaires have no loyalty to America! Their loyalty lies with the international monopolies! They are not the slightest bit patriotic!

The ‘’whole world’’ has been divided up! They ‘’share the world among themselves’’! There is no competition!

As that is the case, consider the ‘’brain storm’’ of Trump, to ‘’impose tariffs’’, as a means of ‘’forcing companies to build factories, so that it does not have to pay the tariffs’’. 

Donald Trump is ‘’living in the past’’! He actually thinks that he can ‘’turn back the hands of time’’! He plans to set the American economy back one hundred years! To the time of competitive capitalism! Which can only lead to monopoly capitalism!

As I was wondering if that man even has a brain in his head, I received an email, on that subject:

‘’Don’t try to explain anything complicated to a man who felt it necessary to explain to the nation and the world that the helicopter or the plane involved in the Washington crash should have moved out of the way.’’

That answered my question!

Monopoly capitalism is not about to revert to competitive capitalism! The ‘’international capitalist monopolies’’ are already in existence! As well, the ‘’Financial Oligarchy’’ is also in existence! They ‘’share the world among themselves’’! The American Oligarchy is not about to relinquish their wealth and power! They are not about to allow an independent company to ‘’come into the country and build a factory’’. This would require the banks to provide the financial backing, which the Oligarchy would never allow.

Placing tariffs on goods coming into the country, would only result in higher prices, within the country. Other countries would in turn retaliate, imposing their own tariffs, giving rise to a trade war.

In conclusion, we can say that capitalism has long since reached its highest stage, that of monopoly, imperialism. There can be no question of reverting to competitive capitalism, or even of ‘’patching up’’ imperialism. The Financial Oligarchy is focused on enhancing their wealth and power. Nothing else! 

The imperialists have to be overthrown, and this can happen only through revolution. The revolutionary movement is growing steadily, and will soon result in an Insurrection. The success of this Insurrection depends largely upon the level of consciousness of the revolutionaries. They have to become class conscious, aware of themselves as a class, with their own class interests, which are diametrically opposed to the interests of the imperialists.

As Lenin made clear, in State and Revolution, the existing state apparatus, which has been set up to crush the ‘’lower classes’’, must be smashed, and replaced with a different state apparatus, in the form of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Scientific Socialism!

As the astute reader may have already guessed, this is my way of giving a broad hint, to middle class intellectuals, who are aware of the revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. It is up to such ‘’Conscious People’’ to bring that awareness to the working class, the proletariat.

For those who are reluctant to ‘’shoulder that burden’’, may I suggest that you consider the alternative. The Oligarchy has determined to abolish your democratic republic. No more democratic rights! Scrap the Constitution! At the same time, wipe out the middle class. No more small businesses! Only the ‘’Chosen Few’’, those that are ‘’Too Big To Fail’’, are to be allowed to survive!

Do not wait for the ‘’axe to fall’’! Become politically active!

Take action, before it is too late! Become involved with Councils! Spread the message! Take part in challenging the 2024 Presidential Election, on the grounds that it violated the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution! Unconstitutional! Trump is a fraudulent president, just as Pence is a fraudulent Vice President. Act now, before it is too late! Before the Supreme Court is abolished! Which is precisely what the Oligarchy has planned!

By contrast, all middle class professionals have a bright future, under Scientific Socialism. We are supremely well aware that it is one thing to run a machine, and something else entirely, to run a business. And under Scientific Socialism, it is necessary to run businesses, not for the purposes of profit, but for that of the common good. That requires the expertise of highly educated, will trained professionals. You will be paid accordingly.

As the working class is quite well cultured now, complete with various digital devices, it is much easier to ‘’spread the word’’. We have the technology, and would be fools not to use it. 

I have long maintained that the best way to educate people, is to entertain them, at the same time. Education through entertainment!

There is no shortage of professional entertainers, in America. May I suggest that such people apply your skills, to the cause of Scientific Socialism. May I also suggest that those same, highly skilled professionals, avoid the use of vulgarity. There is already far too much of that, in the videos on the internet. It is not only disrespectful, but detracts from the message. 

I am sure you will do a masterful job. I have complete confidence in you.

Gerald McIsaac