While Trump mingles in Davos, the Chinese government released a strongly worded editorial from the state’s news agency, Xinhua. The statement said the world needed to choose between “two fundamentally different outlooks” which included the Chinese President’s shared future and Mr. Trump’s America First policy. Mr. Trump’s “self-centered America First policy has led his country away from multiple multinational pacts and infused anxiety into both allies and the broader world.” Tensions between the two countries have been percolating. During his campaign, Trump said the Chinese were responsible for the “greatest trade theft in the history of the world.” International diplomacy is extremely complicated stuff. While I despised much of what Trump spewed during his campaign, his commitment to examine the impact of our trade deals on America’s working class was something I supported. That said, every action has an equal opposite reaction. By stepping away from trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and possibly NAFTA, we potentially open the door for China to waltz in and take our place as the leading economic influence in the world. I don’t know enough about the issue to make a firm judgment on this issue, but it feels like the Chinese are in this for the long run – with a stated goal of becoming the world’s only superpower in 30 years.
Inflation has impacted all of us. The price of almost everything has spiked faster and harder than at any time since the 80s. Few things can obliterate a modern economy more than out-of-control inflation.
For most people, there is little upside to writing about the January 6th hearings, but as you probably know by now, I don’t worry about those things. We all must stand for something. The hearings have almost everyone taking sides before a single witness is called. Democrats believe that the events of January 6th were a calculated effort to undermine our democracy by demolishing two of the most sacred tenants of our nation, free elections, and the peaceful transition of power.
Most people consider themselves either a conservative or a liberal. I think if we forget political parties, which flip their positions on things all of the time, and instead focus on the actual definition of what it means to be a conservative and what it means to be a liberal, we might be able to temper the emotional reactions some of us have with political discourse.