Came across this essay by a 16th century philosopher, LaBoetie, whose writing seems so relevant to the crisis we are facing today. How I wish all leaders in all industries, nationally and internationally, heeded his advice: "We simply will give the tyrant nothing"!
Discourse on Voluntary Servitude:
Why People Enslave Themselves to Authority
By E. LaBoetie (Philosopher and Writer, 1530-1563)
(A 3-part essay. Excerpts with some adaptation for readability)
“How does it happen that an entire nation suffers under a single tyrant?
People suffer plundering, wantonness, cruelty on account of a single little man. Too frequently this same little man is the most cowardly in the nation, a stranger to the powder of battle and hesitant on the sands of the tournament, and with hardly enough virility to bed with a common woman. Who could really believe that one man alone may mistreat millions and deprive them of their liberty?
The answer? We let ourselves be deprived before our own eyes of the best part of our liberties. This misfortune, this ruin descends upon us not from alien foes but from the one enemy whom we ourselves render as powerful as he is.
The more a tyrant pillages, the more he craves, the more he ruins and destroys. And the more we yield to him and obey him, the mightier and more formidable he becomes, the readier he is to annihilate and destroy us.
But if not one thing is yielded to him, if without any violence he is simply not obeyed, he becomes naked and undone and nothing, just as when the root receives no nourishment, the branch withers and dies.
He has indeed nothing more than the power that we confer upon him to destroy us.
He does not have any power over us except through us.
Let’s not grow accustomed to the idea of subjection.
Let’s not lose warlike courage, all signs of enthusiasm because our hearts are degraded, submissive, and incapable of any great deed. A tyrant is well aware of this, and in order to degrade his subjects further, he will do what he can for us to assume this attitude and make instinctive.
The tyrant may reduce our freedom of action, of speech, and almost of thought, but in spite of this we will stand together in our aspiration. Our love for liberty and valor will not perish.
The desire for True Liberty must give us new strength. Not the notion of ‘liberty’ that is used to cover a false enterprise.
If things are to change, we must also realize the extent to which the foundation of tyranny lies in the vast networks of corrupted people with an interest in maintaining tyranny.
Such men must not only obey orders, they must anticipate his wishes, to satisfy him they must foresee his desires; they must wear themselves out, torment themselves, kill themselves with work in his interest, and accept his pleasure as their own, neglecting their preference for his, distorting their character and corrupting their nature; they must pay heed to his words, to his intonation, to his gestures, and to his glance. Can this be called a happy life? Can it be called living? Is there anything more intolerable than that situation … for anyone having the face of a man?
Still, men accept servility in order to acquire wealth and personal power.
The fact is that the tyrant is never truly loved, nor does he love.
There can be no friendship where there is cruelty, where there is disloyalty, where there is injustice. And in places where the wicked gather there is conspiracy only, not companionship. They have no affection for one another. Fear holds them together. They are not friends, they are merely accomplices.
We simply will give the tyrant nothing.
We will not weaken ourselves in order to make him the stronger and the mightier to hold us in check.
We are resolved to serve him no more and aim to regain your freedom.
We will simply no longer support him.
Like the great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, he will fall of this own weight and break into pieces.”
I am teaching a democracy class at a local community college for 50+ age. This is an amazing piece. I am copying it and sending it to all of the participants in the class.
You sound like a great teacher, and, being 50+ myself, I would enjoy your class!
One strategy for standing up to tyrants was not mentioned in the Krugman piece. Foreign governments, particularly China and Japan, have vast holdings of US debt. This gives them an enormous club to swing back at America with. Should China and Japan suddenly start dumping their holdings of US debt, the price would plunge. Given that there is already a crisis brewing in the bond market, it appears it would take very little effort on the part of foreign victims of Trump's extortionist tariffs to put the bond market in crisis.
Yes, Jack, they are doing just that. Trump has single handed given them the plate to call the debt straightaway. The sheer stupidity and grift of this man, is unfathomable.
I knew TrumPox is old, but I didn't know he's old enough for LaBoetie to have known him. This essay describes the Orange Scourge with remarkable accuracy. It's also a great blueprint for us to follow and not cave to His Orange MAGA Majesty.
Excellent post. I’ve been saying something along these lines for a few weeks. Trump has demonstrated a willingness to violate any number of legal, diplomatic and social norms, and ignore court rulings. What if we simply stopped obeying his presidential orders? Give him a taste of his own medicine and save ourselves in the process.
Little did Agent Orange (many thanks to the individual that supplied that appropriate naming), realize how he could believe he was destroying the world, when in fact, he is bringing the world together. What an immigration plan!
Great post. Should be mandatory reading for every member of congress. It might help install a spine in enough of them sufficiently strong to end the madness .
I sent it to all US Senators, Dems and Reps. Also to about 150 partners at the legal firms who bent the knee, and 10 university presidents. More on my list. Can you help spread the message?
Do not underestimate our military or our law enforcement. The last thing they want to do is fight the American people. They live to serve us, not annihilate us. The rogue wannabe’s may try to raise their agenda. It is up to all of us to be non reactionary. We can do this. We are better than those who stormed our Capitol, ran thru streets in Charlottesville with their tiki torches.
What an appropriate observation! Thank you! I especially appreciate the reminder that “he has indeed nothing more than the power that we confer upon him to destroy us. He does not have any power over us except through us.” Let us keep taking our power back!!
Beyond the tariffs there are also all the other rash and erratic actions like laying of thousands of highly skilled senior staff and eliminating what have been relatively stable funding sources to states and other countries. It isn’t just the tariffs.
Thousands of highly skilled senior staff who are also thousands of consumers who now can no longer afford to buy things in this economy but instead must now draw upon government services like unemployment. That is, they’ve taken people who were beneficial to the economy and turned them into drags on the same economy. (All the while reducing the services they provided to society via the programs for which they worked.)
How could this have been anyone’s idea of a smart move?
“U.S.-based employers announced 275,240 job cuts in March, a 60 percent increase from February, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas…. Challenger attributed 216,670 of these job cuts to the actions of DOGE, including its direct layoffs and the cuts caused by the "downstream effect of cutting federal aid or ending contracts."” Newsweek
Ugh. I’m so sorry. That really stinks. It also drives home the point that when we talk about “economies”, what we really are talking about are peoples’ lives.
Some sacrifice a large part of their adult life serving their country. At this time in our country it is a very small sliver who lived this level of sacrifice. Less then 1% of are population is serving in the military and 6% are veterans.
Unfortunately very few of the rest (94% of our population) are willing to sacrifice anything for the strength and stability of our country.
Many have forgotten one of the most significant things ever said by a Democrat “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
Our country needs to re-establish their place in the world as an economic power. We need to sacrifice and struggle to accomplish this.
Agree that we should be willing to sacrifice for the good of others, as isn't that the entire purpose of a society? But I don't think that the only way to serve society is through military service. Military service is important, but there are other ways that are equally as important.
Please don't isolate yourself. Please reach out to people who care about you. Please take at least one short walk outdoors every day. Please eat nourishing food (frozen veg are much cheaper than fresh, they're just as nourishing, and unlike canned they taste good). Please do everything you can to hang on to some good habits even if you feel depressed / overwhelmed / SCREW IT / SCREW EVERYTHING / etc.
I've been laid off twice in my 63 years, and the 2nd time -- during the Great Rc. -- was pretty awful. But you will get through this. Know that tens of millions of us are outraged on behalf of everyone who has been harmed by this cruel and unnecessary purge; we're rooting for all of you, calling our electeds, marching, etc. Take care.
Katrina, I personally want to offer you hope. We have been through layoffs. Times felt overwhelming. Keep strong. My thoughts are with you. One day you will look back and see that a greater purpose came and you were ready.
I’m so sorry this is happening to you. It’s very hard for many people not in the same situation to grasp that it isn’t just about a layoff at one company but about entire fields of work, entire professional networks being cut down. I do hope for “copicing” or epicormic growth eventually. But right now it feels crispy, amputated, and we need a bit of a rest before that post traumatic growth can begin. I’m just so sorry you are in this spot. It is so hard.
As I wrote to someone else: Please don't isolate yourself. Please reach out to people who care about you. Please take at least one short walk outdoors every day. Please eat nourishing food (frozen veg are much cheaper than fresh, they're just as nourishing, and unlike canned they taste good). Please do everything you can to hang on to some good habits even if you feel depressed / overwhelmed / SCREW IT / SCREW EVERYTHING / etc.
I've been laid off twice in my 63 years, and the 2nd time -- during the Great Rc. -- was pretty awful. But you will get through this. Know that tens of millions of us are outraged on behalf of everyone who has been harmed by this cruel and unnecessary purge; we're rooting for all of you, calling our electeds, marching, etc. Take care.
When you accept the underlying motivations, you'll see that all of this is intentional, effective, and -- in the eyes of the psychopaths who created the blueprint -- smart.
Abolishing govt services leaves a void; the wealthy step in, privatize those services, perform them on a shoestring, and further enrich themselves.
And the chaos-fear-anxiety that this regime has already created and that increases daily -- thru the mass firings, the shuttering of crucial agencies, the destruction of our longtime alliances with like-minded democracies, and now the financial devastation -- is beneficial for those like Thiel and Yarvin, who want us to transition QUICKLY to a dictatorship.
Everyone who is rational or semi-rational, and/or who wants to retain democracy, is of course horrified by this tsunami. But the deranged zealots (the P2025 crew + their supporters) and the deranged uber-wealthy (Thiel and skum) not only welcome it, they helped devise the plans.
Be careful to distinguish between POSSIBLE motives and certainty of what those motives actually are. I wouldn’t put anything past Trump, but I’m not able to look inside his mind. (Thank goodness!)
there is little effort put toward consequences when they seem to have little fear of those, whatever they may be. The brilliance of Krugman (and this specific post) is that he relies on data and statistics that don't lie or make up an alternate reality. Here Krugman himself is shocked at what the data reveal!
What's especially ironic is MuskRat blaming Navarro for his problems. He doesn't seem to register that his own actions have led directly to all the boycotting and selling off of Tesla cars and shares, exemplifying psychopathic denial.
I wonder if Musk thinks he can steal the cult from Trump.
I'm inclined to laugh at the idea, but if anybody could, it's probably him. He has achieved a similar feat to Trump in accruing massive fame and becoming synonymous with wealth, and earned the same reputation for genius with "tech" that Trump did for "negotiation". (Both extremely unearned.)
I think he can't do it because he's an off-putting weirdo. And not being American doesn't help. But as we've seen, people can go for some... unexpected stuff.
I wouldn't be completely surprised if MUSK is ''president'' in 2028(I know he's not a US citizen but at this point does it matter?) & not trump or Vance.
Yeah, the government layoffs are worse policy than the tariffs. They are just of less interest to the people who own major media, so once tariffs hit they no longer had interest in losers like scientists and diplomats and federal investigators, no longer had any time to consider what the consequences of firing, like, half of them might be.
Yep. See Norquist and also Project 2025. the latter thinks Republican Jeezus will save the nation. The former doesn't care what happens to the economy or SS grannies...as long as the 1% get their tax cut.
The YARVIN/MUSK/THEIL crowd don't even care about the tax cuts. They want a transition to dictatorship & an asset backed economy tightly controlled by them using some type of crypto for a bridge currency. These are serious malevolent ideologues who care nothing about anything but their pet projects.
To say nothing of international relations where Trump is also erratic and unpredictable. Combined with the same behaviour with tariffs, adherence to the Constitution, and a war on intellectual endeavour, it’s all adds up to instability which is anathema to planning and investment.
Politics MUST change - and look to Whales ! They have just passed LAW that in speaking, Politicians are FACT CHECKED...they HAVE to speak the truth or they must rescind their 'alternate facts' within 7 days...or they may defend their alternative facts in a court of law...BRILLIANT. Still freedom of speech BUT with ACCOUNTABILITY. Simply brilliant oh... and no donations over a minimal $ amount either !
I do think it's a good idea. The general public should be able to spout any sort of poo poo, but politicians as supposed leaders, should be held to a higher bar.
I feel like it was a watershed moment when the GOP got away with their lie about "death panels" in the Obamacare debates. It was so blatant and there was no big pushback. The old adage of the truth will out, is wrong...now. Lies fly through the internet. They generate clicks and profit.
if we had a government for the people our own FCC could enforce similar rules for any media here. If they lie and don't admit it is simply their opinion, it would be cause for the loss of their broadcasting license.
Wales, not whales, dear. An amusing autocorrect failure. It's a lovely country. My hubby and I visited it a few years ago. The Llŷn peninsula is gorgeous.
or in the alternative, a jerk of a career politician who takes himself for a mini-Trump (though not financially or sexually corrupt), who fancies the off-the-cuff (or carefully prepared) insult. But he avoids the press because Canada's press has not been intimidated as much of the American press has been, and still asks hard questions.
You were confused about whether I, personally, Miles vel Day, think the U.S. launching a military invasion of Canada would be a desirable thing for the United States or humanity. I'm not important, so if you are not confused about things that ARE important, great.
I doubt Trump will stop. This is a showman's dream. He is the man everybody talks about everywhere in the world, every moment, and he is loving it. Becoming reasonable would bring back normality, and he would disappear from the newsboards. He gets phone calls from the top business people in the country who come to grovel for favours, from heads of states who travel to him especially to plead for their countries, he is the arbitrator of it all... a sun king. With an adorating crowd of followers. An ego like his, he can't stop. And the good of America? Well.....
You are correct. The best thing to do is ignore him. Business & world leaders should be calling John Thune instead & laying heat on him & the Replican party making it clear that they own this broken mess. Congress needs to take back their constitutionally mandated power.
Congress had better as those senators have to live in a broken US too...fix it now or hide somewhere else in future for your capitulation - they have the only 'fire extinguisher ' and refuse to use it !!!!!!!!!!!!!
People say Congress is doing nothing but they are wrong. The Republicans in the House are *actively* supporting the President's trade agenda. They snuck a provision into the March budget bill that defines the rest of this year as one day, for purposes of emergency declarations. This way, anyone who wants to try to halt the damage has to get a lot more than a handful of Republican defectors to change the rules back to objective reality where 1 day = 1 day (and 18 days = 18 days).
I think that's a very good idea. World leaders should call Senators and GOP representatives. Tell them the consequences will be dire and your constituents will notice. They are noticing.
What the Sun King doesn't seem to realize is that he and the GOP are throwing America's former stewardship of the world economy into China's eager arms, creating the impetus for a China-led global trading order in which US exports will be priced out of the market. Where all our former allies will be trading with each other and China. But not with us.
Yes. China still bestows $5bn/year in aid, a big plus for their soft power generation. While the $30bn/year we *used to* spend will now be given away as tax cuts, so Elon and Jeffie can buy new yachts.
“good publicity is preferable to bad, but from a bottom-line perspective, bad publicity is sometimes better than no publicity at all. Controversy, in short, sells.”
― Donald J. Trump, Trump: The Art of the Deal, from the Goodreads website
That's true, but he's also enjoying the power. Especially he enjoys inflicting suffering on millions of innocent citizens, because he's a psychopath. He's also raking it in hand over fist. He's never before had an opportunity to steal so much wealth.
Professor Krugman: is it possible that agent orange is destroying the bonds market intentionally, to grab wealth (property, resources, and power) for himself and a few other oligarchs by purchasing these things for pennies on the dollar? this is the current idea amongst those of us watching, aghast, at the situation. as it is, i wonder if we are witnessing the growth of modern slavery, with all of us as the slaves?
That is too strategic for Trump. On some level he probably hates bond traders and bankers because they stopped loaning him money in the nineties, so he's happy. But in terms of strategy he probably thought tariffs would lead the Fed to cut rates. Even in his lizard brain he knows that lower rates are good for business.
My concerns are: 1) how many people who voted for Trump know who Prof. Krugman is? 2) how many people who voted for Trump know refer to reputable sources of information - fact-based information vs. Fox? 3) how many people who voted for Trump understand basic economic theory? 4) how many people who voted for Trump have developed critical thinking skills? 5) how many are capable of admitting error?
My guess is the answer to all 5 of those questions is zero. Even though none of this happened in the prior administration, somehow this will be Biden’s fault.
Trump's most fervent supporters will never abandoned him. It's probably more important to ask about independent or disaffected voters and their reaction to Trump's erratic, unhinged decisions on tariffs.
I've met lots of Trumpkins who are very familiar with Dr. Krugman (my brother is one). These are people who used to read his work until they fell down the rabbit hole and cancelled their subscriptions to the Times.
Actually no, a large contingent of Krasnov voters are devout churchgoers, especially those that “get the spirit” and speak in tongues. Their training is to “let go and let god,” which in reality means letting their emotional impulses rule over anything resembling thought.
Mr Krugman, it's so interesting to me that you predicted this in 2016 when Trump was first elected, but evidently his "normal" advisors were able to steer him away from disaster. Now that those advisors are gone and it's just Trump your prediction has finally come true.
Moreover, what the market is really reacting to isn’t just bad policy — it’s the complete absence of clear policy. As reckless as high tariffs or isolationist measures might be, a well-defined direction would at least allow investors and businesses to take a position, adjust, and move forward. Markets can deal with pain — what they can’t deal with is confusion. And right now, we’re not seeing a strategy; we’re seeing impulse.
This lack of clarity is turning the market into a rollercoaster. You don’t know what’s coming next, and neither does anyone else — not even within the administration, it seems. The U.S. Policy Uncertainty Index has surged back to levels not seen since 2020, right in the middle of a global pandemic and an election-year storm. Meanwhile, the VIX is echoing that same anxiety, hovering around its 2020 highs.
This administration HAS a plan...it is being rolled out now and it called the Mar a Lago accord. They will be rich beyond measure as they bankrupt people and countries into submission to Pay for goods or selling to us (Tarif) or military protection. trumps favourite world - take full advantage of everything, and then pay him too. He will skim off the top like putin and viktor. Yet trump never lasts at success, he always overplays his hand.. there is our Hope
Trump has always lasted at success - his businesses never have. His strategy has always been to milk his business until it's empty and then have the business declare bankruptcy. Leaving the banks that financed the whole thing holding the bag.
The strategy is to break the economy, then swoop down like the vultures they are and dine on the rotting carrion. AKA, snatch up valuable assets at fire sale prices.
Sorry, I’m playing my broken record again this morning; what was it about his erratic, idiotic behavior in his first term that the general public did not get? What was it about January 6 and its aftermath that the “geniuses” on Wall Street abysmally failed to see? The ketchup thrown against the wall wasn’t a clue? Go ahead and hang Mike Pence didn’t give a hint of what swirls in that brain of his? All of this “I sure didn’t see this coming” nonsense is nothing but a pathetic cop-out. If one voted in November for this sorry sack of bricks, one owns every damned thing he’s doing to us. It’s one thing to have voted for him in 2016. Anything after that is on you. I know, this isn’t going to solve the mess we’re. My point is we continue to dodge the truth. And until we stop doing that, nothing will change. Corporate media to this day continues to look for sense amid the senseless. We were warned tens of thousands of times not to re-elect the scumbag. Now here we are, with no way visible way out at the moment. Colonel Jessup was right on the money; “The truth? We can’t handle the truth.”
Leopards Eating People's Faces Party refers to a parody of regretful voters who vote for cruel and unjust policies (and politicians and Wall Street Zillionaires). "I never thought leopards would eat MY face,' they cry remembering they voted for the 'Leopards Eating People's Faces Party". 😟🙁😪👎👎👎
Before the inauguration I told my FA that Trump was going to crash the global economy and I needed to know how to protect my nest egg because we are near retirement. There was very little we could do because unlike the bazillionaires who have enough money to invest in shorting the market, ordinary retail customers like us don't have access to those deals. The game really is rigged. I am so tired of this.
I divested of the stock market some two decades ago.
I'd come to view it as a Ponzi Scheme, devoid of moral restraint, and the engine of forces that are rapidly destroying the very environment that supports all life on Earth.
It's true that I could have made more money in the stock market than I did with term deposits. But I had *enough*, which has become a foreign concept in today's zeitgeist of "MORE!"
I appreciate the scholarship and teaching immensely.
However, I want to disagree with the misplaced desire to place this all on trump. It is the modern republican cult that nominated him thrice and elected him twice and are steadfastly following the moron over the cliff.
It is not trump. It is the greedy, cruel and violent republican policies since st ronnie killed the unions and declared government was the problem not the solution that we have seen a massive wealth transfer from the middle class to the wealthy and this terrible societal malfunction that is ripping away citizen's constitutional rights and our security.
The more blame put on trump, the less blame the real culprits have to shoulder.
It can be traced back even further than St. Reagan - back to Joe McCarthy. Unions were amongst his biggest targets. From there it's a straight line: McCarthy -> Tricky Dickie -> St. Reagan -> King Bush I -> King Bush II -> TrumPox.
And another fun fact: Lee Atwater was part of the political consulting firm of Trump adviser Roger Stone and Trump 2016 Campaign Manager Paul Manafort. And don't forget the McCarthy connection to Trump through Roy Cohn.
And to trace the history even further back, read _Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America_, by Nancy MacLean. Prof MacLean covers how John C. Calhoun in 1840s and 1850s South Carolina, was the first to realize that white oligarchy was never gonna fly if the populace had free and fair elections, thus democracy had to be suppressed so that the rich white men who owned everything, foremost among them the slave labor force, could rule without interference.
Fast forward a hundred years or so, through the Civil War, the birth and growth of the John Birch Society, McCarthyism, Nixon's Southern Strategy, and more, to one James M. Buchanan in the 1960s. His claim to fame is the development and legitimization of the so-called public choice theory of economics, which became if not the cornerstone of modern-day Republican ideology certainly one of the main pillars.
An excellent complement to _Democracy in Chains_ is Jane Mayer's book _Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right_. It lays out how the Kochs and other far-right billionaires bankrolled and executed a carefully plotted strategy to bring about extreme-conservative control of our country -- not just the politics or the economy, but also the courts, education, culture, news media, and religious life. It took some six decades and a very great deal of money, but what we're seeing today are the fruits of their efforts.
I think most are missing the Putin picture. Trump works for Putin making USA a satellite nation like Belarus. Putin tried to take Ukraine but was denied. Now Putin wants Trump to weaken USA & EU economy & stop USA Ukraine support so Putin can finally win the Ukraine war and then attack a weaker EU. Putin also wants Trump to lift sanctions while Putin steals the gold, minerals and top secrets from a weaker satellite USA & EU nations like Ukraine making Putin richer.
And Xi takes Asia...'friends without limits'. Heaven help us. But this is happening not to a Germany that was afraid to talk to their neighbours..this is playing out in media (mostly Substack and Racheal Maddow ok, but also all over the world too see it) all of us are 'getting it' and we are mobilizing..to the streets. We are 350 million strong..and dare I say the most armed citizens in the world - that is terrifying to even say out loud. As well we only have 1.2 million military personnel. How will they contain the people? Starvation is the best answer, obviously yes. And then for how long ??? This is the American citizens country and freedoms and future - stollen from them. Circling back to, Heaven help us. But some day, Heaven help them.
Professor Krugman, as always the analysis is not comforting, yet in the need to know realm of the current orange crisis. Also , want to express my gratitude for early am posts and the excellent choices of musical codas. They Really do help to calm the nerves. Thank you.
Prof. Krugman, what about the sell off of T-Bonds we have seen in the past few days? Is that another sign of worse things to come, i.e. dumping assets for cash, or something else?
and also, isn't there a chance that a few oligarchs and "friends of friends" could, knowing this was coming, making even more gazillions by just betting on the mad man? In other words, could all of this just be a scam to extract wealth from plunging markets?
I think the deeping financial crisis is about the end of NATO and reckless government downsizing coming into view. The news today is 'Trump won't back off, even after markets tank 10%." That's news to many analysts.
Maybe he doesn't understand the consequences (we disagree on that). But, he hasn't shown signs of letting up. That 'seriousness' should spill over into a re-analysis of his other stated policies, like 'taking Greenland, Canada and Panama'.
It's hard to imagine US Bonds or US currency being a 'safe haven' during tumultuous times caused by a hard-headed US President that may end the WWII world order before the midterms. Political brinkmanship in Congress many could ignore, just the threat of default brought an end to it. If you take his expansionist rhetoric seriously, if he's not going to back down when the world shows him how it works, then watch out.
Even though these policies are terrible, I can see them working out if he'd done them one at a time over four years - NATO this year, tariffs on China next year, tariffs on EU the following etc.
But instead Trump picked a fight with the entire world all at once. It's as if he bombed Pearl Harbor, invaded the Sudetenland, started the Battle of Britain and invaded Russia all on the same day.
It's so crazy, it's to our advantage. You wouldn't believe the ignorance of most Americans. We have a cult of ignorance. Dumb and dumber. But when the price of coffee skyrockets, people will start to pay attention.
At the hardware store yesterday I mentioned being worried about the lack of firefighters this summer. The maga sales person nodded with a frown of concern.
Came across this essay by a 16th century philosopher, LaBoetie, whose writing seems so relevant to the crisis we are facing today. How I wish all leaders in all industries, nationally and internationally, heeded his advice: "We simply will give the tyrant nothing"!
Discourse on Voluntary Servitude:
Why People Enslave Themselves to Authority
By E. LaBoetie (Philosopher and Writer, 1530-1563)
(A 3-part essay. Excerpts with some adaptation for readability)
“How does it happen that an entire nation suffers under a single tyrant?
People suffer plundering, wantonness, cruelty on account of a single little man. Too frequently this same little man is the most cowardly in the nation, a stranger to the powder of battle and hesitant on the sands of the tournament, and with hardly enough virility to bed with a common woman. Who could really believe that one man alone may mistreat millions and deprive them of their liberty?
The answer? We let ourselves be deprived before our own eyes of the best part of our liberties. This misfortune, this ruin descends upon us not from alien foes but from the one enemy whom we ourselves render as powerful as he is.
The more a tyrant pillages, the more he craves, the more he ruins and destroys. And the more we yield to him and obey him, the mightier and more formidable he becomes, the readier he is to annihilate and destroy us.
But if not one thing is yielded to him, if without any violence he is simply not obeyed, he becomes naked and undone and nothing, just as when the root receives no nourishment, the branch withers and dies.
He has indeed nothing more than the power that we confer upon him to destroy us.
He does not have any power over us except through us.
Let’s not grow accustomed to the idea of subjection.
Let’s not lose warlike courage, all signs of enthusiasm because our hearts are degraded, submissive, and incapable of any great deed. A tyrant is well aware of this, and in order to degrade his subjects further, he will do what he can for us to assume this attitude and make instinctive.
The tyrant may reduce our freedom of action, of speech, and almost of thought, but in spite of this we will stand together in our aspiration. Our love for liberty and valor will not perish.
The desire for True Liberty must give us new strength. Not the notion of ‘liberty’ that is used to cover a false enterprise.
If things are to change, we must also realize the extent to which the foundation of tyranny lies in the vast networks of corrupted people with an interest in maintaining tyranny.
Such men must not only obey orders, they must anticipate his wishes, to satisfy him they must foresee his desires; they must wear themselves out, torment themselves, kill themselves with work in his interest, and accept his pleasure as their own, neglecting their preference for his, distorting their character and corrupting their nature; they must pay heed to his words, to his intonation, to his gestures, and to his glance. Can this be called a happy life? Can it be called living? Is there anything more intolerable than that situation … for anyone having the face of a man?
Still, men accept servility in order to acquire wealth and personal power.
The fact is that the tyrant is never truly loved, nor does he love.
There can be no friendship where there is cruelty, where there is disloyalty, where there is injustice. And in places where the wicked gather there is conspiracy only, not companionship. They have no affection for one another. Fear holds them together. They are not friends, they are merely accomplices.
We simply will give the tyrant nothing.
We will not weaken ourselves in order to make him the stronger and the mightier to hold us in check.
We are resolved to serve him no more and aim to regain your freedom.
We will simply no longer support him.
Like the great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, he will fall of this own weight and break into pieces.”
I am teaching a democracy class at a local community college for 50+ age. This is an amazing piece. I am copying it and sending it to all of the participants in the class.
You sound like a great teacher, and, being 50+ myself, I would enjoy your class!
One strategy for standing up to tyrants was not mentioned in the Krugman piece. Foreign governments, particularly China and Japan, have vast holdings of US debt. This gives them an enormous club to swing back at America with. Should China and Japan suddenly start dumping their holdings of US debt, the price would plunge. Given that there is already a crisis brewing in the bond market, it appears it would take very little effort on the part of foreign victims of Trump's extortionist tariffs to put the bond market in crisis.
Trump has given them every reason to do it.
Yes, Jack, they are doing just that. Trump has single handed given them the plate to call the debt straightaway. The sheer stupidity and grift of this man, is unfathomable.
Great idea, Susanne. Let spread the message. Thank you.
I knew TrumPox is old, but I didn't know he's old enough for LaBoetie to have known him. This essay describes the Orange Scourge with remarkable accuracy. It's also a great blueprint for us to follow and not cave to His Orange MAGA Majesty.
Wonderful essay!
Nice! Wasn’t he associated with Montaigne?
Yes, he was his best pal!
Yes, I think so. Thank you for appreciating this piece.
The tyrant recognizes where the power lies and dreads it. Hence, his greatest fear is solidarity of the people.
Yes, agree with you. Frankly Trump is a bully and he ought to be treated him as such.
So, let’s build solidarity, right?
Yes!
Excellent post. I’ve been saying something along these lines for a few weeks. Trump has demonstrated a willingness to violate any number of legal, diplomatic and social norms, and ignore court rulings. What if we simply stopped obeying his presidential orders? Give him a taste of his own medicine and save ourselves in the process.
Yes indeed, what if?!? We have agency. We just have to learn to use it, right?
YES so honest and appropriate here ! He must be taken out of POWER ! The whole world is effected now
Little did Agent Orange (many thanks to the individual that supplied that appropriate naming), realize how he could believe he was destroying the world, when in fact, he is bringing the world together. What an immigration plan!
Great post. Should be mandatory reading for every member of congress. It might help install a spine in enough of them sufficiently strong to end the madness .
I sent it to all US Senators, Dems and Reps. Also to about 150 partners at the legal firms who bent the knee, and 10 university presidents. More on my list. Can you help spread the message?
So good— thank you for posting this.
Wow! How relevant this is! Thank you so much for posting it. If only we would do as LaBoetie suggests!
Congress can. Impeachment !!!
We need to stop being fearful, right?
Yertle the turtle, king of the pond and all he could see!
Yes but what if all the cops worship said tyrant? Then the decision has been made for the rest of us, hasn't it?
Do not underestimate our military or our law enforcement. The last thing they want to do is fight the American people. They live to serve us, not annihilate us. The rogue wannabe’s may try to raise their agenda. It is up to all of us to be non reactionary. We can do this. We are better than those who stormed our Capitol, ran thru streets in Charlottesville with their tiki torches.
Yes, we can do this!
Just read Hannah Arendt
Trump Just made a U turn on tariffs after China and EU retaliation.
The blanket tariffs are set to 10% for 90 days.
What a shaky administration!
What an appropriate observation! Thank you! I especially appreciate the reminder that “he has indeed nothing more than the power that we confer upon him to destroy us. He does not have any power over us except through us.” Let us keep taking our power back!!
I look forward to what you have to say!
Thank you for this…wow!
Beyond the tariffs there are also all the other rash and erratic actions like laying of thousands of highly skilled senior staff and eliminating what have been relatively stable funding sources to states and other countries. It isn’t just the tariffs.
Thousands of highly skilled senior staff who are also thousands of consumers who now can no longer afford to buy things in this economy but instead must now draw upon government services like unemployment. That is, they’ve taken people who were beneficial to the economy and turned them into drags on the same economy. (All the while reducing the services they provided to society via the programs for which they worked.)
How could this have been anyone’s idea of a smart move?
“U.S.-based employers announced 275,240 job cuts in March, a 60 percent increase from February, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas…. Challenger attributed 216,670 of these job cuts to the actions of DOGE, including its direct layoffs and the cuts caused by the "downstream effect of cutting federal aid or ending contracts."” Newsweek
I am one of those cuts. Feeling the chaos acutely.
Ugh. I’m so sorry. That really stinks. It also drives home the point that when we talk about “economies”, what we really are talking about are peoples’ lives.
Some sacrifice a large part of their adult life serving their country. At this time in our country it is a very small sliver who lived this level of sacrifice. Less then 1% of are population is serving in the military and 6% are veterans.
Unfortunately very few of the rest (94% of our population) are willing to sacrifice anything for the strength and stability of our country.
Many have forgotten one of the most significant things ever said by a Democrat “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
Our country needs to re-establish their place in the world as an economic power. We need to sacrifice and struggle to accomplish this.
Agree that we should be willing to sacrifice for the good of others, as isn't that the entire purpose of a society? But I don't think that the only way to serve society is through military service. Military service is important, but there are other ways that are equally as important.
Please don't isolate yourself. Please reach out to people who care about you. Please take at least one short walk outdoors every day. Please eat nourishing food (frozen veg are much cheaper than fresh, they're just as nourishing, and unlike canned they taste good). Please do everything you can to hang on to some good habits even if you feel depressed / overwhelmed / SCREW IT / SCREW EVERYTHING / etc.
I've been laid off twice in my 63 years, and the 2nd time -- during the Great Rc. -- was pretty awful. But you will get through this. Know that tens of millions of us are outraged on behalf of everyone who has been harmed by this cruel and unnecessary purge; we're rooting for all of you, calling our electeds, marching, etc. Take care.
Katrina, I personally want to offer you hope. We have been through layoffs. Times felt overwhelming. Keep strong. My thoughts are with you. One day you will look back and see that a greater purpose came and you were ready.
I am another of those "downstream" cuts. Leaving me wholly reliant on unemployment.
I’m so sorry this is happening to you. It’s very hard for many people not in the same situation to grasp that it isn’t just about a layoff at one company but about entire fields of work, entire professional networks being cut down. I do hope for “copicing” or epicormic growth eventually. But right now it feels crispy, amputated, and we need a bit of a rest before that post traumatic growth can begin. I’m just so sorry you are in this spot. It is so hard.
As I wrote to someone else: Please don't isolate yourself. Please reach out to people who care about you. Please take at least one short walk outdoors every day. Please eat nourishing food (frozen veg are much cheaper than fresh, they're just as nourishing, and unlike canned they taste good). Please do everything you can to hang on to some good habits even if you feel depressed / overwhelmed / SCREW IT / SCREW EVERYTHING / etc.
I've been laid off twice in my 63 years, and the 2nd time -- during the Great Rc. -- was pretty awful. But you will get through this. Know that tens of millions of us are outraged on behalf of everyone who has been harmed by this cruel and unnecessary purge; we're rooting for all of you, calling our electeds, marching, etc. Take care.
Thx folks. I am okay so far. I have about a year to find a new job. But the situation makes me very nervous that a year may not be long enough.
Ugh. So sorry. 😢
When you accept the underlying motivations, you'll see that all of this is intentional, effective, and -- in the eyes of the psychopaths who created the blueprint -- smart.
Abolishing govt services leaves a void; the wealthy step in, privatize those services, perform them on a shoestring, and further enrich themselves.
And the chaos-fear-anxiety that this regime has already created and that increases daily -- thru the mass firings, the shuttering of crucial agencies, the destruction of our longtime alliances with like-minded democracies, and now the financial devastation -- is beneficial for those like Thiel and Yarvin, who want us to transition QUICKLY to a dictatorship.
Everyone who is rational or semi-rational, and/or who wants to retain democracy, is of course horrified by this tsunami. But the deranged zealots (the P2025 crew + their supporters) and the deranged uber-wealthy (Thiel and skum) not only welcome it, they helped devise the plans.
Be careful to distinguish between POSSIBLE motives and certainty of what those motives actually are. I wouldn’t put anything past Trump, but I’m not able to look inside his mind. (Thank goodness!)
P. U. T. I. N.
there is little effort put toward consequences when they seem to have little fear of those, whatever they may be. The brilliance of Krugman (and this specific post) is that he relies on data and statistics that don't lie or make up an alternate reality. Here Krugman himself is shocked at what the data reveal!
And getting rid of the people at the IRS who went after tax fraud from those with incomes above $400,000.
What's especially ironic is MuskRat blaming Navarro for his problems. He doesn't seem to register that his own actions have led directly to all the boycotting and selling off of Tesla cars and shares, exemplifying psychopathic denial.
I think he knows. He also has enough sense to realize that Trump/Navarro are heading us for a cliff which could end up
much worse for the entire world, and every business he owns.
But hey, Elon, this is the candidate YOU backed!
I wonder if Musk thinks he can steal the cult from Trump.
I'm inclined to laugh at the idea, but if anybody could, it's probably him. He has achieved a similar feat to Trump in accruing massive fame and becoming synonymous with wealth, and earned the same reputation for genius with "tech" that Trump did for "negotiation". (Both extremely unearned.)
I think he can't do it because he's an off-putting weirdo. And not being American doesn't help. But as we've seen, people can go for some... unexpected stuff.
I’m old enough to remember when Trump was an off-putting weirdo. 😏
It seems given enough time and the assistance of Hollywood and media, anything is possible.
control of the message is increasingly practical given Fox network, radio talk network, and that whole ecosphere selling the same lies
Of course, h.Musk can't run for President, because the Constitution forbids it. Just as it forbids a third term for Trump.
Oh.
I wouldn't be completely surprised if MUSK is ''president'' in 2028(I know he's not a US citizen but at this point does it matter?) & not trump or Vance.
Yeah, the government layoffs are worse policy than the tariffs. They are just of less interest to the people who own major media, so once tariffs hit they no longer had interest in losers like scientists and diplomats and federal investigators, no longer had any time to consider what the consequences of firing, like, half of them might be.
True enough. Does anyone trust financial regulators now? And we know the IRS can’t function, so tax receipts are down and default could be closer.
I don’t see them as erratic. They are part of a plan.
Yep. See Norquist and also Project 2025. the latter thinks Republican Jeezus will save the nation. The former doesn't care what happens to the economy or SS grannies...as long as the 1% get their tax cut.
The YARVIN/MUSK/THEIL crowd don't even care about the tax cuts. They want a transition to dictatorship & an asset backed economy tightly controlled by them using some type of crypto for a bridge currency. These are serious malevolent ideologues who care nothing about anything but their pet projects.
To say nothing of international relations where Trump is also erratic and unpredictable. Combined with the same behaviour with tariffs, adherence to the Constitution, and a war on intellectual endeavour, it’s all adds up to instability which is anathema to planning and investment.
Canadians currently on track to elect a government led by PhD economist with lots or real life experience managing the stupidity of politicians
Politics MUST change - and look to Whales ! They have just passed LAW that in speaking, Politicians are FACT CHECKED...they HAVE to speak the truth or they must rescind their 'alternate facts' within 7 days...or they may defend their alternative facts in a court of law...BRILLIANT. Still freedom of speech BUT with ACCOUNTABILITY. Simply brilliant oh... and no donations over a minimal $ amount either !
Here's an article on the topic. The Welsh are on to something.
Wales?
Yeah, she meant Wales, not "the great white leviathan".
Where?
Oh snap! I thought I pasted it. Here it is.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2gme2y98no
Excellent idea! Indeed, lying faces no repercussions so let's repercuss.
I do think it's a good idea. The general public should be able to spout any sort of poo poo, but politicians as supposed leaders, should be held to a higher bar.
I feel like it was a watershed moment when the GOP got away with their lie about "death panels" in the Obamacare debates. It was so blatant and there was no big pushback. The old adage of the truth will out, is wrong...now. Lies fly through the internet. They generate clicks and profit.
Who decides whats a lie
Ask the Welsh.
if we had a government for the people our own FCC could enforce similar rules for any media here. If they lie and don't admit it is simply their opinion, it would be cause for the loss of their broadcasting license.
Trump would have to go SILENT! Brilliant!
Trump and his entire cabinet as well as that stooge Leavitt
Wales, not whales, dear. An amusing autocorrect failure. It's a lovely country. My hubby and I visited it a few years ago. The Llŷn peninsula is gorgeous.
Whales? Or Wales?
or in the alternative, a jerk of a career politician who takes himself for a mini-Trump (though not financially or sexually corrupt), who fancies the off-the-cuff (or carefully prepared) insult. But he avoids the press because Canada's press has not been intimidated as much of the American press has been, and still asks hard questions.
Has Canada banned Rupert Murdoch? If not, they'd be wise to do so before he does to them what he's done to us.
I hope they don't have to throw those fancy degrees at the 82nd Airborne because I don't think they'll work.
You looking for the US to invade the whole world? Or just Canada?
Not intending to frame it as a good thing. I can understand the confusion given how a lot of Americans talk.
I'm not confused.
You were confused about whether I, personally, Miles vel Day, think the U.S. launching a military invasion of Canada would be a desirable thing for the United States or humanity. I'm not important, so if you are not confused about things that ARE important, great.
In fact, in one of his previous videos PK said that Carney was the only head of state he personally knew. They met during his professional life.
I doubt Trump will stop. This is a showman's dream. He is the man everybody talks about everywhere in the world, every moment, and he is loving it. Becoming reasonable would bring back normality, and he would disappear from the newsboards. He gets phone calls from the top business people in the country who come to grovel for favours, from heads of states who travel to him especially to plead for their countries, he is the arbitrator of it all... a sun king. With an adorating crowd of followers. An ego like his, he can't stop. And the good of America? Well.....
You are correct. The best thing to do is ignore him. Business & world leaders should be calling John Thune instead & laying heat on him & the Replican party making it clear that they own this broken mess. Congress needs to take back their constitutionally mandated power.
Congress had better as those senators have to live in a broken US too...fix it now or hide somewhere else in future for your capitulation - they have the only 'fire extinguisher ' and refuse to use it !!!!!!!!!!!!!
People say Congress is doing nothing but they are wrong. The Republicans in the House are *actively* supporting the President's trade agenda. They snuck a provision into the March budget bill that defines the rest of this year as one day, for purposes of emergency declarations. This way, anyone who wants to try to halt the damage has to get a lot more than a handful of Republican defectors to change the rules back to objective reality where 1 day = 1 day (and 18 days = 18 days).
I think that's a very good idea. World leaders should call Senators and GOP representatives. Tell them the consequences will be dire and your constituents will notice. They are noticing.
When's the next nationwide protest?
April 19th
Exactly right.
What the Sun King doesn't seem to realize is that he and the GOP are throwing America's former stewardship of the world economy into China's eager arms, creating the impetus for a China-led global trading order in which US exports will be priced out of the market. Where all our former allies will be trading with each other and China. But not with us.
Sadly, we're in for some hard times.
Ending USAID was the ultimate gift to China and Russia.
Yes. China still bestows $5bn/year in aid, a big plus for their soft power generation. While the $30bn/year we *used to* spend will now be given away as tax cuts, so Elon and Jeffie can buy new yachts.
It's not that he doesn't realize it, he just doesn't give a s**t.
The Sun King does not care. His Master Putin is delighted!
We desperately need to "Ban de Soleil"!
Hmmm. What does that mean? A pun on Bain de Soleil sunscreen?
I was trying (too hard) to be clever. Sun King aka Roi Soleil. Trump was sooo close to being banned.
“good publicity is preferable to bad, but from a bottom-line perspective, bad publicity is sometimes better than no publicity at all. Controversy, in short, sells.”
― Donald J. Trump, Trump: The Art of the Deal, from the Goodreads website
Controversy seems to be working for Tesla. Lots of people are selling theirs!
From a poster going up all over the UK - "The swasticar. Goes from 0 to 1939 in three seconds."
That's true, but he's also enjoying the power. Especially he enjoys inflicting suffering on millions of innocent citizens, because he's a psychopath. He's also raking it in hand over fist. He's never before had an opportunity to steal so much wealth.
Professor Krugman: is it possible that agent orange is destroying the bonds market intentionally, to grab wealth (property, resources, and power) for himself and a few other oligarchs by purchasing these things for pennies on the dollar? this is the current idea amongst those of us watching, aghast, at the situation. as it is, i wonder if we are witnessing the growth of modern slavery, with all of us as the slaves?
I've said this before (with risk of sounding like a wacko): It makes sense if Trump is a Russian asset whose job is to weaken American and the West.
He's doing a superb job.
Fire sale purchases may be the frosting on the cake.
That too.
That is too strategic for Trump. On some level he probably hates bond traders and bankers because they stopped loaning him money in the nineties, so he's happy. But in terms of strategy he probably thought tariffs would lead the Fed to cut rates. Even in his lizard brain he knows that lower rates are good for business.
Yes.
My concerns are: 1) how many people who voted for Trump know who Prof. Krugman is? 2) how many people who voted for Trump know refer to reputable sources of information - fact-based information vs. Fox? 3) how many people who voted for Trump understand basic economic theory? 4) how many people who voted for Trump have developed critical thinking skills? 5) how many are capable of admitting error?
My guess is the answer to all 5 of those questions is zero. Even though none of this happened in the prior administration, somehow this will be Biden’s fault.
Inequality is not just financial it's also educational and cultural.
But as Obama just pointed out, financially strength is necessary for democracy to survive. No money, no democracy
So true.
Trump's most fervent supporters will never abandoned him. It's probably more important to ask about independent or disaffected voters and their reaction to Trump's erratic, unhinged decisions on tariffs.
I've met lots of Trumpkins who are very familiar with Dr. Krugman (my brother is one). These are people who used to read his work until they fell down the rabbit hole and cancelled their subscriptions to the Times.
The vast majority of Trumpkopf voters:
1. Live in trailers.
2. Get >all< of their information from either Faux Newspeak or Snoozemax.
3. Guzzle copious amounts of Kool-Aid, chased down with case after case of Schlitz.
If only this was the case - it seems like anyone can get brainwashed by the cult. Businesspeople, lawyers, anyone with too much time on their hands…
Good point. Please do bear in mind however that I said "vast majority" not "all".
Actually no, a large contingent of Krasnov voters are devout churchgoers, especially those that “get the spirit” and speak in tongues. Their training is to “let go and let god,” which in reality means letting their emotional impulses rule over anything resembling thought.
That also is true, but it doesn't nullify my comment. Indeed, there's a great deal of crossover between the two.
This is deadly serious.
Indeed it is.
Mr Krugman, it's so interesting to me that you predicted this in 2016 when Trump was first elected, but evidently his "normal" advisors were able to steer him away from disaster. Now that those advisors are gone and it's just Trump your prediction has finally come true.
Moreover, what the market is really reacting to isn’t just bad policy — it’s the complete absence of clear policy. As reckless as high tariffs or isolationist measures might be, a well-defined direction would at least allow investors and businesses to take a position, adjust, and move forward. Markets can deal with pain — what they can’t deal with is confusion. And right now, we’re not seeing a strategy; we’re seeing impulse.
This lack of clarity is turning the market into a rollercoaster. You don’t know what’s coming next, and neither does anyone else — not even within the administration, it seems. The U.S. Policy Uncertainty Index has surged back to levels not seen since 2020, right in the middle of a global pandemic and an election-year storm. Meanwhile, the VIX is echoing that same anxiety, hovering around its 2020 highs.
This administration HAS a plan...it is being rolled out now and it called the Mar a Lago accord. They will be rich beyond measure as they bankrupt people and countries into submission to Pay for goods or selling to us (Tarif) or military protection. trumps favourite world - take full advantage of everything, and then pay him too. He will skim off the top like putin and viktor. Yet trump never lasts at success, he always overplays his hand.. there is our Hope
Trump has always lasted at success - his businesses never have. His strategy has always been to milk his business until it's empty and then have the business declare bankruptcy. Leaving the banks that financed the whole thing holding the bag.
The banks got tired of this at his sixth bankruptcy, at which point, he turned to Russian banks.
And now, it's time to pay the piper.
The strategy is to break the economy, then swoop down like the vultures they are and dine on the rotting carrion. AKA, snatch up valuable assets at fire sale prices.
Sorry, I’m playing my broken record again this morning; what was it about his erratic, idiotic behavior in his first term that the general public did not get? What was it about January 6 and its aftermath that the “geniuses” on Wall Street abysmally failed to see? The ketchup thrown against the wall wasn’t a clue? Go ahead and hang Mike Pence didn’t give a hint of what swirls in that brain of his? All of this “I sure didn’t see this coming” nonsense is nothing but a pathetic cop-out. If one voted in November for this sorry sack of bricks, one owns every damned thing he’s doing to us. It’s one thing to have voted for him in 2016. Anything after that is on you. I know, this isn’t going to solve the mess we’re. My point is we continue to dodge the truth. And until we stop doing that, nothing will change. Corporate media to this day continues to look for sense amid the senseless. We were warned tens of thousands of times not to re-elect the scumbag. Now here we are, with no way visible way out at the moment. Colonel Jessup was right on the money; “The truth? We can’t handle the truth.”
With the exception of Musk, he hasn't done much he didn't campaign on. Fooled me once, shame on you. Fooled me twice, shame on me.
David Brooks has apologized.
Leopards Eating People's Faces Party refers to a parody of regretful voters who vote for cruel and unjust policies (and politicians and Wall Street Zillionaires). "I never thought leopards would eat MY face,' they cry remembering they voted for the 'Leopards Eating People's Faces Party". 😟🙁😪👎👎👎
I have been worried about bank stability ever since Trump was running for office. Still worried about the dikes holding back these waters.
The levies have broken.
Before the inauguration I told my FA that Trump was going to crash the global economy and I needed to know how to protect my nest egg because we are near retirement. There was very little we could do because unlike the bazillionaires who have enough money to invest in shorting the market, ordinary retail customers like us don't have access to those deals. The game really is rigged. I am so tired of this.
I divested of the stock market some two decades ago.
I'd come to view it as a Ponzi Scheme, devoid of moral restraint, and the engine of forces that are rapidly destroying the very environment that supports all life on Earth.
It's true that I could have made more money in the stock market than I did with term deposits. But I had *enough*, which has become a foreign concept in today's zeitgeist of "MORE!"
I appreciate the scholarship and teaching immensely.
However, I want to disagree with the misplaced desire to place this all on trump. It is the modern republican cult that nominated him thrice and elected him twice and are steadfastly following the moron over the cliff.
It is not trump. It is the greedy, cruel and violent republican policies since st ronnie killed the unions and declared government was the problem not the solution that we have seen a massive wealth transfer from the middle class to the wealthy and this terrible societal malfunction that is ripping away citizen's constitutional rights and our security.
The more blame put on trump, the less blame the real culprits have to shoulder.
It is the republicans!!
Kick the bums out of office!!!
It can be traced back even further than St. Reagan - back to Joe McCarthy. Unions were amongst his biggest targets. From there it's a straight line: McCarthy -> Tricky Dickie -> St. Reagan -> King Bush I -> King Bush II -> TrumPox.
A lot of Trump's wackiest ideas can be traced to John Birch Society propaganda (his dad Fred was a JBS financier). And even further back, read Brad Delong's great analysis of how the South used race to keep Southern wealth concentrated at the top, going back to 1913. https://www.bradford-delong.com/2017/03/lee-atwater-lyndon-johnson-sam-rayburn-and-joseph-bailey.html
And another fun fact: Lee Atwater was part of the political consulting firm of Trump adviser Roger Stone and Trump 2016 Campaign Manager Paul Manafort. And don't forget the McCarthy connection to Trump through Roy Cohn.
And to trace the history even further back, read _Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America_, by Nancy MacLean. Prof MacLean covers how John C. Calhoun in 1840s and 1850s South Carolina, was the first to realize that white oligarchy was never gonna fly if the populace had free and fair elections, thus democracy had to be suppressed so that the rich white men who owned everything, foremost among them the slave labor force, could rule without interference.
Fast forward a hundred years or so, through the Civil War, the birth and growth of the John Birch Society, McCarthyism, Nixon's Southern Strategy, and more, to one James M. Buchanan in the 1960s. His claim to fame is the development and legitimization of the so-called public choice theory of economics, which became if not the cornerstone of modern-day Republican ideology certainly one of the main pillars.
An excellent complement to _Democracy in Chains_ is Jane Mayer's book _Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right_. It lays out how the Kochs and other far-right billionaires bankrolled and executed a carefully plotted strategy to bring about extreme-conservative control of our country -- not just the politics or the economy, but also the courts, education, culture, news media, and religious life. It took some six decades and a very great deal of money, but what we're seeing today are the fruits of their efforts.
Excellent point, but the 90 million potential voters who didn’t vote also bear responsibility. Apathy really killed the US.
PUTIN-TRUMP / THE BIG TARIFF PICTURE
I think most are missing the Putin picture. Trump works for Putin making USA a satellite nation like Belarus. Putin tried to take Ukraine but was denied. Now Putin wants Trump to weaken USA & EU economy & stop USA Ukraine support so Putin can finally win the Ukraine war and then attack a weaker EU. Putin also wants Trump to lift sanctions while Putin steals the gold, minerals and top secrets from a weaker satellite USA & EU nations like Ukraine making Putin richer.
And Xi takes Asia...'friends without limits'. Heaven help us. But this is happening not to a Germany that was afraid to talk to their neighbours..this is playing out in media (mostly Substack and Racheal Maddow ok, but also all over the world too see it) all of us are 'getting it' and we are mobilizing..to the streets. We are 350 million strong..and dare I say the most armed citizens in the world - that is terrifying to even say out loud. As well we only have 1.2 million military personnel. How will they contain the people? Starvation is the best answer, obviously yes. And then for how long ??? This is the American citizens country and freedoms and future - stollen from them. Circling back to, Heaven help us. But some day, Heaven help them.
Desperate, starving people with nothing left to lose will do anything. The R's would do well to remember that.
Professor Krugman, as always the analysis is not comforting, yet in the need to know realm of the current orange crisis. Also , want to express my gratitude for early am posts and the excellent choices of musical codas. They Really do help to calm the nerves. Thank you.
Prof. Krugman, what about the sell off of T-Bonds we have seen in the past few days? Is that another sign of worse things to come, i.e. dumping assets for cash, or something else?
and also, isn't there a chance that a few oligarchs and "friends of friends" could, knowing this was coming, making even more gazillions by just betting on the mad man? In other words, could all of this just be a scam to extract wealth from plunging markets?
They did.
Trump sold $2.3 Bill of Truth Social the day before.
It's selling assets for cash. Hedge funds sell at the first sign of trouble.
I think the deeping financial crisis is about the end of NATO and reckless government downsizing coming into view. The news today is 'Trump won't back off, even after markets tank 10%." That's news to many analysts.
Maybe he doesn't understand the consequences (we disagree on that). But, he hasn't shown signs of letting up. That 'seriousness' should spill over into a re-analysis of his other stated policies, like 'taking Greenland, Canada and Panama'.
It's hard to imagine US Bonds or US currency being a 'safe haven' during tumultuous times caused by a hard-headed US President that may end the WWII world order before the midterms. Political brinkmanship in Congress many could ignore, just the threat of default brought an end to it. If you take his expansionist rhetoric seriously, if he's not going to back down when the world shows him how it works, then watch out.
Even though these policies are terrible, I can see them working out if he'd done them one at a time over four years - NATO this year, tariffs on China next year, tariffs on EU the following etc.
But instead Trump picked a fight with the entire world all at once. It's as if he bombed Pearl Harbor, invaded the Sudetenland, started the Battle of Britain and invaded Russia all on the same day.
It's so crazy, it's to our advantage. You wouldn't believe the ignorance of most Americans. We have a cult of ignorance. Dumb and dumber. But when the price of coffee skyrockets, people will start to pay attention.
At the hardware store yesterday I mentioned being worried about the lack of firefighters this summer. The maga sales person nodded with a frown of concern.