If you don't think Trump is responsible for inflation....

 

If you don't believe that Trump's actions are causing inflation, look at the sale price of this dress.  Normally, it has been selling at Target for $50.99.  Today, it is listed for $76.49.  What has changed in the past week?  Not much.  But what has likely happened that Target's warehouses (or those of an intermediary who sells on Target's website) has just received a new shipment of these dresses, and has marked them to their current profitable price.

Let's assume that it is Trump's tariffs that account for the price hike.  Do we have a domestic industry large enough to maintain a price-competitive supply chain?  I doubt it.  Opening up our market to cheap Chinese goods 35 years ago destroyed much of American industry, its logistics and supply chain.  And we don't have what it takes to bring it back.  

Sadly, we never had a transition for those workers being displaced by cheap overseas labor.  Our capitalists acted as, if by magic, their consumers/workers would find other work so that they could afford to buy goods produced by cheaper labor.  For a while, this happened, as displaced labor was limited to a few rural towns.  But more and more people were affected over time, and both blue and white collar workers have been affected by these misguided policies.

No, I am not arguing against competition.  Instead, I am arguing against opening the doors to competition without a clear path for labor to have its needs taken care of.  European nations would never allow this to happen to its labor force, as they do not want social unrest and alienation.  They believe in a well educated people, with regular access to a relatively under biased news media still focusing on presenting objective truth to its consumers.

Trump has taken advantage of the 1st Amendment to the Constitution in ways our founding fathers couldn't conceive.  Political lies have been protected by the courts, and Trump has never been anywhere close to telling truth to his followers.  He lies, knowing that his cult will ingest anything he says.  In short, he is Orwell's "Big Brother" to his followers, and can do no wrong.  To the rest of us, he is an autocrat who has broken all social conventions, and has few checks and balances to stop him from destroying America.

So, why are tariffs so important?  In short, they are sales taxes on the economy.  They only serve to slow things down.Is this dress worth 50% more than it was a week ago?  No.  Could the price hike have been caused by the recent Iran war?  I doubt it.  There is no clothing industry of note in the Middle-East. But there is one in Southeast Asia and China. And their industries are being affected by Trump's tariffs and his war.

The prosperity of nations depend on constancy and predictability.  For generations, farmers knew that they'd plant crops in the spring, tend to them in the summer, and harvest them in the fall.  To increase yields, farmers have added fertilizer to their land for ages, much of it now being derived from Middle-East oil products.  Now, much of the fertilizer supplies we'd use are no longer available because of the war.  Many of the markets for American farm products no longer exist due to Trump's trade wars.  And yet, many in the rural states have yet to signal that they want this buffoon to be removed from office.  The infallibility of their cult leader overrides objective truth.  People are afraid of reality.

For those not part of Trump's cult, we see his cruelty destroying the friendships between America and its friends.  Canadians are largely avoiding the US, as well as tourists from many other nations.  Trump's Gestapo (read: ICE) rounds up people solely based on skin color and puts them into prison camps without due process.  Trump's CBP agents at our borders often harass travelers with proper documentation, and have put them into prisons as well.  Why should any nation want to be friends to America, much less help it in an illegal war?   Losing tourists from these nations is causing economic problems for many tourist areas in the US, and I don't see this happening soon.

This leaves us with a declining American workforce that has to suffer with increasing inflation.  It will take a generation or two to undo what Trump has damaged - it it can be undone at all.  If I were young, I'd have already left the US for countries which protect labor better than we do, inform and educate its people better than we do, and protect freedom better than we do.  But I am old, and stuck on America's roller-coaster.  For the rest of us, it will take come time for America to collapse.  And it is time for those with marketable skills to leave America.  Just be careful choosing where to go to.... 

 

I find it hard to believe, but I applied for a job

 

The other day, I saw an email from indeed.com suggesting that I apply for a job I have the skills to do.  No, this would not be a technology related position, but that of an office worker.  And I sent in the application for a job which I would go to work in my female presentation.

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Ever since I quit the job at the document imaging firm, I have very little incentive to get up in the morning.  Getting up early in the morning is even harder for me.  I realize that I need a little incentive to get moving, and work can be that incentive. Do I really want to go back to work?  Well, with inflation rearing its ugly head, I could use a few extra dollars coming in.  Now is not the time to start draining the 401k when the market is going South.  Instead, it's the time to add money to the nest egg while I'm healthy enough to be able to do so. 

If I were to go back to work, I wouldn't be able to take vacations where and when I want to do so.  This would cramp my style as I go further into my "golden years".  At least, I'd again be able to present as a female in an office setting, and be able to get more use out of my female business wardrobe.

At these prices, I might as well buy premium

 

This is the posted price of gas at a Southern California filling station.  You'll note that there is not much difference in the prices of the three grades of gas.  And I expect prices to go even higher before they peak.

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The war between Russia and Ukraine is hurting people the world over.  Ukrainians are getting killed, Russians are suffering due to economic sanctions imposed by the West.  And the West is hurting because of its over dependence on Russian resources. I am constantly reminded of a line repeated often in the movie The Dead Don't Die - "This is not going to end well."  The joke is that Adam Driver's character has been able to read the whole script (unlike Bill Murray), and he already knows the ending to the film they are acting in.  Sadly, what's happening in Ukraine is not going to end well, and it is not a joke.  Nor is the financial inflation which is being made worse by material shortages resulting from this war.

When I first started feeling comfortable going out as Marian, I used to drive all over the place, not worrying about the price of gas.  Now, I am concerned about the price of gas, and for the electricity that will power my air conditioners this summer. I'm no longer concerned about having new frocks to wear on a cruise.  Instead, I'm more concerned that the people I work with will be able to pay their bills.  We've only seen the tip of the iceberg, and high gas prices are only the beginning.

There are many people who advocate for America to be directly involved in this war.  That would be a mistake.  The last thing we need is for two nuclear powers to be officially "at war" with each other.  It is better that we and the Russians participate in a "Phony War", such as America did between 1939 and 1941.  The powers that be understood the need to switch over to military production.  But our government had to officially stay neutral until Germany or Japan declared war on us.  We were able to supply the UK with munitions, and circumvent rules of neutrality by allowing the UK to pickup warplanes they owned, but which we couldn't ship outside the US.  (We parked the planes at the border for the British to pull them safely into Canada without American assistance.)  This is the type of tactic we need to use to avoid starting World War 3.

Right now, I'm almost glad that my relationship with XGFJ ended when it did.  The cost of driving to her place would be excessive with today's gas prices.  Hopefully, she's getting "cheaper" gas where she lives than I am.  But that isn't much of a comfort these days.  Tonight, I paid $4.29/gal for gas.  A few miles away, the price has broken the $5.00 barrier.  Yet, it is already much worse in some areas.  In Gorda, CA, the price of gas has broken the $7.50 barrier. Soon, America will be paying European prices for gas - and we won't know how to cope.

As for me, I'm going to hunker down and hope for the best.  Hopefully, that best will happen soon.