Degringolade

I am not arguing against anything you have said, and I am not necessarily espousing my beliefs, I am simply creating an argument for the sake of (a seemingly relevant) argument. In other words, in case it isn’t obvious, I am trying to be an intellectual, not a douchebag. I suppose I am indirectly asking whether you are sure that any group of humans - any country today - deserves to be preserved at any cost for the reason that it is so much better than the others. Me First It starts with family - family is most important and should be one’s first priority. Next, one should support that which is local versus not - neighborhood is better than town, then town is better than state, then state is better than country, then “made in USA” is better for Americans than “made in XXX”. With regards to the last case, the reason why tariffs are needed, is because when Americans are given complete freedom to do what they want, they will generally choose NOT to buy “made in USA”, unless the workers in the USA are compensated the same as the workers in XXX. There is no reason to expect proles to change and buy “made in USA”, unless they are forced to do so via tariffs or other means - and the most fundamental belief - the true non-negotiable for proles in the USA - is that nobody forces us rugged individuals to do anything! This applies even when "rugged" means stupid, foolish, lazy, selfish, and incompetent - like the current president of this great country. This Is not to say that many of the rugged are not smart, competent and generous; the point is that proven economic understanding says that the latter type will not buy “made in USA” if there is a better alternative. The function of a tariff is to remove the better alternative. If I were a Christian with $100 to give away to a human in need, why would I start looking for a recipient in the wealthiest of all nations? People will say the reason is that one should support the people in one’s country first. Question: Who in this Christian nation made this one up - this most unchristian proposition? As far as I can tell, this idea is being perpetuated today by a collection of fuckheads that don’t live according to their words unless it profits them to do so. The saying “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” didn’t come out of nowhere. Removing emotion from the equation, a logical approach with the $100, would start with excluding the US entirely from consideration, because this would eliminate the chore and possible errors of weeding out the billionaires, millionaires, hundred-thousandaires, the foolish, lazy, addicted, etc. Next, why should one not look immediately to places where a baby is likely to die because they didn’t get a shot that costs 50 cents? The truth is, tariffs are needed because the proles and businesses of America do not buy American unless they are forced to do so. I do not see how this can be argued because we have just lived through the proof over the past 40 years. As well, proles as consumers will readily buy products made with illegal immigrant labor, and American businesses will readily employ undocumented immigrants in order to offer the proles what they prefer. By all indications, if the proles were given the opportunity to assume the roles of today’s elite, the proles would do the same as the elites, or worse, with regards to selfishness. I have heard it said that refugees from South America being held in facilities near the Mexican border - even the children in “cages” - are living in better conditions than they came from. If this is true, why should someone with $100 to give, not send it to where those humans came from; especially in cases where the one with $100 wants those humans turned away? How can the ideal be that all men are created equal, and yet 600,000 men die in a fight over the right to buy, sell and use slaves? How can the claim that America is, and always has been, a Christian nation, be mentally connected with the most unchristian words of all: “our country first”, when “our country” is the wealthiest of all? I propose that this state of affairs shows the meaning of the word prejudice. “America First” means my people first; which doesn’t sound too bad. But put “my people” next to “those people”, where “those people” are humans equivalent to “my people”, and the only reason that “my people” should come before “those people”, is that the result is better for me. Fair enough, but let’s drop the Christian BS.