May 2025 Blog

5/6: “We don’t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market. We don’t want a piece of their market. We don’t care about their market.,“  Donald Trump.

This is not a new idea. It’s something Ive always complained about since the 1960s when we decided not to embrace the metric system. We built this huge wall around our entire country to ignore the other NINETY SIX PERCENT of the world market. I, as a manufacturer back then, saw the world as my market.

I never understood this mindset!

“Trade should not be a weapon,” The most successful investor of our generation, Warren Buffett said at Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder meeting. “I do think that the more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, it won’t be at our expense, the more prosperous we’ll become, and the safer we’ll feel, and your children will feel someday.”

5/5: Could a history book be more timely? Of all the golden ages, the greatest is here and now. Of all the progress of the past 10,000 years in raising human living standards, half has occurred since 1990. Openness went global after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But now it is in rapid retreat, as a multilateral trade war looms and ever more states suppress free inquiry.

Previous golden ages all ended like Rome’s did, jinxed by a mix of bad luck and bad leadership. Many thriving societies isolated themselves or suffered a “Socrates moment”, silencing their most rational voices. “Peak Human” does not mention Donald Trump; it was written before he was re-elected. America’s president will not read it, but others should. The current age of globalisation could still, perhaps, be saved. As Mr Norberg argues: “Failure is not a fate but a choice.” — from Economist about the history book "Peak Human" by Johan Norberg

5/5: Trump wants to makeover his new home. He has ordered officials to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz, a famous prison on an island off San Francisco. He said Alcatraz would “house America’s most ruthless and violent offenders” and that it was “a symbol of law and order”.

5/4: Doesn’t the presidential oath of office pledge to UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES?  Read what Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press”:

“President Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday that he did not know whether it was his job to uphold the Constitution and wavered when asked whether every person on American soil was entitled to due process, even though the Fifth Amendment says as much. “It might say that,”

That’s got to be grounds for removal or at least forced reeducation on the Constitution.

5/3: There’s one positive result of Trump’s presidency: Other nations are electing liberals or centrists — Germany, Canada, and Australia today! They’re doing this to fight Trump and his ethos.

5/3: Why can’t the army wait two weeks and celebrate on the Fourth of July when we can all celebrate?

5/3: “This push to normalize thugs and extremists is solely a cover for the current American movement and especially this administration to completely steal everything that isn’t nailed down. No serious democracy is looking to the US right now as a beacon of anything other than what not to do. Inept, inefficient, thorough corrupt kleptocrats sucking every single ounce of value for themselves while throwing shiny objects in the air to distract the people. And then using borderline sociopathic bigoted thugs to intimidate the everyday citizenry. “ - Marcus Debon, Substack

5/2: As with all good businesses, any order by the CEO can be rescinded by the board of directors, so should any presidential executive order be rescindable by congress.

I propose all EOs automatically rescind in, say, fourteen days if not approved by congress.

5/1: Let’s stop complaining about the destruction he’s done and focus on what we can do to stop him. We need a solid plan that everyone can buy into. But let’s not forget to continue telegraphing and documenting his destruction.

5/1: Trump has activated the latent atmosphere of the American pagan culture. Here’s what David Brooks of the NYT says about. “The pagan ethos has always appealed to grandiose male narcissists because it gives them permission to grab whatever they want. This ethos encourages egotists to puff themselves up and boast in a way they find urgently satisfying; self-love is the only form of love they know.
The pagan culture is seductive because it lures you with images of heroism, might and glory. Think of Achilles slaughtering his enemies before the walls of Troy. For a certain sort of perpetual boy, what could be cooler than that? But there is little compassion in this worldview, no concept that humility might be a virtue. There is a callous tolerance of cruelty.