The world reacts to Trump's sweeping tariffs: 'No basis in logic'

ok, then...
i have a huge trade deficit with walmart.
i buy way more from them than they do from me ($1200-1500 a year vs $0); just like the u.s. buys more from many countries than those countries buy from the u.s.
like the leaky diaper's new ~~tariffs~~import tax, i should charge myself a ridiculously high extra tax on purchases from walmart until they buy $1200-1500 a year of some mythical product from me to even out the 'unfair' imbalance?
yea. that'll work.
- I think Trump doesn’t want to trade at all. He wants us to produce everything we need.
- the "logic" is pretty much as you described it. Only, after charging yourself with the extra tax on Walmart purchases, you obviously can't afford Walmart any longer, so you learn to make your own soap with ash and the fats of animals that you have started breeding in your own flat.
- That's actually a pretty good and understandable explanation of what's going on.
- Sounds like you had better open a diaper factory in your house. Then you wouldn't have to pay the tariff that you are charging yourself.
Thank you! Neither the BBC nor the Flemish public tv seem to say this yet (they just repeat the statement Trump gave)
- This is the only person I have seen say this so I can only guess no one is repeating it but it appears to be correct when I checked a few countries.
  Its fucking insane to think Cambodia has a 97% tariff, and he thinks they are getting rich off of it.
Nope, not for every country. Russia is missing from the tariffs
Overview In January 2025, United States exported $34.9M and imported $196M from Russia, resulting in a negative trade balance of $161M.
Just unfathomably stupid.

I hope the EU reacts with something non-tariffy. Like forbidding US online platforms to serve ads and collect personal data, with severe punishments if they still do.

I recently read an article that suggested the best retaliation would be to stop enforcing US intellectual property in the EU. One of the biggest exports they have is media, if we would stop enforcing their copyright it would cost them a lot of money.
- You don't even have to go that far. Just adopt sane copyright laws, like copyright only lasting the life of the artist.
- I think a lot of that kind of stuff is going to happen. I don't think other countries are insulted, as much as they find it ridiculous, and to be ridiculed, I think they're going to do some inventive chaos. I think we need to be building some world bingo cards, and I'll bet we won't guess all the (hopefully hilarious) petty revenges about to snowball.
- Official EU website hosting American-made media for a nominal fee. Can't tariff data!
- Of that I am not convinced. This will work with a lot of smaller countries that don't have much of a copyright portfolio, but not with Europe.
- Would also save the EU an enormous amount in monitoring and enforcement
Yes that would be amazing and a great stimulant for EU companies to start developing a competing platform of it's own (we have BeReal, Dailymotion, Medal and Dumpert, but they aren't very big AFAIK)
- Having Non-US platforms would be nice, yes, But leaving the US-based ones without ad revenue and a shit-ton of users would be nice, too.
- Nice mention of AdNauseam, here is a link:
  https://adnauseam.io/
  It's based on uBlock Origin, so still state of the art in ad-blocking.
- Someone needs to create plugins not to block data being sent, but to send inordinate amounts of trash data.
  Make the whole system pointless.
or something ultra specific that is super easy to source from any other country, to exclusively hurt the american businesses
- or something ultra specific that is super easy to source from any other country, to exclusively hurt the american businesses
  That was part of what went into how Canada chose the targets of our first rounds of counter-tariffs.
  Product categories that we also make here, or can easily get elsewhere or can comfortably do without for an extended period of time.
  That combined with a consumer led boycott of anything "made in the USA " and even staunch Republicans like Mitch McConnell are starting to push back against Trump.
We can only hope.

Shortly after Trump’s announcement, the British government said the United States remains the U.K.’s “closest ally.”

I'm sorry TERF island, that's not gonna keep Trump from stabbing you in the back too.

It's heartbreaking, really.
The UK is like a kid who just got his face covered in mud by bullies, and goes "aren't my friends wonderful for playing with me?".
- Well see there is just the problem, TERF island needs more toxic masculinity so the men can be tough!
  /s
The UK already shot themselves in the foot turning their back on the EU... they have no one left, they are done for
Heads up, UK, the US will use you as a toilet every chance you give it, and we've just dropped all pretense, however thin it may have previously been, about caring about our "allies". Speaking as a US citizen, I would strongly advise against considering yourself a close friend to the US until we get our shit sorted.

If I was Prime Minister, I'd impose a retaliatory tariff of 9000% just because it's all just this stupid.
Call it the Goku tariffs, but drag it out over an hour or two with a lot of screaming.

Wouldn't it have to be 9001%?
- Spoiler
- Power levels are bullshit.
- You're hired
- ISO PTSD trigger warning! Hide that shit the next time.
- Naa, 9001% is too high. It's impossible. Better stick with 9000%.
Call a press conference, build up to announcing the 9000% tariff but then end the conference promising to come back next week and make the announcement.
- PEOPLE OF THE UK!
  I NEED YOUR ENERGY TO CHARGE THESE TARIFFS! AHHHHHHH \o/

Order tariffs
Make everything more expensive for everyone everywhere
Piss off the entire world and invite countermeasures
??????????????
MAGA

- That whole story assumes the population of the USA will continue to have the capacity to buy stuff... this assumption is ever less likely as the USA is heading into the worst recession they have ever experienced

Have we forgotten that he has done this each month since he was Inaugurated?

Today the stock market will crash on this news. The wealthy will buy on this massive dip, and in a few days, HitlerPig will announce that the countries on his list have responded to his tariff threats, so he is postponing them for a month or so.

The stock market will recover a bit, and the wealthy will make a fortune. In a month, he'll do it all over again.

It's deliberate market manipulation.

I am stealing "HitlerPig"
- I've been using it ever since i heard thats what the younger staffers in the Biden White House called him. I found it simultaneously hilarious, vicious, and accurate. I encourage you and others to use it often.
  Agent Krasnov is an acceptsble alternative.
  Other suggestions:
  Kapo Stephen "PeeWee Himmler" Miller (my favorite)
  Steve "Unwiped Asshole" Bannon
  Empty G
  Lauren Boobert
  Big Boobie Bondi
  Couchfucker Vance (not very original, but a good reminder)
  Gold Digging Whore (the Propaganda Secretary, I can't be bothered to learn her name)
  Traitor also works for all of them. Nazi, too.
And we'll all be destitute for it. Everyone loses when they do this, yes, even they do in the long run. Once nobody can buy a loaf of bread I'm sure we'll collectively decide right at that moment that the rich actually do taste good and maybe they should pay more in taxes.

Putting tariffs on Norfolk Island and Heard and McDonald Islands are particularly funny considering Heard and McDonald Islands only has penguins living there lol.

Those penguins are trying to rip off America! It's about time they pay their fair share
- I’ve never once heard a penguin say thank you.
- penguins like cheetos. i remember that uh.. 'documentary'. we should send 'em a big giant fat one. no charge. just to say 'sorry' for imposing the unfair tariffs on their trade.
Yo this motherfucker put tariffs on Antarctica?!!~~Heard Island.jpg~~
Oops, wrong one. Still close.
- also a 10% tariff on the joint US military base at Diego Garcia …

"No basis in logic"

No shit, this whole administration has no basis in logic. Just look at Project 2025 and the progress they've made on it in a little over 2 months.

and the price of bitcoin dropped 4.4%.

I cannot express how much I hate that this appears in a serious economic article.

You don't like hearing about made up currency with no backing that's primarily used for pump and dump schemes and money laundering?
- But arent all fiat currencies made up since there's no gold standard backing them.
- Bitcoin is primarily used for pump and dump schemes? You mean like the middle step trade between scam crypto and real money?
The price of speculative speculation dropped

They’re AI generated tariffs. He asked Grok and these are the numbers it spat out.

He's imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands... what a fucking moron...
- There are penguins! 🐧
They're mostly [Trade deficit]/[Exports to US]
Which is a fucking stupid basis for tariffs.
- It's possibly the most stupid basis for tariffs. The penalty is directly proportional to U.S. reliance on a country's imports. The countries that are the most important suppliers to the U.S. are penalized the most. It's a policy designed to cause maximum reshuffling of production, which maximizes the start-up costs of developing new factories and so on. And those factories are not going to be in the U.S. Import substitution industrialization is a failed policy and it won't work for reindustrialization either.
- The depth of stupidity of this Administration will be studied by mathematicians for centuries as a new form of fractal.

All the goods that Trump excempts from tarrifs is tipping his hand. If I were one of these countries like Taiwan where semiconductors are exempted, I would apply an export duty equal to the tarrif on other goods. If you want to tarrif me fine but you're going to have to commit.

no tariffs on russia, only sanctions?

Don't worry, they are working on removing those as well.

He's preparing for an authoritarian takeover.
Almost every dictator in history enacted massive tariffs so they had a way to control the economy. Loyal businesses are given tariff exemptions while all the other ones are suppressed. That's what Mussolini did, that's what Putin did and now it's what trump does.
I'll wonder if that "we need guns to defend ourselves against an oppressive government" statement was true.
- All the guns on the world won't do any good against a missile. Gun nuts are just waiting for an excuse to shoot their neighbors. Jokes on them because no gun can save them from getting 🗡 In their sleep or getting their food ☠️.
He's trying to destroy the country. Amassing as many bruises as possible is the point.
The village idiot has more guns than the whole village together. So I'm not sure he will accept the bruises.
- Until nukes start flying. I pray every day for the light of a thousand suns. We deserve it.

What about Israel? Aren't they sucking you dry? Perhaps add some tariffs there?

17% and they're already crying about it.
Ironically it's the closest the US has gotten to a BDS policy in its history with Israel.

There is simple logic in it. Punish everyone, and then let them come to you asking for exemptions. Then he can demand things in exchange. After that it's "Pray I don't alter the deal any further."

UK already asked for an exemption and he said they should buy chlorinated chicken first. If every country responds in the same way and gives in he's making bank. If they respond with a boycott on anything American, especially digital services, things get bad.

Chlorinated chicken..?
Is that as mouth-watering as it sounds?
- For when your food grows up in so much squalor that you need to dip them in chlorine to fake the bacterial culture tests.
Well if hes following Project 2025, which it seems based on recent comments by Elon Musk, then hes expecting other countries to remove all tariffs first. As you say, chlorinated chicken, but if you dont then you dont get to sell your healthy chickens to America, and all that money you owe thats denominated in USD becomes very hard to acquire.
Maybe the better option is to allow it but to label it with its harmful chemicals, let the free market decide, in a kind of democratic process of people determining their own marginal utility versus budget constraints. You can still buy cigarettes in the UK and Europe as well, so whats a bit of American chicken versus a lifetime of smoking?
- Then next Trump would just threaten with tariffs again until the labeling had been removed. Then he'll threaten again for their oversized cars. There won't be an end to this.

No basis in logic if he were actually trying to do what he says he is. He's not. They make perfect sense if the goal is to destabilize the country. We elected a fucking Manchurian candidate twice, and the in-between term was spent on a bunch of business as usual and not setting up protections in case it happened again. This country is fucking done.

Dead horse economics:

Wake up you lazy horse!

Oh, do you guys think he might be a stupid maniac gosh

shocked_pika thanks for the honest lol

None of Trump's policies have any basis in reality

I've been saying this for years - why does anyone listen to him? He has no credibility - his whole life bio shows this clear as day.
- Americans are trained from birth to value ignorance as the greatest virtue. Donald Trump represents everything that American culture venerates.

No basis in logic is a nice summary of the Trump administration in general.

Norfolk Island was baffled by a 29% duty despite having no exports.

Ahahaha. For a day, I want to be inside his head and see the world through his eyes. It would be the most valuable insight for humanity... If only to learn exactly what not to do.

No thoughts. Only anger at being confused.
More then racism, Trump's appeal is being a simple answer to a complex question. Which happens to mean racism when applied to race relations, but also harebrained economic policies or injecting bleach into yourself. This is the same man who used a sharpy to change the path of a hurricane on a map rather then admit he misspoke.
It would be like that scene in Braveheart, where the Prince is having servants walk in front of him holding a full length mirror, so he can constantly admire himself.

You know what's fun? Cancelling stuff and citing the reason as 'tariff-related inflation'. It's too new and there is no response script yet, so customer service doesn't really argue.

Of course there is logic, but not the logic most politicians want to admit. This is simply:

"Nice global economy. It would be a shame if something happened to it. Maybe we can come to an understanding, and this whole tariff thing goes away. You do want free trade, don't you?"

So, now $1 per banana is now real, wow. A complete bunch on my country costs that... We are banana exporters we are the banana republic...

It's one banana, Michael. What could it cost? $10?
https://youtu.be/Nl_Qyk9DSUw

Someone asked chatGPT how to apply tariffs to give America an equal playing field and it spit it a formula that looks shockingly similar to how trump calculated the tariffs

Try grok and you'll get an exact match.

Is the plan to isolate us?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism
End goal.
- I would tend to agree with the process part of accelerationism, but I don't think there is a goal.
  The "crazy like a fox" theory is contradicted by several pretty dumb tells that suggest the administration is headed and staffed by actual idiots.
- I got around to reading the article. Damn that is what seems to be happening!
Seems to be what a lot of the far right want. It's essentially what Brexit has done to us in the UK

I don't buy that Trump has anything to do with the logic behind this world-destabalizing shock and awe spectacle.

The conversation would be different if people stopped attributing authorship to him and acknowledged the massive decades-old machine using him as a mouthpiece.

But it sure makes people feel smart though. Gives them something to meme about while the people who planned this get the real dirt done. Maybe he'll misspell a country name next... Do another ad for Leon's dinkeys, Israeli beans or something. Stoopid Donald got poopy pance. lol.

The conversation would be different if people stopped attributing authorship to him
Is there a lemmy channel for those conversations?

They published their “methodology” today, and it’s as dumb as you’d imagine: https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/reciprocal-tariff-calculations
AI would make a lot of sense, considering that there are uninhabited islands on the list.
I'm dumb but that just means that every product will be 30% more expensive for Americans, right? And the 30% is just... Going to the state or something? So it's just taxing your ppl?
- Effectively, yes. Tariffs are basically just a sales tax. It's a little more complicated than that but the end result for consumers isn't really any different.
Heather Cox Richardson, historian of the republican (Lincoln) party said that in her daily newsletter. She cites all her sources.

He's got that dementia infused vindictiveness against the people who want him dead

Vlad Vexler makes the point that the point of is not at all economics but that it does have a basis in logic: it is about asserting that he can do this, that his political power is above economic rationality. It is a political move, not an economic play.

It's also chaos.
He's making it so nobody can even trust their own country or economy.
You just have to listen and trust him and Trump will make it right ..

Art of the deal, folks

It's illogical to expect an illogical man to act logically.

Someone like trump needs hit first to avoid a confrontation.

Dumb man does dumb thing he considers a race and insists he won.

The "Empires last 250 years" thing is bad history and not really supported by fact...but...

The point is to make China the new boot on the throat of the human race instead of the US

I hate the fact that you are correct.
no. the US is still the boot
- That's why they installed a Russian asset as president and why he has been destroying the US's global influence and economy for the last 3 months.

"No basis in logic" will be both the title of Trump's time in office and the reason why the USA collapses

So 100% on brand for Trump and America in general

What the fuck did they expect?

Trump basically ran his mouth, realized he had to drop something, whipped some crap together, took a dump in the living room and left for the golf field... exactly what MAGAtards wanted, hope you are enjoying it

UK and Italy are playing Trump's game. He doesn't negotiate. He demands tribute and only honours agreements if they are a win for him and he feels like honouring it at the time. Canada has a Trump negotiated trade agreement - the best agreement ever, in his parlance. It is apparently not worth the paper it is written on.
Countries must negotiate trade agreements - with everyone except the USA. And citizens must support their countries by not purchasing any thing from the USA. As for the few Americans that didn't vote for Trump, so sorry but your fellow Americans still fully support him. So it isn't "just Trump", it is America that is the problem. Trump is simply reflecting who the majority of Americans really are.

Can we stop winning already? I'm tired of winning so much.

what an absolute bafoon. so devoid of thoughts

buffoon
- Trump is not buff.

translated some analytics written for Russian audience. from here: https://t.me/s/artjockey

About the Tariffs Today marked the “great day for the USA” previously announced by Trump, as the U.S. has now imposed import tariffs against the entire world. I won't make predictions about how this will affect the global economy, how much the S&P has dropped, and so on. Instead, I want to draw attention to something that might not be immediately obvious.

The newly introduced tariffs can be divided into three parts: economic, political, and protective.

At the core of these tariffs is a baseline 10% duty on all imports. I'm not sure why there’s so much noise around this—basically, Zoomers invented the reusable shopping bag, and Trump has invented VAT. The U.S. has never had a national-level VAT before, only state-level sales taxes. Now, there will be a federal VAT, but only on imports and only at 10%.

There are also clear protective tariffs, intended to give advantages to domestic manufacturers and to motivate foreign companies that want to sell in the U.S. to move production inside the country, so they can stay competitive against local producers. These are 25% tariffs on all imported cars and computers. It’s all fairly straightforward and not worth overanalyzing. Russia has all of this too: VAT, protection for domestic car makers (e.g., AvtoVAZ), and maybe in the future Trump will even “invent” vehicle recycling fees.

In short, Trump could have quietly pushed a 10% import VAT through Congress without much publicity, and you wouldn’t have even seen the news in any headlines. But in that case, he wouldn’t have been able to kick off a series of trade wars.

The most interesting part of the tariffs is their political nature. I think everyone understands that the 54% tariff on all imports from China (a combination of a previous 20% and today’s 34%) is by no means a reciprocal move—it’s a global trade war that could even precede a real war. This was expected; Trump launched a trade war with China during his first term, and the motivations are clear.

What’s far more intriguing are the tariffs against some of America’s allied countries, which, in my opinion, make up a rather unexpected list:

India: 26%

Japan: 24%

EU: 20%

Taiwan: 32%

South Korea: 25%

Israel: 17%

Philippines: 17% (a country hosting U.S. military bases aimed at China)

Meanwhile, countries that didn’t receive tariff increases and stayed at the base 10%, from a global perspective, include:

South American nations: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay — 10%. Panama also 10%.

Oil-rich Middle Eastern countries: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, plus Turkey.

AUKUS members: UK and Australia — even though Trump criticized Australia in a speech, no extra tariffs were added.

Africa: Though likely of little strategic interest to Trump for now.

From this differentiation of tariffs, you can infer how Trump views the U.S.’s global strategic direction—a vision that will likely be pursued further.

Notice the low tariffs for South America. Remember how Rubio, right after taking office, made a diplomatic tour across Latin America—something that hadn’t happened in a century? It seems Trump is aiming to “pull Latin America out of China’s hands” and form a U.S.–Latin American alliance in the Western Hemisphere.

At the same time, clear preferences are being given to those joining new U.S. military alliances, as alternatives to the increasingly hard-to-control NATO.

On the other hand, traditional U.S. allies are out of luck. The economies of the EU, Japan, and South Korea—countries that have money but are not considered crucial allies by Trump—are being treated as revenue sources.

This is especially evident in the EU’s case. According to the “Trump Doctrine”, the main rival to the U.S. is China, and the EU is useless in the fight against China. They won’t go to war over Taiwan, nor will they support a likely sanctions regime against the PRC. So, in Trump’s view, they should simply start paying America in hard currency now, with the long-term plan being further deindustrialization and relocating manufacturing to the U.S..

The tariffs will go into effect between April 5 and 9. Based on past experience, I wouldn’t be surprised if they never actually take effect—maybe they’ll be repealed, suspended, or something else. But if nothing changes and the 20% tariffs on the EU, Japan, and others remain in place long-term, then the so-called “golden age of universal prosperity” will likely become a thing of the past for those nations.

Who cares what the russo nazis think
They should tariff Israel a lot more
- Go back to 1933 if you like that so much

Good god he is so freaking stupid I can't even...

Ooh boy, does my retirement account feel liberated.

Because Trump is getting demented. This is all his idea

This thumbnail looks like the shittiest 'Soulsborne' Boss. Ever. Like, worse than Patches. Limping; anaemic.

In a just world, Trump would still be sitting here, wondering where his daughter is.

Rip my year-old IRA

Gold has held up well with new all time highs. You really can't challenge the classic.

Well just to be fair - and i know people like shitting on Trump but hear me out - the complaints from workers against out-shoring labor to other countries has been very loud for many years.

Everytime the newspaper reports "Company X has moved its factory to China" you can be sure that lots of people are gonna complain about it. But tariffs are the only thing that actually forces companies to put the factories back to the USA. Or do you have a better idea?

You can't just flip a switch to have manufacturing moved to the United States overnight or even five years. Not to mention that even raw goods needed to even start the process that are being tarriffed like aluminum just doesn't come out of nowhere. This is a dumb sledgehammer approach that's going break more things than it fixes
- well yeah i agree that giving companies time to move back would have been better.
I think you're kind of being unfairly downvoted because it's definitely underappreciated how much tariffs are used in modern trade deals.
Putting selective import tariffs on certain goods (like say car manufacturing) might be a wise move if you want to encourage the US to develop a manufacturing base. It's worth noting that the US, and most other countries have been doing this selectively for years.
This is reeeaally far from the tariffs that have actually been anounced though, which are the highest rate the US has had in around 100 years, and applied pretty indescriminately. There are some goods that the US just can't produce itself (like certain rare earth minerals that aren't in the USA) but even worse, because of the insane logic of applying them to countries as they have been done, it opens up this type of event:
A comany like Apple might assemble laptops in the US, but import parts like chips from, say, China.
They now have around a 40% tariff on all chips, which is really going to drive up cost, and leaves them with two options.
Option one, they bring all manufacturing into the US, which would take a long time to build up the infrastructure, and still really ramp up the price because wages in the US are so much higher than they are in China
Option two, they outsource everything to say Mexico or Canada who don't pay the tariffs on Chinese chips, and just pay the wholesale import tariffs are needed to bring things from Mexico/Canada to the US. They also get to skip out all the reciprocal tariffs that other countries are placing on the US in retaliation for the recently announces ones when they import out to, say, Europe.
Even option one is bad, because Apple might sell laptops internally, but the newly increased price makes them super uncompetitive with rival firms overseas, so it might still lead to a loss in overall jobs for US workers.
I'm not pretending this doesn't suck - but US based international companies like Apple have a clear incentive to just forgoe the US as much as possible now. This kind of risk is why countries have traditionally been very conservative with changing tariffs.
I think you're probably right that there might be an argument for countries to be less conservative than they have been, but the US government just cranked up the dial from 0 to 11 and we're all about to find out what that might look like in real time.
You need to have a plan in place before doing this to even think about bringing manufacturing back here. And tariffs need to be like the last part of the plan
- I agree that a plan is needed. Still, what would be the other parts of the plan? Tariffs are the only really impactful measure, it seems to me. Tariffs on import and subsidies on export.
  Also, maybe Trump is so "on-off" with the tariffs to give companies a warning to bring back manufacturing to the US, and them lifting them again to not cause a recession, giving them a few years to set up the infrastructure, and then re-install the tariffs. One needs to look for the "good outcome", sothat one steers in that way.
U.S. factories in most cases cannot produce goods that are competitive in a global market. Our labor costs are too high.
This idea that we can revive American traditional manufacturing of basic goods is a complete fantasy. The factories in Vietnam aren't going anywhere, because they will still be selling to the other 95% of the globe outside the U.S. Even if factories are stood up in the U.S., they will be constrained to producing higher-priced goods exclusively for the domestic market, with all the attendant inflationary impacts from start-up costs and higher labor costs.
Meanwhile, retaliatory tariffs from other countries will cause the collapse of U.S. exports. We'll lose markets for the sectors where the U.S. is still competitive, like agriculture, advanced manufacturing, and even services.
Trump's approach is similar to the failed development strategy of import substitution industrialization, except in this case he thinks it will cause the U.S. to reindustrialize. In any case, it will fail for the same reasons ISI failed in Latin America.
Maybe calculated tariffs on commodities where companies are contemplating outsourcing, but that's a step you take in advance in order to dissuade their action. This is like making the whole school sit with their heads down through recess because one specific kid was unruly.
Edit: There wasn't even an unruly kid. The Principal is just vindictive, has a hangover, and hates children.
- because one specific kid was unruly
  Edit: There wasn’t even an unruly kid.
  Well, outsourcing labor was a mass phenomenon in the last 50 years.
But tariffs are the only thing that actually forces companies to put the factories back to the USA. Or do you have a better idea?
I mean no... And, how about accepting that the US is no longer a manufacturer, and that's just fine in a global economy
- tell that to the workers
Who is going to invest many millions in setting up a business to make something when they have no idea what fuck-nugget will do next week that might fuck them over? Where are they going to source the raw materials when no one will want to trade those materials to a market that wants to fuck them over? How are Americans going to pay for these goods that will be more expensive than they are under the previous set up? This is abject stupidity that makes America poorer. There is no Eden at the end of this and Joe Public will bear the brunt of it.

You had me right up to "I didn't vote".
- Nut had me when he blamed democrats for Trump. Not the actual Russians propping him up and the NRA who was funneled money from Russia to give to Republicans.
- Why?
  Democrats and Republicans have spent the last eight years convincing the poor and middle class that voting doesn't matter. Hell, Democrats even subverted their own primary rules twice to strike that point home, and then argued in court that it was their right to do so when they were sued for it.
  I vote, but I can't pretend it matters much when I watch most people in this country across the last eight years working gig jobs for 100 hours a week and all their labor can buy for them is a roach-infested studio regardless of where they live, and our president always has money and time for genocide.
- Because that means you supported Trump, regardless of what you say, your actions helped put him in power.
I don't think this is a generational thing, personally, unless we're talking about the Boomers.
The Boomers took a vibrant, beautiful world and spent two generations driving it into this McDonaldized hellhole we live in, after reaping the benefits of the most prosperous economic period for workers in our history in the 1960's. They're still profiting now thanks to the lopsided tax policies that favor people with wealth.
The vast majority of the country only has one or two choices when shopping for necessities now, so I can't really blame them for the world that they were born into. Calling young people consumerist is just blaming them for circumstances of which they had no real control.