Liberation or Ruination Tarrifs – Part 11

Q: You have advocated that China should begin back channel negotiations with the US. Wouldn’t this be a sign of defeat for China and the rest of the countries who are now holding back on having Tarrif talks with the Chinese. You have mentioned that the MAGA movement is a clean slate- Tabula Rasa, where it is possible to redefine the rules of engagement between the US and the rest of the world, especially China. Why do you see the MAGA movement as an entity that is different from the traditional Republican and Democratic machinery? (This is a question from Cosca 3092)

A: Let me begin by extending my warmest fraternal greetings to the ancient readers of Cosca 3092. Let me also reverse the questions and begin from the bottom up. Lets start by asking ourselves what is MAGA? You can just as well write one nonsensical sentence at the back of a chewing wrapper and it will still be kosher. My point is MAGA as a theory or school of thought is essentially a blank Slate, but it will not remain blank forever. At some point an intellectual class will emerge from this present state of chaos. This class will start by chisseling out the main outlines of the definition of MAGA. Given more time they will begin to delienate those lines and even differentiate themselves from the classical and ritualised politics of the US which is presently the Republican and Democratic party. So essentially MAGA is the first green shoots of a completely new party political philosophy. This brings me to my point- do you want the wordsmithers of this new philosophy to begin from a position of self confidence where they are optimistic about their ability to shape their future on a meaningful basis or do you want them to be a bunch of disgruntled axe grinders who really only see their meaning in life to be part of a crusade against some imaginary bogeyman where they have the unmitigated license to blame everything that is wrong and sick and decrepit and broken in America on China. Bear in mind America is already a divided nation, that’s to say the sum of what unites its people is no longer as strong as what can perpetuate the divide that already exist and this is what I define as the opposite of self confident and if we take this theory to its logical end that reincarnate version of America is dangerous not only to herself, but she will also pose a clear and present danger to the rest of the world. Kompf this is not a new story. The world has seen all this before with the Weimar Republic and how it gave rise to first the likes of Rosa Luxemberg and that precipitated the rise of the socialist and eventually the Nazis in Germany. A sick and disease nation is just that, they are a bucket of those countries who are just benignly sick and diseased, but a sick and disease America is not something that serves the global community, especially not with its largesse of 11 carriers and atomic warheads that can do unimaginable damage to itself and the rest of the world. Maybe the question we should all ask is what will the outfit that will assume power the day after Trump & Co is consigned to the garbage heap of history be like?

Kompf when you war game that scenario….it should be something that will keep you wide awake in the dead of night. Tolstoy has never been more pertinent than today to sum up the woes of our present age, ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ That aphorism may hold reliably true for most countries, but an unhappy and dysfunctional and divided America is a sad state that is likely to suck the rest of the world into its orbit of unhappiness.

Second question – You have advocated that China should begin back channel negotiations with the US. Wouldn’t this be a sign of defeat for China and the rest of the countries who are now holding back on having Tarrif talks with the Chinese. Trade negotiations are long and protracted affairs that can take any where between 5 to 10 years. Anyone who imagines it to be a one sitting affair is simply delusional. Besides its better to have open channels of communication than to cut the lines. As it is. This benefits no one least of all the rest of the world – besides the third rule of war is keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closest. Tell me who bloody benefits from this wall of silence?