We Talk Friday
(WTF)
This is a semi-regular series that I will run on Fridays to hold discussions on a current topic from the week gone. The aim is to keep them light and conversational, though some might be heavier - regardless of the content topic itself though, just have some fun engaging and discussing with whoever happens to put in the effort in the comments section below.
We Talk Friday Ep. 6: Abuse Me A Little More
I have a friend who was in a physically abusive relationship, for over a decade. I didn't know her during this time, but we were also colleagues and I would drive her to one of our clients every week for a year or two, and we got to know each other well. One of the things I asked her was "why did you stay" which is a pretty stock-standard question, but I wanted an answer directly from a person with experience and since she knows my intentions, she was willing to answer. I don't remember it word for word, but it went something like this.
It started off so well and we were great together, and then the changes in him happened quite slowly, and he was always sorry afterward, and I believed we could get over it, that I should fight to stay with him. But the thing that made it hardest was that I believed I needed him. I felt like if I left, I would lose something I couldn't do without, and I wouldn't survive.
I was reminded of this today when thinking of the current global economic situation at the moment that has been exacerbated by the Trump government in the US. Again, I don't blame American people for this, because one thing that the US has done very well is create a strong sense of patriotism, but the current government is gaslighting citizens and the world. They are making people think that the US has somehow been taken advantage of for all these years, by the rest of the world, when the closer reality is that it is the US and their practices that are taking advantage of everyone else.
Without the rest of the world funnelling money into the US through so many different gateways and mechanisms, the country would not be the largest consumer, nor be able to build the strongest military. It is precisely because the rest of the world hasn't taken advantage of the US, that these things are possible, so don't believe the current narrative.
For instance, the creative accounting practices of the worlds largest companies, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon etc means that they are systematically extracting value from countries, without hiring many people locally (if any) and without paying taxes. For example, in 20-21 Apple took in 9.3 billion in revenue, but ultimately paid 137 million in Australian tax. The standard corporate tax rate in Australia is 30% - they paid 1.5%. And all the others were similar. This is money that mostly ends up back in the US, to drive investments, consumption, and military spending.
The US is an abusive trading partner, but they have successfully turned attention away from the trillions that are pouring in through their hydra-esque gateway corporations, and focused it on things like NATO spending. And this is self-serving anyway, since the trade agreements ultimately force members to buy military equipment from the US anyway.
Yet, the RoW feels like they can't do without the relationship. They feel that if they break those bonds and walk out the door, they are going to lose something and won't survive. This is exactly what an abusive partner propagates in their victim - a sense of dependency. And yes, the current economic trade flows are dependent on the US consumer spending, but that is only the current situation. If the RoW decided to cut ties to a larger degree and instead spend their resources building a consumer market elsewhere, the "single market" of 350M people becomes pretty irrelevant in a global market of 7.7 billion others.
And it should be irrelevant.
The distribution of resources should be far wider than it is, but perhaps more than that:
The prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults 20 and over was 41.9% during 2017–March 2020. During the same time, the prevalence of severe obesity among U.S. adults was 9.2%. This means that more than 100 million adults have obesity, and more than 22 million adults have severe obesity. The prevalence of obesity increased from 30.5% in 1999-2000 to 41.9% in 2017–March 2020. During the same time, the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%.
Maybe a little less consumption would be a good thing?
I get it. That patriotic drive where Americans drop American flags off of every service has been conditioned for decades, but I think that even though Americans might "know" they don't seem to really acknowledge that they are being lied to. That the premise given of their country is not the reality. There is no American dream available for the majority of people, and the call of "freedom" is not very present there either.
The country could be great again, but not really via the path it is on.
Well, that is subjective. If you consider a great country to be one where a handful of people have all the wealth and the control to continually crush down citizens in order to make a little more profit, then yeah, America is on the right path. But, "average wealth" doesn't mean the average person is wealthy. The majority can suffer massively, but the GDP can be growing in double digits.
What is a great country?
Can you define it? When Trump says it, what is he envisaging? Is it the same as you? For me at least, a great country is one where the wellbeing and betterment of humankind is the focus for investment and activities, so that people now and in the future will have opportunities to thrive in value-adding ways that are good for the country, the community, and themselves. There has to be alignment, because misalignment leads to collapse.
Would you stay in an abusive relationship?
How is your relationship with your government? Are they helping you be your best, supporting your dreams? Do they have your best interests at heart, are they engaged with your needs, are they a net positive in your life? Or even though they keep hurting you, they have they made you feel like you need them and cannot leave?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Past Episodes:
Episode 5: No Humour Here
Episode 4: Your Country Sucks
Episode 3: Collapse is Inevitable
Episode 2: Show me the money
Episode 1: Strange bedfellows
I wonder what third world countries would be like in twenty years, if the major governments cooperated in the way you described? Would the people in such places be willing and able to dump their corrupt politicians, and move on to something life-changing? No government is perfect, because it's run by people who have their own agendas. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do better, and hold people accountable.
I sometimes wonder what the world might be like if for instance, all the resources that went into military for five years was poured into creating clean energy instead. What would be developed?
Really though, I don't think the vast majority are ready to take responsibility for themselves. But, we keep supporting governments that don't help us- why? Are we fools? Or are we brainwashed?
The systems have been in place for so long, most people can't even accept that there could be anything else. That being said, if even one place changed successfully, who knows?
Pour the world's military budget AND resources for 5 years into anything that could benefit everyone, such as clean energy, and the world has been changed faster than it ever has been. Try that and people will never agree to go back to petty fights amongst world leaders which can and are indeed intended to end with death on a huge scale.
Oh no, they would never allow such "changes" occur anywhere in the world.
The rest of the world has helped absorb the dollars created by the US inflationary fiscal policies over the years. I'd say that's abusive. It may also help explain the "trade deficit" people worry about so much. The MAGA loyalists have abandoned all pretense of free market econo.ics for rabid nationalism, and people like me will suffer. My usual dairy alternative cheese is from Canada. My Raspberry Pi computers are from England. My boots are from South Africa. A lot of tabletop games are from all over Europe. Trump's ignorance has somehow bamboozled much of America, though. They think he is a wise leader. And the sad part is, he still may have been the lesser of two evils in November.
The trade deficit one is a funny condition, isn't it? The US is the world's largest consumer, doesn't it make sense that they are in deficit to most countries? They set it up this way - to live in deficit to be able to consume and control from that position.
The US today is built on debt. The bubble must burst eventually. The US could be an agricultural and industrial powerhouse again, but regulatory capture and taxation have killed a lot of entrepreneurial activity and competition here to concentrate wealth in the hands of politically-connected megacorporations while bailouts protect them from the failures of bureaucracy within.
This situation is the result of the world economic order ruling during the last decades, which started after World War II. What we are witnessing this week with the "tariffs war" is just the catalyzer of the final capitulation of the US as the strongest world nation.
The change will hurt some countries, industries, companies, and citizens. But it is also true over the months, little by little trade flows and consumption habits will change and most of the present paint will disappear. Trump administration, with its personal ego to show the world he is the "king" is only speeding up the process.
It is hard to see how we will probably enter a new world stage, the same way it is hard to see it when you are being abused, but eventually it comes and it only reinforces yourself after your dependencies have disappeared.
It might be a rapid slide (respectively to history) as everything is sped up now. I don't mind things changing from the present, the problem is that I would want it to change for the better, not the worse. The current direction is not for the better.
For now the results from Trump actions are really bad and they are particularly bad for the USA. I even saw the numbers for yesterday where US stock market indexes fell more than stock indexes around the world... He says this is short term pain for long term gain, I suspect that he is doing more for Europe than for US. Europe will have to go through a short term pain but will gain in the long term. Not so sure about USA...
This is only true if they break the dependency of selling into the US and take the approach of building markets in the rest of the world.
we can say that as long as a country has imbecilic, corrupt and thieving rulers, we will never get out of poverty and misery whether we like it or not, the countries with the healthiest and most powerful economies are those that have less regulations, that is to say: they have more economic freedom to develop
Oh no, I remember in the past I was in the abusive relationship he always extract money from me, he let me buy him groceries and cook food for him. He was very possessive. When I was at home he even stole my sandal my clothes hanging outside our house. What a pathetic man! The break up was very bad he wouldn't let me go. And I cannot remember how did I get out from that mess. After the break up that is the time that I've found that he was using shabu/drugs. I felt sorry for myself.
The abusive relationship is just a replica of what’s happening with the government and its citizens and I’d say it’s even worse in my country. I’ve been a victim of abusive relationship and it takes all the nerves you can muster to walk out. I was there for five years until I finally decided enough was enough. Best decision of my life…
Hi friend @tarazkp, I understand your concern about global dynamics and I appreciate that you use metaphors to communicate your ideas. However, I think comparing the relationship between countries to an abusive personal relationship is too simplistic and out of context.
International relations are not binary, there are multiple factors at play, from history to economics, culture and politics. It is true that some US practices may seem unbalanced, but it is also important to recognise that many countries have prospered from their partnership with the US. Europe, for example, has benefited enormously from transatlantic trade, and Asia has grown in part because of US investment.
Moreover, if a country feels it is being “abused”, it always has the option to strengthen internally and diversify its alliances. Indeed, countries like China have shown that it is possible to rise from difficult situations and become global powers. But that took hard work, education, infrastructure and visionary leadership, not just complaints.
I would like to stress, to make it clear, that every nation fights for the wellbeing of its people, just as a family works for the wellbeing of its household. No one wants to be deliberately “stuck” in a toxic relationship; rather, they need tools and opportunities to move forward. Instead of pointing blame, we should encourage collaborative solutions that benefit everyone involved. In the end, the world is like a big company, in this sense, do you think that if you were given the position of Manager you could improve the situation? Would you have your trousers on to stand up to their questioning?
Poor society is also dependent on the system, and as the economy grows, so does the population.
I know relationship always have issues but when it becomes abusive, i always advice the victim to leave and walk away, how ever majority takes this advice, And you absolutely right its the same way with the government, in my country the economic situation is zero, but it hasnt been abusive yet at least folks over here can still survive and get by even though the situation is tough
I believe that we don't a goverment, we can govern ourself. How strange it is that we elect politicians to torture us. I wonder whether the US citizens are happy now.
Apple paying only 1.5% tax in Australia is just messed up. Big companies get away with too much while regular people pay full price for everything. I see the system set to put the final burden on regular people with no power or level of control.