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by sorcerer-mar 438 days ago
Another angle: he's a very stupid person.

Consider if you were kind of a dumbass but born very wealthy. You go your entire life running from income tax. Then someone mentions tariffs to you. A complete dumbass in this situation would, obviously, be extremely excited about the idea of replacing income tax with tariffs. And fortunately for him/unfortunately for us, it's one of the few things POTUS can basically do unilaterally.

It has side-benefits like centralizing power so everyone has to come to you for exemptions, it makes it look like you have a chance of moving American industry back a few decades which would be great for a chunk of your constituency, etc.

But fundamentally he's just a dumbass and the people around him are fully indoctrinated into his cult. Very dangerous combination.

https://www.axios.com/2025/02/20/commerce-secretary-lutnick-...
2 comments
rapnie 437 days ago
Another angle: The planned demolishment of democracy involves a recession/depression.
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mls4o4 438 days ago
He is not just stupid but he has unlimited energy so the famous Hammerstein-Equord quote about 4 types of officers applies.

Add modern context of the Attention Economy built on exploiting the fact that people have limited Attention to give anything, but unlimited capacity to Receive Attention. Trump being the textbook example. So we have a double whammy.

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Ey7NFZ3P0nzAe 437 days ago
Had to look it up, that's great thanks:

> I distinguish four types. There are clever, hardworking, stupid, and lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. Some are clever and hardworking; their place is the General Staff. The next ones are stupid and lazy; they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to routine duties. Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the highest leadership duties, because he possesses the mental clarity and strength of nerve necessary for difficult decisions. One must beware of anyone who is both stupid and hardworking; he must not be entrusted with any responsibility because he will always only cause damage

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_von_Hammerstein-Equord

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