There is No Bottom

Back to Where We Started/ But Worse

Over the weekend the Trump Administration announced that it was walking back it's at least temporarily, the its unprovoked tariff trade war against China. It was a huge capitulation on the Trump administration’s part, dropping most of the tariffs in a “pause” without gaining any concessions. The Tariff rates of over 100% had amounted to an effective embargo of goods between countries, and will now temporarily hold at 30% for the US and 10% for China. All in all, just over one month later after “liberation day” we are back to where we started in this Reckless trade War, except now we’re in a worse position.

The chances of recession are higher; the prices of goods are still likely increase and be felt by the lower and middle class. On top of that, as we spiral downward while some elements are maddeningly similar, at the same time we have seen a further degradation in terms of the civil liberties and the general freedoms traditionally appreciated by Americans.

We've seen judges arrested, and people snatched off the streets by the modern-day gestapo, ICE, often separating families in front of communities.  We've seen increasing numbers of US citizens being detained by Ice agents or Customs and Border Patrol for questioning because of expressed political beliefs! And, of course, Steven Miller is already floating the suspension of habeus corpus, suggesting rolling back a thousand years of law.

It's no surprise that we are seeing this increasingly oppressive crackdown, even as the administration continues to flail. The chaos, confusion, and fear all combine to freeze opposition until it’s too late to stop the power consolidation. We have started to see some pushback from the legal profession and the judicial branch, along with select members of the legislature, but facts on the ground are changing so quickly that without help, it may be hard to impossible for the judicial branch to check Trump and his goons.

Our political and legal system need support from civil society, from the populace at large to stand up to the authoritarian tide. The majority of people in America believe that Trump is a dangerous dictator who must be stopped before he destroys democracy. We see now that this country’s institutions won’t save themselves, it will take organized people power joining together politically and economically to ensure a government that looks out for everyone, not just use the vulnerable as disposable pawns. So join us each Tuesday, in growing solidarity, as we rise faster than the forces of oppression to ensure liberty, justice and an economy for all. Don’t Shop on Tuesday.

#DSOT