By Erik Wallbank – May 1, 2025
I’m criticized by long-term readers for being too harsh on Trump, and for being pessimistic in general. It’s true, when viewed by those who voted for Trump with greater expectations than getting rid of the bad taste of Obama. Given Trump, do I temper my analysis? No way. The US is on the verge of economic collapse and possible nuclear war. How did it happen? Economically it's obvious. Turn of the century presidents (including Trump), spent dollars without reckoning for repayment and failing to realize the US was no longer an economy backed by a financial system, instead a financial system with an economy.
Post gold standard, came greed, becoming control, to assure continued greed. From where came this greed? Greed is inherent in the corporate mission where shareholder profitability defines the path forward, without the necessity for ethical considerations.
Was the United States a better nation in its 1st 175 years than now? It was. Most Americans were Christians, sitting through church sermons, not corporate perversions. This may seem simplistic but there’s something in what I say. Though not a Christian, when I traveled the world on a motorcycle and needed repairs, when I came to a shop with the fish above the door I was treated fairly. Ironically, many were in Russia.
Russia and China are misunderstood in the West. Putin lives for the benefit of his nation and its people. Russia is a democracy where one best not go against the interests of the nation. In the first year of the Ukraine war the Russian military bumbled along. But when Putin became aware of some oligarch pocketing money intended for the defense of Russia that person met a bitter end. Now, the Russian military is 2nd to none.
If one listens to Putin’s speeches, it’s apparent that Russia does not target civilians. If civilians are killed, it’s through Russia either taking out energy infrastructure in response to Ukrainian genocide, or an apartment building housing NATO coordinators . . . that are targeting Russians. Don’t misunderstand me. Russia may be the most authoritarian democracy on the planet, but it’s by design, with ethical consideration. China is another nation of authoritarian rule, but with a caveat of caring for the welfare of its people. I’ll get to that, but first consider conditions in the US. Had we gotten another “Obama mandate” with Harris it would have been a catastrophe. No communication with Putin for 3 years, then 4 more years of that. America would have been destroyed, or just handed over to globalists.
American nationalist Trump seemed the better choice, though best described as a sometimes “entertaining calamity”, with insipid views on tariffs that will likely result in economic collapse and/or global pariah status. Then again, the US economy is already doomed. The reason for my pessimism is not me, it’s Trump. Allow me to explain. Trump has taken to saying right up front that he controls the world. That he thinks he can demand tribute from that world - as in tariffs and free passage for American ships through the Panama and Suez Canals. Of course he does . . . but it ain’t gonna happen. In the same way Greenland will not be a US possession. Neither will Mexico. Neither will Canada. The world may become a worse place.
As a Canadian/American writer of non-complementary critiques of the Trudeau/Freeland tyranny, I was warned to not cross the Canadian border. That there is no Canadian Bill of Rights might end my freedom to write (and ride). Now, with the installation of PM Mark Carney (a shrewder version of Trudeau and joined at the hip to the WEF), there will likely be more efficient means to deal with persons such as myself, involving incarcerations. As if that were not bad enough, critics of Trump’s policies (that’s me), are now being detained at the US border for questioning. It’s gone from bad to worse, and, worse yet, I advocated and voted for Trump - more than once.
This ain’t the Vietnam era when Americans hit the streets, far from it. Instead, Victor D. Hanson advises universities (including students?) to make a deal with Trump to stop their funding (and freedom) from being taken away. With universities being the travesty they are (they're a principle cause for emasculated Americans), is Victor Hanson proposing cowardice?
Do you critique Trump for a FOX news analysis becoming Secretary of Defense? Few Americans have read Hegseth’s book in which he comes across as anti-Islamic crusader, with a concurrent goal for regime change in China. This is a dangerous man. I do see some positives though, such as Bobby Jr. scaring the crap out of greedy corporate America. And Trump may get needed global agreements, in a process analogous to cutting a diamond with a shotgun. He neither reads nor studies geopolitics. He doesn’t understand that Russia has no concern for what he or his emissaries think when it involves battlefield conditions. Trump doesn’t understand that Russia suffers 10% of Ukraines casualties. As ruler of the world, Trump needs Putin to make a deal with Trump. But Putin involves Trump only if it leads to removing sanctions on Russian or EU/Russia Security.
Making America Great Again would involve a foreign policy built around American nationalism with a large dollop of humility for the consternation we’ve caused the world. Instead, Trump is focusing on shifting the war to China. He speaks of his phone calls and friendship with Xi, but it’s imaginary. US meddling in Taiwan could well bring about WWIII. The US military has launched 251 global insurrections since 1999, while the last time China fought a war was 1979. So, what’s this bullshit being slung around over Taiwan? The UN considers Taiwan, officially, as a Provence of China. The US has ratified a One China policy more than once. The IMF recognizes Taiwan as a Provence of China. As such, the US promised to lower arms sales to Taiwan, it instead raised them. In recent polls, only 8% of Taiwanese want independence - 92% prefer the current status quo.
I’m no fan of Thomas Hobbes but something he said is apropos: “Hell is proof discovered too late”. Something I’ve written about for years pertains to the Thucydides Trap - where a dominant power fails to recognize the ascension of growing powers. If the US recognizes BRICS concerns too late it sets up an unavoidable descent into hell.
Trump sees Article 2 of the US Constitution as ultimate executive power, sidelining Congress. Trump is no revolutionary. He’s an establishment counter-revolutionary, dismissing that China has gained a step while the US has lost a step is the actual friction we’re seeing today.
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