The best way to acquire money is to have money. A feudal society provides a clear demonstration. Gentry owned the land, the power and the money. Everyone else was a servant. The French and American revolutions seized power from gentry and king and replaced a feudal society with a capitalist society. Under feudalism wealth is inherited. Under capitalism inheritance is still the main source of wealth, but one can also acquire wealth by doing something better. That is an enormous improvement over feudalism. Competition is the motor of progress.
Americans like to attribute their dominance to their hard work, flexibility and inventiveness. They think they deserve to win the competition between countries because they are better. That suspicious assertion requires an explanation. Why would people in one country be smarter and more industrious? Jill Lepore puts an end to this self-congratulatory explanation. We were better at genocide and exploitation and had space for immigrants.
Genocide
The early settlers had guns and bacteria which allowed them to prevail over the native Indians (they had no immunity to the imported European bacteria) The settlers continued to use all the cultivations (clearings, paths) that the previous inhabitants had developed over centuries.
Exploitation
Slavery allowed slave owners to build more wealth than they could consume. When slavery ended, their wealth did not evaporate. Many current trust funds can be traced back to wealth that was built many years ago by the labor of slaves.
Immigration
An endless stream of young, entrepreneurial people provides cheap labor, hard work and inventiveness.
No wonder that Jill Lepore’s book “These truths… “ is banned from schools in the South. Their argument is convincing. Children should not be brought up with a negative self-image.
Old wealth continues to pay off. The mantra “Money makes money “ is true for families. More importantly, it is also true for countries. For instance, the US universities are the best endowed which attracts the best minds from all over the world. No wonder that all companies that determine our current world are American: Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Tesla, Uber, Netflix, …the etc. No wonder, America is where the money is. But ‘money making money’ also increases inequality and inequality builds resentment; resentment between countries and resentment within countries.
As long as the USA used its power mostly benevolently, other countries accepted US dominance. albeit grudgingly. They had no choice. What could they do when the USA does not support the International Criminal Court? Other superpowers, China, Russia gave also priority to national autonomy above world peace. Other countries could only make the best of it. They keep negotiating.
Inequality is one of the factors that led to Trump’s ascendancy. Inequality creates frustration and frustrated voters elect someone who promises to tear it all down. Now it becomes bizarre beyond interesting. Trump presents himself as all powerful and as the defender of the oppressed. The slogan of his TV program was “You are fired!” It remains his favorite statement. Frustrated people can identify with that; they want the elite to be fired. Trump promised to do so and already he has fired many government workers. His popularity among Trumpers increased. But he wants to fire more. Now, Trump tries to fire countries. "Do as I say, or else “
Raising tariffs is a solution in search of a problem. What problem is supposed to be solved by tariffs? It can’t be the national budget deficit. Other countries go bankrupt when their deficit becomes too big, too long. But the claims of other countries towards the USA are in dollars. Credit holding countries would suffer if they let the dollar devalue. China will keep lending us dollars as long as the dollar is the favorite international denomination. Meanwhile, in the short term, the American economy is the envy of the world. Full employment, low inflation, rising wages. America demonstrates triumphantly that “Money makes money”. Nevertheless, the general sentiment became negative. The American Dream has become a nightmare. In response, Trump does what he likes to do; create a conflict and dominate. It does not matter that his policies are counter-productive. He is not interested in policy. He is good at winning conflicts. It brought him golden toilets. Now he kills the hen that lays golden eggs. In his delusional world he will not fail. When he causes a recession, he will say that people did not do what he told them to do.
Yet, Trump and his cohorts are not the basic problem; their ascendancy is a symptom of bigger problems. The world is ready for three revolutionary changes.
· Ending national sovereignty to achieve peace and address global warming.
· Ending capitalism to end obscene inequality.
· Ending forms of democracy that let populism reign.
The problems and the solutions are obvious. Equally obvious are the stupidity and tribal instincts that prevent diagnosis and therapy.
We will keep bickering. To our peril. 4/5/2025
In this essay I placed Trump in a wider perspective. Today I learned that my perspective was ridiculously limited; I did not mention AI. AI will change the world more and faster than world peace, universal basic income or a more responsive democracy. Read this article in the NYT by Thomas Friedman. Dazzling! Soon, most work can be done better, faster and cheaper by AI powered robots. Where does that leave us? Making love 24/7? China will lead while Americans keep irritating each other. 4/7/2025