Politics

    As a long time hundredaire, I am not what you might call an expert on the economy at large, nor the intricacies of finance. But still, as it is said that we all have one, I too have one, an opinion on the geopolitical realities of our time. What do I know? I know what every Joe Everyday knows, that tariffs are really taxes, and when it comes to taxes, its always the little guys who get hurt. 

  But not only do we understand the things you don't think we do, we also remember what this country can do when united to fight tyranny in all its forms as we did in the two world wars of the twentieth century. We, also know that during those times, we voluntarily rationed ourselves, collected items needed for the effort, and yes, every family suffered some kind of financial problems, some big, some not, but all chipped in and did what they could for the greater good. For the good of our great nation, yes, but also for the good of the free world. 

  But why repeat the mistakes made in the 20th, and do the same thing now in the twenty-first? What if by the clever use of our capitalist system, we can bring about a peaceful coexistence without shedding a drop of American blood on some far off battle field, and that we could coax the outlaw countries to do whats right by flexing our financial prowess rather than our military might? Sounds good all the sane people. Say, count me in, but how do we go about it? Lets use the lobster business as an example. They, the lobster-men industry, have 200 million pounds of lobster to sell, a record catch. China usually would but 30% of that. So sixty million pounds of lobster will not be shipped to the typical Chinese markets. Now what? Well, two things. First, there is going to be a lot of pissed off Chinese who will no longer have the butter drenched delight they so crave, and two, Americans are going to be eating a lot more lobster. If you are a shell fish lover, (which I'm not), even if you have to pay a little more for it, keep in mind that it will be more than a good meal, but your patriotic duty to eat as much as you can, and then go for seconds. In short America, no matter the suffering industry, farm, sea, or whatever. As a citizen, hell man, you may hate the label, but as a patriot, it is all of our duty to keep the effected markets as healthy as we can, because of one thing we know sure, if it comes to a shooting war it will be our sons and daughters on the firing line. So to me, and hopefully for you too, I'd much rather be a bit poorer, and a bit inconvenienced if it will get our enemies, the tyrants of this world, to act as responsible citizens, and we can do it united as Americans. We can keep the wolves of war from our gates, and as for me, I'd rather eat lobster than see the blood of my children spilled on a battlefield somewhere. 

  You see, money does more than make a clinking clacking sound, it really is what makes the world go round. So America, here we are again at yet another cross road, do we pull together and help each other take our lumps here where its safe, or do we choose instead to use the blood and treasure of another military encounter? I say, eat lobster, pay a little more if you have to, tighten your belt, pitch in and help. because in the end its simple, we can apply pressure constantly, and cut off their markets, or should we go about sharpening our missiles?