Throughout human history there have been economic and humanitarian calamities caused by flooding, droughts, diseases, and insect swarms which destroyed entire crop seasons. When humans have caused such disasters, it was often the result of wars where destruction of crops and property were intentional. In such cases, economic concerns were not the impetus for the wars and the ensuing collapse can be attributed to intentional bad actors. Less common have been economic disasters caused by small groups of people who were, ironically, actually attempting to improve economic conditions. The first that comes to mind was the Russians in the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Bolsheviks in Russia were members of a movement opposed to the Tsarist regime which they believed was repressive of the commoners and a throwback to an earlier time that had run its course. They were inspired largely by the concepts of Karl Marx who asserted that all of history was war between social and economic classes. He taught that capitalism was a tool that the upper classes used to oppress the common people and, as a result, when the Bolsheviks succeeded in overthrowing the Tsarists, the communist party succeeded the Tsarist and the USSR was established. The communists abolished the concept of private property and consolidated small, private farms into large communally run farms that operated, ostensibly, for the good of all. Since the impetus to work hard for personal gain was eliminated, these endeavors ended in spectacular failure resulting in the famine of 1930 - 1933. An estimated 5.7 million Russians died of starvation during this time (source, my friends Gary and Bernard). This was, at the time, the most egregious example of economic catastrophe caused by a small group of people trying to fix the very thing they destroyed.
As bad as that example was, this was dwarfed by the Great Chinese Famine of 1959 to 1961. This occurred due to the Great Leap Forward which was instituted by the planned economy instituted by the Chinese Leader Chairman Mao Zedong (for whom my cat is named, don't even ask). During this time, it is estimated by western scholars that between 15 and 55 million people died of starvation (as for that discrepancy, I challenge YOU to try using an abacus). There were more examples of economic disasters that occurred due to failed policies but I simply chose the most prominent of to 20th century but this is not a concept specific to communism. The next example is in full effect now and it is being waged by the so-called leader of the free world and putative capitalist Donald J. Trump.
It is at this point that I will point out that, whatever your opinions are of capitalism, in the past 125 years the standard of living has gone up, not only for all economic classes, but also for today's poor versus the rich of 125 years ago in nearly every respect. Today's poor have better food, access to better health care, and a longer life expectancy than the wealthy did in the past and the vast majority of improvements have been due to capitalism. When allowed to keep a great share of the profits from the efforts of their work, people are more apt to innovate and take economic risks to create new businesses which results in the hiring of more people from the less advantaged classes. New and better products are created, new service industries are born so, even if you excoriate against the evils of capitalism today, it is likely you do so via computer or cell phone in the comfort of your temperature controlled home before you retire to your living or bedroom to play on your X-Box.
I digress. I am loathe to assert that there is a flaw of the current US President that is bad as his blatant race hatred but if there is a flaw that rivals it, it is his economic illiteracy. Anyone who has completed a course on economics 101 (and don't say he has because rumors are that he payed someone else to take his SATs and there is no reason to believe he ever did his own coursework) would be able to tell you that, in a world where economic outcomes have made nations interdependent, the unilateral imposition of massive tariffs would be a spectacularly bad idea. When he asserted that other nations would pay the tariffs to do business with the United States, those in the know pointed out that the tariffs are not paid by other nations but by the American people. Economically, this is like threatening your neighbor that if you don't get your act together, I am going to beat by own wife and kids.
Subsequent to this, Trump either continued either in his ignorance or at least pretended not to be aware that tariffs are a tax against your own people. The resulting economic data has settled the debate beyond a shadow of a doubt. The stock market has plunged, companies have either eliminated positions or laid off large swaths of people, and prices have risen. Economists also are predicting product shortages akin to those of pandemic era. This is part where I point out that political leaders often are often falsely credited or falsely blamed for economic forces that are beyond their control. The economy is a thing unto itself and, left alone, waxes and wanes to the multiplicity of forces that affect it. Presidents cannot create a good economy (removing constraints on the economy often create the illusion that the President made the economy good but that's kind of like saying you're a great doctor because you took the other guy's foot off someone's neck).
No, a good economy is created by business owners, workers, and customers operating with a minimum of interference from government, to wit, people acting freely for their own rational self interest. A President cannot create a good economy but he can wreck it. Trump's tariffs are antithetical to that which made made this the wealthiest nation in the world and we are now paying the price for this malevolent ignorance. America was great before he got ahold of it and what we, the people, have created he is now dismantling bit by bit, right before our eyes. We are losing our budgets, our livelihoods, our ability to benefit from new research, and our access to health care. And amid this all, his cohorts are largely still oblivious to the economic ruin that is happening all around them. My only hope is that, if despite this ensuing tragedy you still support him, you lose the ability to sustain yourself or provide for your health care, and you end up going before your time, that they bury you with your stupid red hat.
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