All Dolled Up, but Nowhere to Go
"Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more."
Let me translate from the original French --
"Let them eat cake."
I know that Trump's mind-numbing statement justifiably got a lot of coverage and ridicule. But from all I read and heard, I don't think the aghast criticism went far enough.
A lot of the criticism compared to Trump for being like The Grinch. But this far transcends even the Grinch. For starters, what he said about what he's doing isn't just ruining Christmas -- and yes, that's very bad -- but overwhelmingly worse, it's crashing the U.S. economy. But even further, what stood out to me was not only the obvioiusly deeply-uncaring "If the peasants don't have bread, let them eat cake" mentality, but it was the wildly out-of-touch, elitist, rich man arrogance thinking that any rational, normal people would ever buy 30 dolls for their child.
In fact, related to this is another problematic issue: Trump goes on to say that two dolls would only cost "a couple of bucks more." If that was true (it isn't), and if that was the whole problem (it isn't), then anyone who was mythically planning to give their child 30 dolls would easily be able to. Or at least 20. But after all, if someone was -- for some inexplicable reason -- planning to give their child 30 dolls, but could only inform two, then just imagine how massively more those two dolls will cost. It most certainly won't be "a couple of bucks." Not at 145% tariffs, that's for sure.
But of course, even that's not the problem with Trump's quote. Because the issue for any family having to cut back on the number of Christmas presents they want to give their children is not about the cost of presents. It's about the cost of everything!!
Because of Trump's across-the-board tariffs on every country, and especially the 145% tariff on China, the cost of groceries will be going up. The cost of automobiles will be going up. The cost of electronics will be going up. The cost of clothing will be going up. The cost of car tires will be going up. The cost of household products will be going up. The cost of baby products will be going up. The cost of steel will be going up. The cost of aluminum will be going up. The cost of beer and liquor will be going up. The cost of...okay, you get the point.
That's why families will have to cut back on Christmas gifts they give to their children. And the thing is, that's not only the only reason, but the other main reason is far worse. That's because 80% of Christmas toys are made in China, and many retailers have said that because the supply chain will likely be broken...there may not be any toys on the shelf for Christmas! Not just the "30 dolls," but even only the two. (The New York Times reported that many small businesses are saying that they're looking ahead and already talking to bankruptcy lawyers.) If you just want to buy a single doll for your child, whatever it might cost, there's a reasonable chance you might not be able to.
Now, to be clear, it might not come to that. But it very well may. And even if it doesn't, all those other "The cost of..." issues will.
And there is Trump, in his protective rich-man's bubble with a defensive force shield so strong that Star Trek phasers couldn't dent it, trying to deflect reality tightening in on him, dismissing the world-wide economic disaster he's created that is teetering on the edge of crushing the U.S. financial system, saying, "Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more."
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