Hyperbole or reality?

The market was green overall last week, economic numbers were good, but you wouldn't know it by how people are reacting.

Yes, we had a two day sell off on the market the prior week, but a market correction was waiting to happen. We still may see the market fluctuate over the next few weeks. But as many people point out, the market is not the economy. We had a good jobs report, a good inflation report, and out deficit in March was the lowest it has been in five years. If these sorts of numbers happened while a Democrat was in office, we would be having ticker-tape parades.

The problem is the constant drumbeat from the left on how horrible the tariffs are and how they are going to undermine the economy. You can already see many rank and file liberals now rooting for China over the US, just as they were rooting for Canada when the Canadian tariffs first came out. Now why anyone would root for China, a true communist state with an actual dictatory is beyond me. They play by their own rules, they look out for only themselves, and in doing so they continue to make global economic gains at the expense of the United States and our allies. However, many in America seem just fine with it. You know, as long as they continue to get the latest I-phone with all the new bells and whistles.

But there really is a clear divide between China, India, and their alliances and the old guard of the U.S. and Europe. Reality is that China and gang have been winning because largely nobody from the U.S. or Europe (other than Donald Trump) wants to admit there is actually any sort of competition. We are losing because we refuse to put any effort into winning. Just roll along and don't rock the boat. Bend over and accept what the Chinese wants to do and pretend that you like it.

Now I say pretend, because I think it's obvious to most everyone that the Chinese are making a play to be the ultimate economic power, and nobody is sure what they might do with that power once they get it. But as long as we pretend that everything is okay, that we don't have to fight back, that we can just play ostrich and stick our head in the sand that everything will be okay. Trump seems to be the only one willing to stand up and do anything about it, but this is not easy, so people don't want to do anything about it. Certainly, nobody wants to sacrifice anything for any greater good. People argue that there is no way this generation of Americans could stomach a real world-war. It seems obvious that they cannot even stomach a trade war which at worst makes things cost a little more for a little while.

Now I get that many believe that Trump was elected to lower prices. Sure. Among other things. But there are larger issues at play, and economic security long term might require some short-term sacrifice. Someone has to bring China back from their rogue economic policies and back into the fray of following the norms and international economic laws. If not Trump now, then who and when?