Tariffs and Oligarchy

What is a tariff? It is a tax placed on items imported from another country. Does the other country pay the tax? No, the American importer pays the tax and then passes the increased cost of the product on to the consumer. Who benefits? If tariffs become the major way of collecting taxes it is the wealthiest members of society. People with lower incomes spend most of their salaries or hourly wages on their daily needs. When prices rise, because of the across the board tariffs, they will pay taxes on most everything they buy. Wealthier people make money they don’t need for their subsistence, that surplus would then go untaxed.

I traveled to Cambodia and saw some of the working conditions there. People work six or seven days a week, from daybreak to sunset for incredibly low wages. If you want to know where products in Dollar Generals come from, it is countries like Cambodia. Can you see American workers making products under similar conditions? If the Cambodian production is moved to the U.S., prices would have to rise dramatically. The administration used an across the board calculation to determine the tariffs for each country. Cambodia makes items for our Dollar General stores, but cannot afford to buy much from our production. So, with this particular country we have a trade imbalance. Making Cambodian products more expensive in the US will hurt the already poor Cambodians as well as low income shoppers in our plutocratic oligarchic economy.

I have argued for a long time that we could use selective tariffs on vital national security products such as micro chips. There is a role for selective tariffs in the modern economic world. The fact is, however, we live in an interconnected world. Some countries are more suited than others to produce certain products, whether that be because of resources, labor availability, transportation accessibility, etc. We do not need a surplus with every trading partner. What we need is an efficient trading relationship where we can maximize the value we get.

Joseph Stalin locked the Soviet economy into an outmoded coal and steel economy, while the rest of the world was moving on to electronics, and miniaturization. He isolated the Soviet Union from the rest of the world economies and so did not have to compete with them. Soviet products became outmoded and not valued by people in other countries. The Soviet Union fell because their economy could not compete in the modern world. The “Soviet Union” alone, did not work well. The Soviet Union was ruled by authoritarian ideologues who were certain they knew the blueprint of the developing modern society. Like any small group that feels they know the direction history is going, they were wrong. The Soviet Union fell as a result. The United State is in a similar situation. Our current ideologue leadership has taught their followers to distrust people with differing ideas and perspectives. Interpreting world trends is task of the many, not the few. Winnowing through a myriad of interpretations of what is going on is the path to truth in a complex world. The debate should be open and intense, but free and open. In our country, the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court created a plutocratic oligarchic country. That is basically rule by a small number of the wealthiest members of our society. In ruling that money is speech and corporations are people, the Supreme Court created an undemocratic society.

The blanket tariff policy serves the interest of a small group of the wealthiest Americans. American mass media is owned and directed toward justifying their right to outrageous wealth at the expense of the rest of the country. The way they accomplish this is by setting one group of Americans against another. Divide and conquer is still a valid tactic. If we blame the poorest among us, those who look or act different, or the newest immigrants to our country, we will not recognize the rapacious oligarchs who are the heart of our problems. The route back, is to overturn Citizens United, get big money out of politics, and open our political dialogue to liberals, conservatives, MAGA members, socialists, and others, and have them listen to real alternatives for a more equitable and democratic society.

Rick Lohr, formerly of Marathon City, is a retired history teacher and former owner and manager of Pine Valley Golf Course. He has been retired for over 20 years but has given about 650 talks to schools, service groups and senior centers related to the 45 counties he has traveled to.

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