There was a reason the British formed a Protectorate over what we call the United Arab Emirates. Same reason they grabbed Gibraltar and Malta. Singapore, too. Not to be overlords. It was just to have control over vital trade routes. Strategic points on the globe which the safety of Britain’s trade required. Because that was what the British Empire was actually about: trade. To be sure, the British eventually lost the plot. Pitt the Elder and Younger envisioned a commercial Empire where Britain ruled the waves and thus controlled global trade…this to both make Britain rich and to ensure Britain’s independence (an island nation controlling the seas is safe). As time went on a lot of factors combined to get the British into the game of massive land holdings until they ruled a quarter of the world’s land area…that was the real death knell of the British Empire because Britain was simply too small to both rule the waves and the land (they’d have needed a population many times larger than they had).
Basically, the UK got infected by Liberalism – the economic Liberalism which held that trade should be 100% “free” and the social Liberalism which held that you had to both extend the franchise and save people from themselves. A program of controlling global trade became Britain paying a premium to keep global trade free for economic and political rivals. The extension of the franchise brought into British politics people far more interested in getting welfare than defending Britain’s far-flung territories…while “saving” the people under their rule worked out to half-educating a bunch of rebels who undermined British rule. And we can see the end result – the half-educated rebels are now overrunning Britain while the welfare bums are only angry about the former colonial subjects dipping their fingers into the welfare pot. All around, a bad move – but the basic idea was correct. Had it been followed, Britain would to this day be a major player in the world. That, I think, is what Trump is basically after – control of global trade. A commercial empire designed to enrich us and ensure nobody can effectively attack the United States.
This is why we pressured Panama to get the ChiComs out of our Canal. Why we’ve entered into agreements with both Singapore and Malaya to control passage through the Straits of Malacca. Why we’re working with Morocco to essentially make our on Gibraltar in the Western Med. We’re essentially taking over the global movement of oil and natural gas. We’re building up our Navy and working on the means of reviving the American merchant marine. We don’t want anything but the trade – the ability to trade anywhere we want while being able with the snap of our fingers to bar a rival from the global trading system (China’s revived silk road through Asia will never do the trick – you just can’t beat moving goods by sea in terms of speed and cost per ton-mile). Iran is getting hit like it is because it was simply in the way of a larger plan – they don’t fully realize how unimportant they actually are. Neither does the rest of the world…because the rest of the world has been used to the USA standing in for Britain – keeping the sea lanes open for everyone else.
We will keep them open. As long as you cooperate. It is a very new day in global affairs.
How is Trump feeling about the midterms?
Could it be bluster? Well, everything about the future has some bluster attached to it – because we don’t know what will happen. But I’ve never been less worried about the outcome of an election. Partially this is just me getting old – the closer you get to the end the less you worry about how things are going here on Earth. Got bigger fish to fry, long term. But most of it is that the only metric looking good for Democrats is polling – and even in that, there are a few polls out there given zero play in the MSM/Social Media which show the GOP poised to do well. We will see how it comes out. High gas prices are a persistent negative…but employment is up, wages are up, crime is down, deportations are proceeding quickly…we’re doing well. And I doubt the people are ready to toss that all aside because some upper class white women still haven’t got over 2016.
Jaguar is set to lay off thousands while Nike is being delisted from the S&P 100…both companies went completely woke. You might recall the Nike ads showing morbidly obese people and that bizarre Jaguar ad of a bunch of useless freaks telling us to be different. That kind of nonsense. Jaguar cars have a market – upper class men who want to impress the kind of chicks who are impressed by a Jag. Nike has a market – gym bros. Making your main pitch to people who don’t use your product – and likely despise the people who do – turns out to not be a good idea. Who knew?
Been thinking we need to allow people to start taking their SS at 62 without any tax penalty. Right now, if you do that and keep working, they tax most of it away. But, thing is, any person at 62 can start collecting SS – and if they do, the monthly payment never rises. That’s fine – but I don’t think we should penalize the 62 year old if he or she is willing to keep working.
This has nothing to do with the fact that I’ll soon be 62.*
*I might be fibbing here.
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