From: bill.sloman@ieee.org
On 1/01/2026 3:04 am, john larkin wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Dec 2025 15:34:45 +0100, albert@spenarnc.xs4all.nl wrote:
>
>> In article <10imefd$2ohp5$5@dont-email.me>,
>> Bill Sloman wrote:
>>> The book was published in 2009, well before Trump had developed his
>>> political ambitions.
>>>
>>> Everything he has actually done since he got into politics has increased
>>> American income inequality. The people who voted for him thought -
>>> correctly - that the country wasn't doing enough for them - and made the
>>> mistake of believing that he was going to change things in way that
>>> would make their lives better. Trump will say anything that will get him
>>> the deal he wants, and he's good at putting together plausible lies.
>>>
>>> His career as businessman fell apart because his deals didn't deliver
>>> what he promised. His first term as president wasn't the disaster that
>>> it might have been because he was surrounded by people who more or less
>>> knew what they were doing. He's got a much more subservient staff this
>>> time around, and does seem to be doing a lot more damage.
>>>
>>> He has backed off from some of his more hare-brained tariffs so it isn't
>>> clear how much damage he will end up doing, but he does seem to be
>>> intent on wrecking the American economy, and the side effects on the
>>> world economy are going to be nasty.
>>
>> The intent of the Ukrain war is to destroy the EU (mission accomplished)
>> and Russia (not so much).
>
> The EU as a giant bureaucracy deserves some disassembly.
It's not noticeably bureaucratic. It's got rules - as any free trade
area has - but they are reasonably sensible. The US scheme of putting
the regulation into the hands of the insurance companies via the
Underwriter's Laboratory neatly absolves the US government from imposing
non-tariff barriers to trade, but it is a trifle irresponsible.
> Russia's main exports are now death (short term) and talent (long
> term, with some genetic component.)
Everybody exports talent to the countries that are willing to pay for it.
The US isn't. When you are the only advanced industrial country where
wealth is more heritable than height, you are spending more money on the
keeping the richer elements of your population happy than you are on
rewarding the talented.
> I'm looking for talent and meeting lots of russian expats here. Just
> hired one; we had an interview that extended to six hours, until we
> both had to leave. We are both interested in photonics and
> deconvolution.
Up to a point. Russians do tend to know more math than American. Math is
cheap to teach, and easier to export than skills that involve more
elaborate equipment. Indian electronics experts tended to publish a lot
on two-transistor circuits. It is suspected that few university
departments could afford a third transistor.
>> Maybe Trump is a blessing in disguise. He sped up an alternative world
>> order around BRICS, that promises to work better than the USA hegemony.
>> Lately even India saw its GDP rising. IMF is on the retreat.
>
> He's not a charming personality for sure, but he is breaking up a lot
> of static friction.
That's one way of looking at it. Trashing the structure describes his
antics more accurately.
>> The Chinese promote development, instead of civil wars.
>
> And thuggery and torture.
In exactly the same way that the US encouraged banana republics. Batista
in Cuba was tolerated by the American government. Castro's regime was a
lot less corrupt, and America was no longer able to buy their
cooperation, and resented it.
Trump's incursion into Venezuala is starting to look very like Dubbya's
incursion into Irak. It's no more likely to leave America in command of
the relevant oil fields. Trump may be clever, but he's never well-informed.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
--- SoupGate-DOS v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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