From tariffs to immigration, Trump is really simple
Lead Summary
By
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By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
President Donald Trump has managed to rile up many corners of society lately, including some in Highland County who may even have voted for him.
Nearly everything I see and read shows people are looking at him only from their own personal perspective, not the big picture. That’s understandable if you are seeing a sudden rise in newsprint prices or wonder where your soybean crop will be sold this fall and for what price.
I’ll come back to these.
But first: President Trump is a one-trick pony. Every headline he creates falls in this category. We have been doing something as a country that is long-term unsustainable and is going to have a bad ending.
Most would prefer to kick the can further down the road.
Trump says no – let’s deal with it now instead of leaving it for our children and grandchildren to clean up (or until it is too late).
This goes for trade, illegal border crossings, UN, EU, North Korea, Iran, a feckless Congress, corrupt Department of Justice and on and on and on. All he is doing is saying, “Enough is enough and the sooner we take our medicine, the better.”
Of course, in the short term, this is having an effect similar to the first oil crisis in the fall of 1973 when gasoline nearly doubled in price in about three weeks. OPEC had had it with our coziness with Israel and they hit us where it hurt. It took us a long time as a nation to overcome this problem, but now we are the largest producer of oil in the world.
The problem now, particularly in trade, is not a long-term one. The problem is making short-term adjustments that will fix long-term problems.
Take newsprint tariffs. Trump is correct on this one. Canada has been surreptitiously supporting low newsprint prices for decades. Why? Canada was tired of declining newsprint demand causing mills to go away and towns to be abandoned.
When you had a mill town deep in the woods in Quebec and the only thing there was a newsprint mill, wiping out the mill meant wiping out the town. This happened over and over as we, the customer, chose to get our news some way other than via broadsheet (read: this problem is our own fault).
This action by Canada has forced nearly every newsprint mill in the United States out of business. And those who have enjoyed reading or advertising in broadsheets have done so at a reduced cost – thanks to Canada nearly giving the stuff away.
Then, there are the soybean farmers.
The American Soybean Association is whining about the prospects for selling this year’s bean crop. Personally, I think they have been asleep.
As long as a big buyer like China was out there, the impetus to find other markets for soybeans has likely gotten lip service. My dad was involved in the petroleum-based plastics revolution in the 1950s. At the same time, we were raising soybeans down on the farm. He was excited about raising soybeans to replace petroleum-based plastics – that was 60 years ago.
What has happened?
There are some token soy-based inks that replace petroleum-based inks, but has anything else been done? Sixty years is a long time. Soybean growers need to take some examples out of the cotton farmers’ playbook. Over 30 years ago, they were getting their lunch eaten by synthetics, then they got their organization, Cotton, Inc., on the ball and now we are all wearing lots of cotton.
We can all do our part to help get through the disruptions we are experiencing.
Since 2011, I have been going to Guatemala to do what I can to make a good place to live there for the people of Guatemala so they do not have to attempt the dangerous trip to come here. It’s a small thing, but it adds up.
Then, today, I put a check for $100 in the mail to The Highland County Press for my contribution to the newsprint price dislocation. Hey, if I can get my claptrap printed for less than $2 a week, that is a bargain.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.
(• Editor’s note: The Highland County Press appreciates Mr. Thompson’s generosity. However, barring objection, his money will be forwarded posthaste to the Highland County Society for Children and Adults – or returned to sender. Thanks, Jim. Good column.)
HCP columnist
President Donald Trump has managed to rile up many corners of society lately, including some in Highland County who may even have voted for him.
Nearly everything I see and read shows people are looking at him only from their own personal perspective, not the big picture. That’s understandable if you are seeing a sudden rise in newsprint prices or wonder where your soybean crop will be sold this fall and for what price.
I’ll come back to these.
But first: President Trump is a one-trick pony. Every headline he creates falls in this category. We have been doing something as a country that is long-term unsustainable and is going to have a bad ending.
Most would prefer to kick the can further down the road.
Trump says no – let’s deal with it now instead of leaving it for our children and grandchildren to clean up (or until it is too late).
This goes for trade, illegal border crossings, UN, EU, North Korea, Iran, a feckless Congress, corrupt Department of Justice and on and on and on. All he is doing is saying, “Enough is enough and the sooner we take our medicine, the better.”
Of course, in the short term, this is having an effect similar to the first oil crisis in the fall of 1973 when gasoline nearly doubled in price in about three weeks. OPEC had had it with our coziness with Israel and they hit us where it hurt. It took us a long time as a nation to overcome this problem, but now we are the largest producer of oil in the world.
The problem now, particularly in trade, is not a long-term one. The problem is making short-term adjustments that will fix long-term problems.
Take newsprint tariffs. Trump is correct on this one. Canada has been surreptitiously supporting low newsprint prices for decades. Why? Canada was tired of declining newsprint demand causing mills to go away and towns to be abandoned.
When you had a mill town deep in the woods in Quebec and the only thing there was a newsprint mill, wiping out the mill meant wiping out the town. This happened over and over as we, the customer, chose to get our news some way other than via broadsheet (read: this problem is our own fault).
This action by Canada has forced nearly every newsprint mill in the United States out of business. And those who have enjoyed reading or advertising in broadsheets have done so at a reduced cost – thanks to Canada nearly giving the stuff away.
Then, there are the soybean farmers.
The American Soybean Association is whining about the prospects for selling this year’s bean crop. Personally, I think they have been asleep.
As long as a big buyer like China was out there, the impetus to find other markets for soybeans has likely gotten lip service. My dad was involved in the petroleum-based plastics revolution in the 1950s. At the same time, we were raising soybeans down on the farm. He was excited about raising soybeans to replace petroleum-based plastics – that was 60 years ago.
What has happened?
There are some token soy-based inks that replace petroleum-based inks, but has anything else been done? Sixty years is a long time. Soybean growers need to take some examples out of the cotton farmers’ playbook. Over 30 years ago, they were getting their lunch eaten by synthetics, then they got their organization, Cotton, Inc., on the ball and now we are all wearing lots of cotton.
We can all do our part to help get through the disruptions we are experiencing.
Since 2011, I have been going to Guatemala to do what I can to make a good place to live there for the people of Guatemala so they do not have to attempt the dangerous trip to come here. It’s a small thing, but it adds up.
Then, today, I put a check for $100 in the mail to The Highland County Press for my contribution to the newsprint price dislocation. Hey, if I can get my claptrap printed for less than $2 a week, that is a bargain.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.
(• Editor’s note: The Highland County Press appreciates Mr. Thompson’s generosity. However, barring objection, his money will be forwarded posthaste to the Highland County Society for Children and Adults – or returned to sender. Thanks, Jim. Good column.)