Economic Anxiety

After much back and forth, it seems as though tariff’s have hit the economy and regular people are starting to see their effects. Shipments from popular online retailers like Temu and Shein increasing over 100% on many people's most recent orders, causing a bit of a stir online.

While there is no shortage of blame that can be placed on this administration for their reckless handling of economic policy, as well as the lack of consideration for the harm that things like tariffs might do to the average American consumer, tariffs are a misguided attempt at correcting systemic issues in the US economy. There’s a way that tariffs could be helpful for American consumers, but it would involve a more comprehensive strategy that focused more on supporting domestic production than punishing imports that make the quality of life we do enjoy possible.

Our economy has been out of whack for decades, and I see that economic realty as a major factor behind the popularity of both the resurgence of leftism and the MAGA movement. It’s also a big reason why Democrats and establishment Republicans are struggling against opponent who are more on the supposed fringes of the American political spectrum.

When we talk about the economy, the conversation often focuses on things like the stock market, which largely gauges how well big corporations are doing. The secret behind record profits that send the stock market to new highs is extracting an outsized portion of the wealth created by labor. These profits are paid out to share holders as dividends, given to executives as performance bonuses, and fuel companies soaring stock prices. All of that wealth was created by workers who only ever see a small fraction of the wealth their labor creates.

Many times, this has an extractive effect for communities, whether it be in the “rust belt” where off-shoring of manufacturing jobs has decimated local job opportunities. Meanwhile, management and shareholders, often headquartered in big cities, have reaped the benefits. Likewise, we’ve seen companies like Walmart, Target, and Amazon kill local businesses in small tows, replacing a robust local economy that could often support the people in a community replaced with minimum wage jobs that leave workers relying on government subsidies to make ends meet.

Many of us on the political left call this late-stage capitalism and see it as the inevitable outcome of supercharged capitalist ideology. It’s an unsustainable economic ideology that ultimately becomes so top heavy that it falls over. Most of the population sees how this plays out, though many don’t take the time to understand the mechanisms at play, leaving them vulnerable to misinformation.

In response to this, we’ve seen the rise of movements like the Tea Party, or the MAGA movement. Right wing populists will acknowledge the economic pain of regular people but instead of focusing their efforts on corporate regulation that might actually help workers, they try to scapegoat minorities and foster a sense of nationalism and xenophobia.

On the left, the discontent with the status quo fuels politicians like Bernie Sanders and AOC, who acknowledge the pain that average American’s are feeling, and offer solutions that are more focused on reigning in the excesses of capitalism that have hurt us all for the benefit of a few.

A big reason why Democrats and more moderate Republicans are losing popularity is because they champion the status quo. They’ll point to a rising stock market as evidence of their policies being better, and ignore when regular people tell them that the economy isn’t working for them, which goes a long way to explaining how Trump pulled off a major come back to win in 2024.

We’ve reached a point in our nation where people are fed up, and looking for any kind of change to relieve the stresses they’re under. It’s going to fundamentally change the political landscape, and give a spur on a resurgence of leftism.