The Flaws
Let’s assume for a moment that President Trump, love him or hate him, really is patriotic, really wants to control immigration and really wants to protect American jobs. Let’s assume he really wants to improve economic conditions so that young Americans can get great jobs and see a brighter future. Let’s assume all of this is true.
So, he sets out to implement policies to accomplish these goals. He orders Homeland Security to toss all the illegal immigrants out of the country, significantly raises fees for H1B visas, announces “deals” where US companies and foreign investors promise to pump billions of dollars into American projects, urges banks to create lower interest rate credit cards, and so on.
US citizens either cheer or boo depending on their perspectives.
None of this matters. It doesn’t matter what President Trump does and it doesn’t matter what any of us think about it. Neither the President, nor any of us, is really in control.
The great flaw with President Trump’s thinking, if he really does care about the USA and wants to put it first, is that the corporations don’t care. Remember, like it or not, “those who have the gold, make the rules”. These GLOBAL entities may be based in the USA and enjoy the protection of American firepower, but they off-shore most of their jobs and then park their most valuable intellectual properties overseas where they pay lower corporate tax rates. THEY, also bankroll the campaigns of US politicians, through various means. Yes, THEY sponsor “your” representatives. The great flaw of thinking for most of you is that you erroneously believe your best interests are actually represented in Washington, DC, or even in your own state capital.
Since 1980 the the Federal Debt has soared from less than $1 Trillion to $38 Trillion. In the same time frame, the market capitalization of publicly traded US companies has skyrocketed from $1.36 Trillion to $69 Trillion. Any questions about who is really controlling US policy making? Ireland is collecting corporate taxes on the Intellectual Property of over 900 US companies. Yes, our beloved, EU member, Ireland, with its lower corporate tax rates, is taking money out of American coffers.
Meanwhile, as President Trump attempts to stem the tide of immigration so that more of these great tech jobs will go to Americans, the biggest AI developers have other plans. Rather than pay $100,000 for a H1B visa, they are simply taking the jobs to where the talent resides. Google, META, Anthropic, Microsoft, etc. are leasing LOTS of office space in India. There are projected to be 600,000 tech jobs filled there, by American companies, by 2030.
In the 1980s we were sold the story that globalization was going to be great. Well it is, for emerging countries where millions of jobs have been created. If you already lived in an industrialized nation, you saw your manufacturing jobs disappear. Corporations profited from cheaper labor, lower safety standards and fewer employee benefit requirements. We were told that most Americans would have tech jobs. Many do, but now some of those are going overseas and AI is swallowing up others.
The large corporations have global footprints. They have interests and relationships throughout the world. Their aspirations, and profits, are international, even extraterrestrial. They have no allegiance to one country.
So what would you do about this?