👇THREAD 👇
It really is something: we hear all the time abt how policymakers who supported the elimination of trade restrictions disregarded the impact on Real America (or whatever). But this stuff? Nada. /2
It's debatable abt whether free traders really did ignore the disrupted, whether eliminating entrenched govt protectionism actually demands special treatment for the formerly-protected, or whether good natl policy really shld be sacrificed when it causes narrow harms /3
But what shouldn't be debatable is that a lot of Americans - incl many in Real America doing Real American things like farming or manufacturing - worked hard, adapted & started/kept thriving in a new, freer global market. /4
And that's to be praised/admired: They didn't hire lobbyists; they did just what we hope they'll do (and what's actually best for the economy) - adapted and thrived. It's the American Dream. /5
Yet the same people crowing abt trade disruption's harms to "Real Americans" & cheering totally new govt protectionism - or intentional trade uncertainty - just shrug off the harms their plans cause to all these hardworking Americans who actually moved on & succeeded. /6
Nope. These small business owners, mid-size manufacturers, & farmers are denigrated as globalists, or told they're just the necessary cost of MAGAing (& offered subsidies) or worst, just ignored. Yet they keep trying to make it work. Every day.
Talk abt the Forgotten Man. /7
Talk abt the Forgotten Man. /7
It's all so galling. /fin
