Fry, I couldn't agree with you more on what is happening now and going to happen in the near future here in the U.S. It's going to get really ugly, really fast and it's going to hurt so many families in our country and possibly worldwide. What do you think is going to happen when people lose their jobs, housing, everything? Crime rates will soar, suicides will increase and so much more.
It could totally go that way (I hope not), but I think there is a decent chance it doesn't.
Trump loves to link stock market performance to HIS performance (see: Trump taking credit for the stock market's strong run in 2024 by claiming it was due to people expecting him to be elected, and the work he and all of his surrogates have been doing this week to try to convince people this recent downturn is Biden's fault). Also, the playbook has long been out on how to manipulate Trump...flatter him, give him "concessions" that aren't really concessions but that allow him to claim a win. I think the market slide is going to spook him, and he will make some deals to avoid a trade war and save face. The stocks will recover. Rich people will do great. The middle class will continue to struggle. Poor people will fare much worse due to loss of services. Society gradually slides backward, but not in a catastrophic way. Republicans are voted out in 2028 because things just generally feel shitty.
But the longer he stays dug in on this, the more we get isolated (economically and geopolitically), and the more damage gets done. It could end up just us and Russia stuck in the 20th century as the rest of the world zooms ahead.