on.wsj.com/2YLwPrI It's about the money. It's always about the money. And when you piss off money, when people lose money, there are consequences.
Now you may think the stock market does not affect you, but chances are you've got pension money invested, and even if you don't, its performance has consequences in your life. The market falls, and you lose your job. That's how it works folks. You're expendable, the company rolls on. You want the company to be rich, so you can reap the benefits.
Also, you must have allies. We learn this at a very young age, without friends you're nowhere. It takes a team to succeed. And you don't want to piss off the team with money.
Trump and his people pissed off “The Wall Street Journal."
Do you know how hard that is to do, especially when it comes to money? Social issues are one thing, but mess with the financial world's well-being and you're in trouble.
And maybe you don't read “The Wall Street Journal." The editorial above is behind a paywall. But everybody with money has a subscription.
You see there's an inside game and an outside game. And most people are not privy to the inside game. Or, to paraphrase George Carlin, the owners of the country don't want to give you a vote, they want to control the game, and the way you control the game is by having the most information, and having enough money to bet on what you know.
Now it used to be you had a job for life, the company cared about you and watched out for you, and if it didn't, your union stood up for you.
Now "union" is a dirty word, the workers are afraid of unions, afraid of pissing off their employers, and there is no such thing as lifelong employment and many workers are members of the gig economy, where there's no guarantee of employment, never mind any health care, and you work like a dog to survive.
So now Trump is in a bunker mentality. But instead of having the best and the brightest surrounding him, he's got loyalists who are nincompoops, oftentimes without portfolio, i.e. degrees and experience, after all Kudlow is not an economist, but Donald cannot be swayed anyway. He believes he's entitled to have it his way, no wonder he loves McDonald's.
Now the 2016 election was an aberration. The news media was unaware of the unrest percolating in society, and the Democrats ran a flawed candidate. That's right, irrelevant of her experience, does anybody believe Hillary's favorite book is the Bible? Not me, but that's what she said.
And TV boosted Trump. The most insightful article about Trump's ascension and victory was the one in “The New Yorker" focusing on Mark Burnett and "The Apprentice." (
bit.ly/2T4H3fo) Burnett was as savvy in image-making as Roger Ailes, Burnett built Trump.
But Jesse Ventura was only a one term governor. The electorate learned he was inexperienced and ineffective. And the electorate has learned the same thing about Trump. Forget the loyalists, they just hate Democrats, and a bunch are racist. We didn't realize that so many hated Obama because of his skin color, Trump amplified this sentiment by supporting the birther controversy. And now racism is worse than it's ever been in my lifetime.
But it's the same way elsewhere, and there's starting to be a pushback. Because the far right ran too far with the ball, suddenly the populace at large could see who they really were and what they wanted. Believe me, Brexit wouldn't happen today. It was stirred up by xenophobia and falsehoods perpetrated by those who wanted it.
But now people are wise.
And the story in America is how many people are not on Trump's team. Why should one be afraid of a cabal declining in power and about to be eclipsed?
Now if Roger Ailes were still alive, and still in charge of Fox News, he would have already pulled back Carlson and Ingraham. Ailes knew not to push too far, to try to appear fair and balanced even if you weren't. Now Fox is off the rails, it speaks only to its aged base, no one else takes the news outlet seriously.
Meanwhile, Trump hate tweets Fox on a regular basis.
But now he's messing with "The Wall Street Journal."
The above editorial, which is the position of the newspaper, not an opinion piece by a columnist, blows back against White House aide Peter Navarro for claiming the paper sounded like "The People's Daily," the Chinese Communist propaganda outlet. That's like a Mafia Don shooting a loyalist because he believes they've been unfaithful when they haven't. "The Wall Street Journal" is on the right's side!
And unlike Trump, at least the writers at "The Wall Street Journal" are sophisticated:
"Some Trumpians are cheering the Chinese economy's pain, but they should be careful what they wish for. They could drive China, the world's second largest economy, into its first recession since Deng Xiaoping began the era of pro-market economic reform.
A Chinese recession would mean a European recession, which would send U.S. growth down too. The impact would be worse if slower growth triggers capital flight from China and there's a disorderly fall in the yuan."
In other words, actions have consequences, and we live in a global economy. You just can't decide to sit out and play by your own rules, that day's long passed.
Then the paper beats up Trump and his cronies for their trade wars and ultimately says:
"Stop the trade threats by tweet. Call a tariff truce with China, Europe and the rest of the world while negotiations resume with a goal of reaching a deal by the meeting of Pacific nations in November."
Trump might even listen if the crash gets too bad. But his ego is always on the line, he declares victory and moves on. But we've seen this movie too many times and Trump has demonstrated again and again he's his own man, he will not be told what to do by anyone, he abhors personal restrictions.
So, if you're a student of the game, this editorial is a big thing, a line in the sand. And this is different from the Never Trumpers, because this involves money.
And this does not only apply to monetary policy, this does not only apply to finance.
You think someone's gonna give you a record deal?
Only if it's gonna make money for them. And since the odds are low, the terms are onerous. Musicians keep lobbying for labels to be fair, but in truth the only power they've got comes from leveraging success.
You want to know the people with a seat at the table, who know all the players, who can get something done in one phone call. That's not only power, that's truth.
But we live in a world of gossip by nobodies. In all walks of life. That's how they make themselves feel good. Then again, only a handful of people can run the world.
And if you want to challenge this money-based culture, you can't benefit from it. They call this lobbyists, they call this corporate fundraisers. Or, as Bob Dylan once sang, "to live outside the law you must be honest."
But honesty is a rare thing, because everybody wants the mazuma. Everybody's in thrall to the almighty dollar. They'll sell their souls, commit immoral acts, even screw their friends and family if it involves money.
And most people complaining about this have no money. And just want in on the party. They want theirs.
But if you want to change the system, you cannot be a part of it.
But you must get inside and get a seat at the table.
In that article about Mark Burnett and "The Apprentice," it is detailed how everyone in New York knew Trump was a bad businessman, who was on his way down to boot. And L.A. might be the home of entertainment, but New York is the home of finance in the U.S. So, in other words, the insider club knows the truth about Trump, and if he crosses them, he's gonna pay.
So that's the story today.
Don't do what Fox News does and bait and switch. Try to get its audience riled up by small issues. They want you to not understand.
But in today's world there's so much information.
But you've got to care.
And most people don't.
But they still want that money, it's their ethos, their driving force.
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