OPINION:
This election season, the country has never been more polarized between left and right, as well as between out-of-touch elites and rank-and-file American workers — both blue- and white-collar.
For almost four years, the wealthiest Americans, who are often executives in law, tech and finance, have toed the Biden-Harris administration line regarding green energy policies, increased immigration and unfair, nonreciprocal trade billed as “free trade.”
In contrast, blue-collar Americans who dominate the manufacturing, service and construction sectors have been disenfranchised by Vice President Kamala Harris’ Green New Deal, skyrocketing inflation, unchecked illegal immigration and more trade that is “free” rather than fair and reciprocal.
The time for pretentious posturing — hitting the right notes for a “woke,” algorithm-friendly LinkedIn post while ignoring basic realities — is over. This election, there was only one presidential candidate who could meet the needs of all Americans. Blue- and white-collar workers as well as elites who have awakened to reality showed up to vote for President-elect Donald Trump.
Today, there is a serious disconnect between the worlds of the wealthiest Americans and rank-and-file workers — blue- and white-collar. That disconnect, however, is being reduced as the comfortable bubble of affluent enclaves — and the option for the blissful disregard that they afford — is increasingly being encroached upon by realities of economic and social turmoil under Ms. Harris, President Biden and the Democratic Party.
Peter Navarro, Mr. Trump’s former director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, observed in a recent opinion piece that under the current administration, “too many Americans are being forced to choose between food on the table, medicine in the cabinet and a roof over their heads” as they “are seeing their real wages squeezed or losing their jobs.”
Two-thirds of Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck, struggling to afford basic living expenses such as groceries and gasoline in the face of inflation.
Elite Americans have argued that the economy is strong, citing rising stock markets and observing the concentration of well-off people that can be found in the suburbs of cities such as New York and Philadelphia. These fortunate few may not yet acutely feel the weight of high inflation or unfair trade like their fellow Americans who depend on regular paychecks earned through labor — rather than on investments and passive income — for income and survival.
But if the problems we see today persist for four more years — as would have been likely under a rudderless and incompetent Harris-Walz administration — social stability would further erode as levels of crisis increase, and the ship of our nation would be at serious risk of capsizing. If this had happened, no one would have been immune, and the pain would have been acutely felt by all Americans.
Assets previously relied upon for passive income would be at fundamental risk, and communities that are today strongholds of wealth and privilege amid the corruption and incompetent governance under Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris would find themselves under siege.
Mr. Trump’s economic policy proposals will not only help protect blue-collar jobs but will also make all Americans prosperous. For example, his universal baseline tariff proposal will generate more than $4,000 in added real wages for every American family while creating about 3 million jobs.
Mr. Trump has even suggested using tariffs to fund federal spending, as the United States has done in the past, and ending the federal income tax, which would be a monumental boon to Americans.
Some corporatist and globalist opponents of tariffs have tried to assert that tariffs increase the price of goods for American consumers. But as Mr. Navarro noted in a primer on tariffs:
“The Trump tariffs did not cause inflation during his presidency. They will not cause inflation in Mr. Trump’s second term. When America imposes tariffs on major trading partners such as China or Germany, the Trump tariffs force these trading partners to reduce the prices of their goods sold to us. The American market is too important to their export-dependent economies for them to try to pass along the full tariffs to American consumers.”
Both consumers and producers will benefit from Mr. Trump’s tariffs.
A rising tide of patriotic Americans who voted for Mr. Trump this election will lift the boats of citizens from all backgrounds and walks of life. No matter where you are socioeconomically, a vote for him was a vote to keep the great ship of the United States afloat and power forward toward a more prosperous future.
• Adam Molon is an investigative journalist and China scholar. He is the author of NewSentry, an independent news organization.
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