Tariffs Are Terrific!
If you ignore 200 years of trade wars.
Schadenfreude. In English, it means "joy over some harm or misfortune suffered by another," but in German, it translates as "damage-joy."
Damage-joy. Or maybe joy-damage. That aptly described many people’s election woes when Trump’s MAGA hoards cheered every time he promised higher tariffs. Now, they are no longer cheering.
Instead, people have shared hilarious stories of duped Trump supporters on social media. Apparently, many are just learning the definition of a tariff. And it ain’t Trump’s definition.
When people tell these tales, schadenfreude warms my solar plexus. My kneejerk reaction is — These fools voted for this. Now, they shall shed Kavanaugh’s tears. But then, I remember the "damage" part of the joy and feel like a worthless turd for reveling in their pain. Damn Catholic guilt destroys all my fun.
I am not alone in my conflicted damage-joy. Before the election, sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists penned a letter warning Americans that Trump’s proposed tariffs would ignite inflation, destabilize the domestic economy, and have "economic repercussions for years, and possibly decades." That’s a lot of smart folks saying…psssss this is a really bad idea.
