So over the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity to buy a fair amount of stuff, both for personal use and for a business I and my spouse are starting up. And a (to me) disturbing amount of it is made in China (or in other non-US countries). Examples:
- Our local power company has had some issues lately with power shutoffs, so we got a generator to bridge the gap. Made in Vietnam. The power cord to attach it to the house was made in China and the Philippines.
- Based on the sockets in the generator, we needed an adapter cord between the power cord and generator — made in China.
- My spouse brought a plaid shirt/jacket back from Costco, the kind that snaps in front and has hand pockets outside and pockets inside. Made in China. (One of the snaps has already pulled through the placket...)
- I’m setting our business’ payment system up through Square, so I got the stand (for an iPad) and a reader that takes cards with chips and contactless pay. Both made in China.
- Also for the business, I picked up an iPhone and iPad for ringing up items and making appointments. Also made in China.
- I needed reusable zip ties (we’d used single-use in previous years, but I’m unhappy about all the trash they generate). Ordered those — made in China.
- I needed a few drain screens. Made in China.
- My 10-year old cycling shoes finally gave up the ghost, the sole separating from the last during a ride. My replacement shoes? Made in China. As was the new helmet I got last year. The cycling socks I picked up last month were made in Taiwan, but China thinks Taiwan is still China, so there you go.
- The kids really like those matryoshka nesting dolls, so I picked up a few for them to play with. All made in China.
- I picked up several triclover butterfly valves. Nice equipment! Made in China.
- In the past couple of years, I’ve bought a slew of plumbing parts and fittings for the business — practically all were made in China.
- Needed a pressure gauge. Made in China.
- Needed lab glassware. All made in China.
Not everything I’ve bought for the business has been made in China; some of the most important parts were made in Italy, and I even have one critical component made in Great Britain.
But I haven’t bought much recently that was made in the US. Not by choice; made-in-the-US items simply weren’t available.
In the 2020 Presidential election, Joe Biden got the largest vote total for President in the history of the country. But we need to keep in mind that Trump gained over 11 million votes since 2016. And Biden’s win was fairly bare; 44,000 votes in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin separated Biden and Trump from a tie in the Electoral College. While it’s tempting to think that Trump was supported by 74 million racists (and it’s clear that a good portion of his base is simply hard-core racist), that doesn’t come close to fully explaining the increase in support.
A large portion of his support, and the increase in that support, comes from economic anxiety. “’You move Biden aside for half a second and you have a Democratic brand that is completely disconnected from workers,’ Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who represents part of the county, when asked what went wrong. It’s working class, White, Black and Brown.’”
The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened this anxiety. And it’s not just workers who have been laid off; it’s also business owners who have sunk years and thousands — frequently hundreds of thousands — of dollars into starting a business, only to see all of that destroyed in a few short months. Most of them completely understand how bad COVID-19 is, but the prospect of losing their business — in may ways, their life — is far worse. And they intensely dislike anyone who they see as helping them lose it. And their friends amplify that dislike. That’s why, even though Trump and his maladministration screwed the pooch on the response, business owners’ ire gets directed to local health officials and governors who shut them down or strangle their businesses.
Trump has taken to calling COVID-19 the “China virus” not so much for racist reasons but (1) to deflect blame from himself (Trump’s first response to anything negative), and (2) to support his criticism of China on trade. Trump has started a trade war against China that’s been ill-conceived in execution, yet it has resonated with the Trump base. This also resonates with Trump’s criticism of “globalists” as opposed to nationalists, and ties in neatly with the “Make America Great Again” slogan. Many Trump voters believe Trump is fighting for them not just on a cultural level, but an economic one.
Take a look at the list I posted above — there isn’t anything there that couldn’t be made in the US by American workers. And yet those things are made overseas and shipped long distances to the US. And American workers see the same thing every time they shop on Amazon.com or go to Home Depot — things made somewhere else while they’re struggling to make ends meet. Trump may not actually be doing anything for these folks, but he’s very good at making it see like he is. And they love him for it.
Democrats have an opportunity in the next two years to target and actually address those anxieties. Not simply by imposing tariffs, but by making it national policy to bring jobs back to the United States. For example, by providing tax breaks for companies that do, and tax disincentives for companies that can but don’t. And by providing tax incentives for big money to invest in American businesses, and disincentives for them just to move money around, or to simply break up American companies and sell them off for parts. Make it clear to people that Democrats actually are doing something to bring jobs back to the US. Getting a $600 (or $2000) payment for 1-6 months from the government might help, but people actually want jobs. They want to work to feel good about themselves and their country.
Democrats have an opportunity here to move from Made in China (or elsewhere) to Made in the US, and to gain voters, and actually improve their lives, by doing so. Let’s hope they do — they’ll really improve their chances in 2022 if they do.