one more thing: if the economics are so obvious, why do the governments in canada and the united states keep doing this?

because they don't work for you. they work for capital. they told you it would trickle down, but they didn't actually believe it. that's how capitalism works: big money buys influence and the rest of us can die in the street.

unless we fight back. it's a pressure point, perhaps - a way to save the system rather than topple it - but it's there, and we've stopped using it.

here's the thing: i don't sound like trump. trump sounds like me. trump sounds like thousands of unnamed leftist free trade protestors in the 80s and 90s. he somehow ended up representing this radical right coalition that opposes nafta because they think it's some kind of move towards world government - it's the old quasi-fascist john birch society narrative. but, he himself actually sounds like a socialist when you hear him talk about this.

i don't mind get attacked by the fraser institute or the cato institute or whatever other market fundamentalist you want to throw at me. in fact, i think it's imperative that the left does not get lost in a common front, or allow the capitalist press to gloss over the differences. we're not going to get very far in fighting against capitalism if we ended up co-opted by it. i don't want to be on the same side as these people.

i didn't initially take him seriously. but, i told you this: if i thought i could take him seriously on trade (and on foreign policy), i'd endorse him over clinton (who we all know is horrific on trade) and because i'm a socialist rather than in spite of it. it makes sense to hear liberals and conservatives push back against trump on trade, but it makes a lot less sense to hear anarchists and socialists do it, considering he's saying so much of what any of us would want him to say.

i'm not there yet, though. he's mixing socialist rhetoric with imperialist decrees, and everybody should expect the imperialist decrees to win out. but, we haven't had a discussion like this around trade in a long time and we should really be taking advantage of it.

if we don't, capital will win in the end - as it always seems to.