The real problems are that Trump is clueless about macroeconomics and trade, and thinks everything is a zero-sum game. He can't conceive of a win-win.
That is the key to his failures.
Trump has no clue how to actually negotiate. He was always in the dominant position of being the one to that sub-contractors were coming to, so he always was the one to dictate all the terms; when he's up against a co-equal, he has no idea what to do.
From his normally dominant role, he can bully everybody as long as he would want to, because they all want to get a contract out of him. He is used to a
zero-sum game in which he wins by everybody else losing. That is in direct contradiction with the goals of diplomacy and traditional parlimentary politics in which you try to arrive at some kind of compromises in which everybody wins something. Trump's mentality of "I can only win if you lose" completely short-circuits any possible negotiation.
We also see a typical CEO tactic: create a crisis and then resolve it. E.g, there's a layout of a hotel lobby with a potted plant in a particular location. It's current position is a complete disaster, so you the CEO, the only one who can do it, move it less than a meter away and suddenly the crisis has been resolved, but only by your own incredible leadership. We see so many examples of this from Trump day after day.
I think that Trump is proof positive that that old GOP trope, "Put a businessman in charge of the government; he knows how to run a business so he also knows how to run a government." is pure crap. While some skills are transferable, running a government is very different from running a business, especially in your business goals. Running a government exactly like a business has never been known to work well.
For example, decades ago I practiced Aikido in which you blend with your opponent's energy (ie, motion, state of mind (we could "throw" people without even ever touching them)), combine them, and then move both energy systems within the same single framework (ie, around your own center) which inevitably results in leading your attacker "into a fall" (you never "throw" anyone, but rather you "lead them into falling"). When I started learning partner dancing, I immediately applied my Aikido training (mainly because that was my only background to get me through the turns in the warmup) and that tapped me very early into how to lead. However, as similar as they can be in principle and some levels of execution, the targeted end result is totally different: Ki (mind, spirit, life-force -- basically, virtually the moment the Force was ever mentioned I recognized it as Ki). In Aikido we lead your "partner" into a fall, whereas the Ki in partner dancing directs her around a common center. Same basic principles and techniques, but applied differently for diametrically opposed outcomes.
So even though some Aikido skills and principles were transferable to dancing, treating a dance like a self-defense situation could only result in disaster. Just as treating government as a business can only result in disaster.
Business is in the business of making profit by any means possible (hopefully legal). Government is in the business of managing resources for the benefit of the governed, which has very little to do with profit. Businesses will cut back on the services they provide in order to make more profit; government needs to provide those services as efficiently and effectively as possible. It makes business sense for Business to develop the attitude of screwing its customers as much as it can get away with; Government cannot do that.
Government is not a business and must not be run as one.
ABE:Going bankrupt is a valid and much used business practice; Trump is very well practiced in going bankrupt.
Bankruptcy is not a viable option for Government.
And Trump's suggested solution of just printing more money is a non-starter. From the
Weimar Hyperinflation (1921-1923) where that's exactly what the German government did, we know exactly what will happen, unlike that m.o.r.o.n Trump. I have a copy of a magazine graphic showing postage stamps from that period for sending a postcard: the price started at 10 Pfennigs and ended up costing over a billion (milliard) Marks. Cheap and stiupid tricks like that might work for a business, but not for a government.
Donald J. Trump. Failed businessman. Failed president. Failed human.
Edited by dwise1, : Lost the bubble, but got it back now. Completing the thoughts.
Edited by dwise1, : ABE
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