The Capitalism Test
Critical thinking on chemtrails and tariffs
"The Capitalism Test"
Just about everyone understands the basics of capitalism: Invest in a means of production (factory, e.g.) and raw materials, and buy labor-power to put that means of production in motion, then sell the commodities (or services) that are produced for a profit. Then reinvest a portion of the profit into the means of production, raw materials, and (lastly) labor-power, and the cycle begins again.
Whatever threatens to disrupt these cycles of production-exchange-investment-production' -exchange'-investment'-production''-exchange''-investment''... capitalists vigorously contest. Every tariff, regulation, tax, worker safety measure, or rise in the cost of materials or labor-power is fought, tooth and nail.
So when someone proposes a conspiracy is afoot, ask yourself, "Does it pass the capitalism test?" Does this conspiracy potentially produce a profit that can be personally claimed?
CHEMTRAILS.
The Earth's atmosphere contains approximately 1,080,000,000,000 cubic kilometers of volume (a bit over 35,310,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 cubic feet). A Boeing 747-400 has 26,000 cubic feet of payload capacity when configured as a freighter.
35,310,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 divided by 26,000 means one 747-400, filled to the maximum with "chem" can fill 0.000000000000000007363% of the atmosphere. It would take 100,000,000 full Boeing 747-400's to fill 7/10 millionths of 1 percent of the atmosphere with "chem" and they would all have to be flying at the same time.
How much does the chem cost? How much do the planes cost? How much does the fuel cost? How can the use of such devices and the expenditures associated with them return a profit? How does the person putting forth the capital ensure the ability to secure most, if not all, of the profit generated?
Answer those questions with empirical proof, and you *may* have provided a reason why some might conspire to create empirical chemtrails.
One other problem, there are not 100,000,000 Boeing 747-400's in service in the world. There's not even 400 of them.
The Capitalism Test: Cuts right through the bullshit.
TARIFFS.
Applying the Capitalism Test to the most recent tariff actions by the Trump administration, reveals an inconsistency. They make no sense, and I am not referring just to the AI-invented formula of assigning tariff rates based upon trade imbalances, by internet domains. One of the reasons we do not export as much to poor nations is because they have very little power to realize profit through consumption. Capital always seeks the lowest costs for labor-power and the highest return on commodities.
That is why no amount of tariffs will induce capital to buy up the thousands of old factory sites that have since been converted to condominiums, and retrofit the buildings for manufacture again.
Labor in the United States—even at $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage—is far too expensive for a global operator. That higher prevailing wage, however, makes the United States a great place to send your goods, as they can and will pay among the highest prices in the world for them.
That is why today’s manufacturing nations like Vietnam see tariffs designed to cause massive price inflation in the U.S.’s most-imported goods. Were this the 20th century, before the global capitalist order established hegemony, it is possible importer nations would find their surplus goods (capital) dying on the docks and respond by lowering prices. But the United States has less than 5% of the global population, and its share of global wealth (~25%) is declining in part because of the tariffs. There are other substantial markets where profits may be realized—there is far less pressure that can be exerted than once before.
Applying the Capitalism Test to the Trump tariffs (they are Republican tariffs in so much as the Republicans in the House control their application, if not their rates) and we see there is no benefit to be had from them. The conspiracy is in the justifications—tariffs are collected from other nations, tariffs generate external revenue, tariffs will bring back manufacturing, tariffs will cause investment in businesses—none of which will prove true. The kicker is, this is supposedly being done to help capital.
In the long term it is quite possible that collapsing the standard of living in the United States will drive down the cost of labor relative to global economic growth so that it becomes more like Guatemala’s or Bangladesh’s, today. As the stock market will continue to decline through the coming days, the real estate markets that have been propping up the economy (by percentage, they are as leveraged as they were in 2006) will also start to suffer, especially as layoffs increase and people cannot meet mortgage payments.
Americans are more than $2 trillion in credit card debt today, following the “economic recovery” the DNC kept boasting about. Mass consumer credit was created to help stave off the effects of wage declines that began in the 1980’s. Consumer credit will be the first defaults—much of what was purchased on those promises of future production thus were false profits with the “correction” laying upon the consumer, first. As wages become incapable of meeting debt-servitude, the market as a whole slows, as housing declines in value, those mutual funds that invested in real estate will decline, and the last of the Boomers heading into retirement will see their savings depleted. Done in by one of their own, which is perfectly in keeping with the Me Generation, with the biggest ME of all, calling the shots for now.
#BankruptElon