Dangerous Donald’s deja vu is a historic mistake

On the issues of immigration and tariffs, I find striking historical parallels between the 2020’s and the 1920’s we dare not repeat. Donald Trump has made these two issues the corner stones of his campaign to regain the presidency.

In the early 1900s immigration from Catholic Southern and Eastern Europe caused alarm among White Anglo-Saxon Protestants resulting in Congress passing restrictions in 1924 drastically limiting the number of immigrants to 2% of those whose national origins were already here in 1890 and banning most Asians altogether.

Fear was spread by nativists and fundamentalists that newcomers were taking jobs, changing America, were not patriotic, wouldn’t assimilate, and were dirty dangerous possibly diseased people. It was easy to demonize them as swarthy looking Italians, Polish, Greek, and even anarchist Jews from Russia. KKK and pro-fascist politicians were actually elected in America on this platform. Sound familiar?

Donald Trump says he will use the Army National Guard to round up what he says are 12 million illegal people to detentions centers for transport, presumably by rail cars because air tickets would be too expensive. He acknowledges “this will be a bloody story.” Tearing up families and ripping up communities is an acceptable cost of riding us of the undesirables that according to Trump poison the fabric of our society. Anyone else have Déjà vu?

This gaping hole in the American economy will mean instant depression when there is no one to make the hotel beds, drywall new construction, milk the cows, process the meat, pick the fruits and vegetables, or pay for your Social Security benefits, etc.

Using the Army on American soil is illegal, but hey, his Supreme Court says he has immunity now so he can assume emergency powers and do as he pleases. If anyone wonders what they would have done in 1930 in another cultured and advanced country when extreme measures were thought necessary, well that is what we are doing now.

In 1930 Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Act increasing tariffs by 20% on foreign imports. This caused other countries to retaliate in the same way resulting in a drastic decline in world trade which prolonged and deepened the Great Depression.

A 10 - 20% tariff on all nations plus 60% on China is now proposed by Donald Trump which would increase the cost to us of all foreign goods by that amount. This drastically increases inflation because American consumers will have to pay higher prices in what amounts to a national sales tax costing the average American family as much as $4,000 a year. American manufacturers would probably like the protection and the opportunity to raise their prices as well. No doubt other countries would follow suit just as before, which would likely trigger a depression.

Trump’s round of tariffs during his presidency caused China to reduce their purchase of American agricultural products and increase their purchases from South America which they are still doing. This resulted in an economic downturn for American farmers which Trump solved by sending them compensation checks. Some still think that because his signature was on them instead of the Secretary of the Treasury that Trump sent his personal money for which they are grateful. Of course, all it did was drive up the national debt in his 4 years more than any other president in history.

In short, these are terrible ideas put forth by someone without an ounce of understanding of history or economics. This election remember, we have been through this once before and it didn’t turn out well.

David Mansheim is a retired lawyer, educator and businessman living in Parkersburg.