Schadenfreude is often a powerful tool in politics. It is even more powerful when societies are deeply unequal and the engine of inequality has had broad support from the ruling elite. The MAGA campaign of Donald Trump, the politician, talks about trade wars and demonises outsourcing of services and allowing skilled migrants into the US, was precisely that: Schadenfreude par excellence. But demonising or punishing others, and taking pleasure from their misfortune, is of little good when it comes to
Schadenfreude is often a powerful tool in politics. It is even more powerful when societies are deeply unequal and the engine of inequality has had broad support from the ruling elite. The MAGA campaign of Donald Trump, the politician, talks about trade wars and demonises outsourcing of services and allowing skilled migrants into the US, was precisely that: Schadenfreude par excellence. But demonising or punishing others, and taking pleasure from their misfortune, is of little good when it comes to fixing things, especially in an economy as high-stakes and globalised as the US. Trump, the president, is realising more of this every passing day.
First, he had to walk back on his de facto killing of the H-1B visa programme. Take out skilled migrant workers, and the US will go from an abundance of cutting-edge human resources to a scarcity of talent. Now, he has rolled back a lot of his tariffs on essentials such as meat, bananas and coffee. Of course, there is also the larger detente with China amidst all this — largely because the latter holding back rare earth supplies would have brought the US electronic industry to a halt.
Make no mistake: These sensible course corrections aren’t because of some sincere change in Trump’s worldview. They have been made because they are necessary to not just keep the American economy going but also preserve political capital — such as among small traders and even consumers — in the wake of recent electoral reverses. Of course, some of it is also to pre-empt an institutional blowback from the US Supreme Court, which is weighing in on how much of Trump’s tariffs can bypass legislative scrutiny.
This is not happening for the first time. That Trump always chickens out or TACO is now a given. Because the US is also the global economic leader, the rest of the world, India included, has no other choice but to live with these flip-flops and show patience and perseverance. However, two more things are worth noting. One, TACO shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a weakening of Trump’s political appeal in the US. More so in an environment where his opponents seem to be celebrating these as justification for status quo ante. Two, and this is more unfortunate, is that by having reduced US politics to a diabolical cycle of schadenfreude and TACO, Trump is not taking it anywhere close to being more just.
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