this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2025
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Thats not even including the tax revenue that's lost since many pay income tax (with no representation or access to benefits) essentially propping the system up, in part, for everyone else. I assume they think they can make up the difference on tariffs (nevermind much of that cost is passed on to ordinary Americans)
When the Ottomans took over Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire fell, they began charging steep taxes on goods travelling from East to West. The Portugese, not content with paying the tax, launched maritime expeditions to reach India and managed to find a direct route from Europe to India going around Africa's Cape of Good Hope. This was the start of the Age of Discovery. Spain commissioned Columbus with the same goal and.. well we all know where he ended up.
The point being when you charge an egregious tax or tariff people find a way around you rather than going through you. America is likely assuming its in such advantaged position globally that it can get away with it, but history shows that no nation / kingdom can survive alone and when you try to fleece people, they will find a way to exclude you.
It's worth adding that the Portuguese then took advantage of their stoutly-built, cannon-armed ships to loot and annihilate the existing shipborne traffic in the Indian Ocean. "Age of the Protection Racket" would be a better term than "Age of Discovery".
Oh the first Portugese colonists including Vasco da Gama was inhumane monsters no doubt. The absolutely horrific, inhumane shit he did to take control of the Indian Ocean trade route makes him notorious.
What's funny is how little people in previously colonial empire nations know their own history. A lot of these Christopher Columbus-esque folk are lionized in the European nations they came from. Which is a pathetic lack of introspection for such a highly educated place, in my opinion.
I mean humans have a great capacity for evil but European behaviour during the colonial era? Damn. Based on scale alone that has to be the benchmark for evil in the modern era.
Ancap/libertarian types like to pitch that as a point for their world view. Still pretty much all the ones I know IRL and online all still voted for Trump. DOGE was a major gift for them too as it was a way to import ancap president Javier Melei's ideas from Argentina to the US. Bit ironic how they've switched to pretending they never liked it or that Trump is a lesser evil.