Now that AI got involved it’s on topic for TechTakes I guess. Making a containment thread because there might be a lot to sneer about this.
Boring version of of the main story: https://text.npr.org/nx-s1-5345802
Skynet declares trade war on penguins: https://archive.is/Nn5MC
Reactionary news outlet celebrates 77% drop in stock price by taking everyone else down with them: https://bsky.app/profile/brianmfloyd.bsky.social/post/3lluybov3i22o
seen a thesis/opinion that the tariffs as positioned is a covert solicitation for bribes, a test to see who’ll line up to kiss the ring and ask for exceptions
holds some water but I don’t really see how it’s expected to scale internationally? “hope the CEOs beg their national economic leadership”?
the whole damn thing is ofc stupid but (as I’ve said in other cases) shrugging the whole off because of that is dangerous - worth interrogating even despite the stupid, because they still have impact
it must be comforting to think that there’s some bigger plan, and they can’t possibly be this stupid and incompetent
(by now i do think that they’re this stupid and incompetent, and if it appears that there’s no plan going forward it is because there was never one. they’re malicious, see Zelensky visit, and can plan perhaps a week in advance, but nowhere near sophisticated enough to come up with this)
Like any reality-show writing room, they only plan one episode in advance and only have a week’s worth of photography in mind.
both things are true: they’re definitely this stupid and incompetent, and there’s some kind of plan. it’s bad to underestimate the loons (and I point to the last decade, breitbart, etc as evidence)