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Tariffs, myth and the will to power
Trump sees himself as single-handedly and fundamentally altering the global order by a Herculean act of sheer will.
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Strongman spectacle: United States President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on April 2 after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again“ at the White House in Washington, DC. (AFP/Saul Loeb)
I
n the days since United States President Donald Trump unleashed his tariff tsunami on the world, economists, investors and business leaders have almost universally questioned its rationality.
As a policy matter, they are right to be scratching their heads. But Trump’s tariffs are not simply about policy. They are an animating features of his “Make America Great Again” movement, which is marked by a contempt for science and the rule of law, persistent lying and a propensity for irrational theorizing.
We have witnessed this embrace of irrationality before, accompanied by similarly grandiose assertions of power.
Hitler’s well-known fascination with theosophy, gnosticism and eugenics was not an isolated phenomenon. During the 1930s, psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s idea of self-growth or “individuation” was viewed by many (including Jung) to be the special destiny of the Aryan race.
The well-known Eranos gatherings during this period, which included esteemed scholars such as Mircea Eliade (who publicly supported Romania’s fascist Iron Guard), Henry Corbin and Gershom Scholem, have been shadowed (not entirely fairly) by the taint of anti-Enlightenment politics.
For Trump, tariffs are about much more than a change of economic policy. They are part of a toolkit for political and cultural transformation. April 2 was “Liberation Day”. Trump sees himself as single-handedly and fundamentally altering the global order by a Herculean act of sheer will.
To be sure, Trump’s tariffs are likely to make life materially worse for people around the world, not least Americans. But the particulars matter less than the heroic spectacle itself, the leader’s demonstration of MAGA’s capacity to rivet our attention by arousing shock and awe.
