Trump’s tariff terrorism is a threat to people’s mental health

Over breakfast last weekend, my brother and I discussed the madness that is playing out in the global economy being led by one Donald J Trump and his Tremendous Tariff Terrorism.

What Trump seems to think is that a show of might and dominance will quite literally come back to bite him because it is the American people who will be punished by its impact. Not that I’m overly sympathetic to Americans, as the majority of them voted him in so, you know, you get the leadership you deserve.

“We’re like the piggy bank that everybody’s robbing, and that ends,” Trump stated as he justified his extreme tariff position. The trouble, though, is that he and his advisers are leading people down a very dangerous path.

“Trump is literally creating a mental health crisis,” my brother exclaimed. At first glance, the connection might not seem obvious, but it’s undeniably true.

Referencing the saying that when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold, Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, told CNN last week: “The US isn’t sneezing, the US is hacking off one of its limbs… [If] these tariffs continue as they are, [it will] probably tip into recession.”

Now, we don’t need to be economists to know that a recession is an economic crisis and therefore bad news. It is characterised by an increase in unemployment as well as decreased GDP and consumer spending.

In the foreword of the World Health Organization’s 2011 report, Impact of Economic Crises on Mental Health, its regional director for Europe at the time, Zsuzsanna Jakab, wrote: “It is well known that mental health problems are related to deprivation, poverty, inequality and other social and economic determinants of health. Economic crises are therefore times of high risk to the mental wellbeing of the population and of the people affected and their families.”

The thing is that the hallmarks of a progressive society all require care, cooperation and a commitment to collective wellbeing, which includes making economic decisions that will not endanger people’s livelihoods and stability. This is something the president and his cronies across the pond would be well advised to take note of, because society only works when there is a coherent plan and general understanding of one another’s humanity and a commitment to ensuring our continued collective survival.

The way things are going under Trump’s administration points to the “disturbia” that has all the makings of a dystopian tale of orchestrated destruction.

As I watch and read the direction in which things seem to be headed, dystopian imagery from apocalyptic novels and movies plays through my mind. This improbable descent of the world was previously held at bay thanks to mutually negotiated rules of engagement that are now being obliterated before our eyes.

The cautionary themes of those books and films no longer feel far-fetched – they’re beginning to resemble a looming reality. Our global social compact is being corrupted and sold off for short-sighted megalomaniacal gain, and I fear that people’s mental health will be the tremendous price we pay. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.