Wall Street Panicans and Democrat Fearmongers: What Do We Owe America’s Children?

By John Kass

April 9, 2025

Betty and I have an old car that is pushing 200,000 miles. It still runs fine but I was thinking of getting a new one, something fancy, something that speaks to status, to luxury.

Something posh. Something with a quiet ride. Something cushy.

I look at pictures of fine motorcars I’d never be able to afford, but then I look at another picture, one that I took years ago in my brother Peter’s backyard, at the swing set.

It is my all time favorite family photo. Of our two boys and Pete and Georgia’s children, two girls and a boy. They’re young, tiny enough to all fit on one swing. They’re in their 20s now, with lives of their own. Later, brother Nick and his wife Dina had two boys who were born later, otherwise they’d be in that photo, too.

But when I sit in the dad chair in our living room, scrolling on my phone, looking at fancy cars that I yearn for but won’t buy, and I look up and see that picture of the kids on the swing set.

I ask myself: What do I owe them?

And what do we as Americans owe the children of America?

We owe them a chance at success, not a guaranteed outcome, but a chance at winning. A chance at a good paying job, a chance to buy a home and someday retire with dignity. The same chance our fathers gave us. We were all given the same thing. Opportunity. Not a guarantee. But a chance.

And we don’t have to face machine gun fire on the beaches of Normandy as our fathers and grandfathers did. We don’t have to walk through the Killing Fields of Southeast Asia.

But we’re too selfish now. We give into panic when we should stand strong.

All we have to do is grow a spine and as President Donald Trump tries to revive American manufacturing. He’s trying to do this with tariffs. And the markets predicably entered a drop and then Wall Street speculators were in full-blown panic.

They’re all complaining and whining and crying about Trump now.

But where were they when the Republican and Democrat establishments sold our nation out to China, and shipped all those good middle class American jobs overseas? They turned their backs on the American people and now they’re afraid it will cost them money.

A “self-induced economic nuclear winter,” if Trump doesn’t call a 90-day pause on the impending levies cried Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman, a public supporter of Trump.

What? Economic nuclear winter? If Ackman and his friends promised to watch your back, would you trust them?

“If, on the other hand, on April 9 we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate,” he said in a post on X.

Can you go to war with men like these? No.

They’re cowards.

I knew the type years ago. We called them Yuppies then. Young urban professionals. These days Trump calls them Wall Street ‘panicans.’ Then the panicans wore cologne and paid too much for coveted cigars they’d smoke with the cigar band on to make sure all would see. And they coveted bread machines and silk paisley neckties.

Trump isn’t a panican. The other day he put a post on Truth Social addressing the chicken littles as he tries to revitalize American manufacturing and attack the $36 trillion national debt:

“The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO,” Mr. Trump posted. “Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!),” the president wrote on Truth Social half an hour before Wall Street opened for trading.

“Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!”

In Chicago back in the ’80s, stockbrokers got their suits at Bigsby & Kruthers. It was owned by the Silverberg brothers who portrayed their store as more European tailored and fashion-forward than more traditional competitors. They used pro-athletes and Hollywood stars to market the store. Michael Jordan was cool. Suits and ties were cool. Images are crafted and purchased like ties even though the Silverberg’s got their start in more humble environs on Maxwell Street.

And Maxwell Street wasn’t cool then. It was the opposite of cool.

But in the 1980s B&K was all glitz and greed and Wall Street fantasy like Michael Douglas with slick-backed hair pronouncing from Hollywood that “greed is good.”

In the early 80s I was a college intern at the Daily Calumet, “America’s oldest community newspaper” on the Southeast Side of Chicago. In two weeks as intern there, editor Bob Bong made me the newspaper’s steel writer and political writer. I stopped trying to finish my college degree. I had a job and I wasn’t interested in the sheepskin. Plus there was work to do.

U.S. Steel’s South Works was laying off 45,000 men. Then Republic Steel a few miles away laid off 18,000. Wisconsin Steel laid off everyone. The hollowing out of Chicago manufacturing had begun.

The elites weren’t panicking then. They weren’t panicans. They would lose nothing. They had their suits and cigars. The people of the neighborhoods, the workers, were panicking. But they weren’t given a big media/political voice, because they weren’t in on the grift. Republican swamp creatures like U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell. Old Mitch married into the Chao family and they made fortunes.

According to a 2019 New York Times story:

“The family of Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary and wife of Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, has high-level political connections not only in the United States but also in China. That gives the family unusual status in the world’s two largest economies.

“Through interviews, industry filings and government documents from both countries, The New York Times found that the Chaos, and by extension Mr. McConnell, prospered as the family’s shipping company developed deeper business ties in China. Along the way, one of the company’s boosters was Ms. Chao, who now oversees efforts to promote America’s own maritime industry, which is in steep decline as China’s shipping sector rises in global dominance.”

And the elites—Republicans then mostly, but many Democrats too– kept telling us that globalization was a good thing. We’d be able to buy cheap stuff from China. All the cheap stuff we wanted. American manufacturing were sold out, but Walmart made money selling the Chinese junk.

But in South Chicago and other such neighborhoods, they weren’t happy. They’d been knocked to the ground, teeth knocked out, proud men forced to beg as their wives and children watched. They didn’t have stock portfolios. They were working men.

And the Wall Street guys who just ripped on Trump because they lost a few million in the markets the other day?

They’re the soft-palmed sleazebags who stepped over those mill workers years ago, beginning in the 1980s, as good paying jobs were shipped out to China. The blue collar union workers? They believed Democrats once. But they turned out to be generational road kill for the global elite.

More than 90,000 factories were shut down and wiped out in America. Whole towns were wiped out. The best jobs were what factory workers considered part time work, making not enough to raise a family.

And to top it off, the Democrats opened the borders looking for cheap votes, and tens of millions of illegals streamed in. The illegals competing with Americans for scraps, and if Americans objected what did the Democrats call them? They called them racists.

In those ruined towns and neighborhoods, the workers–blacks whites and Latinos–the bad public schools were crap and getting crappier. There were no solid factory jobs since our coastal elites and political establishment shipped those jobs to China and Malaysia, Vietnam and Mexico.

But China and Mexico did give us something in return: They gave us Fentanyl.

More than 100,000 young Americans die each year from fentanyl overdose. China knows this. And the Mexican narco gangs know it. Democrats knew it. The Biden White House knew it. But they they were being protected by the dying legacy corporate media. And now? All we hear is screeching panic from Wall Street.

Democrats and Wall Street have been making fools out of the American working classes for years. The presidential candidate of Wall Street was Kamala, and she pushed wealth taxes and open borders, more DEI, defunding police, trans athletes in women’s sports, and they want nothing to do with cleaning up Democrat waste in the federal government, or cleaning up any fraud and structural abuse hidden in the federal budget.

Now they’re screaming in panic, as if they’d just had their legs blown off on Omaha Beach. It’s so insulting. They deserve to be publicly shamed as they float above us, the Masters of the Universe, the hedge fund guys simpering their way through life. They’re the ones who fully backed the stupid wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and elsewhere. A white college male had a better shot winning the lottery than an internship at JP Morgan in 2024, per its specific DEI policy–regardless of how accomplished he might be.

After the factories and mills were closed, after the bi-costal elites told the workers to “learn to code,” Americans were robbed of their sense of purpose  and connection to their community. The same thing happened in South Chicago also happened in Youngstown Ohio and Corning New York, and Bethlehem Pennsylvania, everywhere that men lined up to work an honest shift with their legs and their hands. The white working class, the black working class, the Latinos. And I saw them all together, suffering in South Chicago. The working men and women were screwed. They were heartbroken. Their jobs were taken away and shipped out to satisfy the greed of the Wall Street Masters of the Universe.

The bi-costal elites, whose hands were soft and smooth and uncalloused began to favor casual clothes of the farmer and stock worker and cowboy. They wore heavy boots as if they needed them.

But the American middle class didn’t have time to spend on costumes and fantasy in the hopes of being considered men. They worked multiple part-time jobs, living paycheck to paycheck, with little hope of raising a family and connecting to a community. When their shifts were over they delivered meals to the elites from Uber Eats.

I don’t need a new car. I’ll keep this one running as long as I can. I just want my boys to have a chance.

Trump is right. The working men and women of America are proud. They don’t want to burden their children with $36 trillion in debt. All the children of America deserve a chance to run their own race, and not be crippled by the economic selfishness of their parents and grandparents. Enough.

All the children in America deserve more. They deserve what we had. They deserve a chance. They deserve a future.

(Copyright 2025 John Kass)

 

 

Shuttered Bethlehem Steel Works

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About the author: John Kass spent decades as a political writer and news columnist in Chicago working at a major metropolitan newspaper. He is co-host of The Chicago Way podcast. And he just loves his “No Chumbolone” hat, because johnkassnews.com is a “No Chumbolone” Zone where you can always get a cup of common sense.

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Comments 85

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      1. Thanks for a very well thought out family centric article John! It brings back many memories for me of growing up in the 60s and 70s when the lines between right and wrong were not so blurred as they are today. I grew up on a farm in Monticello Indiana growing corn, soybeans and wheat as well as Angus cattle and hogs. I started working at the very mature age of 6 and loved listening to WLS and Larry Lujack every day. When I was a teenager dad and mom would take us up to Chicago to go through the zoos and museums. I actually worked in Chicago for about a year in my late forties and got to try out some of the wonderful restaurants off of State Street. From there I took a job with the DOE in Washington State from which I recently retired. Thanks so much for sharing your life stories as well as having others do the same. I just love reading your stories and the forgotten past that you revive for all of us. You are a true gem and I wish you all the best!! God Bless! Jim

  2. “They’re the soft-palmed sleazebags who stepped over those mill workers years ago, beginning in the 1980s, as good paying jobs were shipped out to China. The blue collar union workers? They believed Democrats once. But they turned out to be generational road kill for the global elite.”

    Let’s not forget the clip board hugging weasel with skull full of teeth, who pretended to minister to unemployed- Barry Obama. This greasy twerp swam with the Communists who would partner-up with the future panicans. Obama pushed “fundmental change” that destroyed the middle class handed our nation over to its enemies. We have one shot at correcting this mess. Not panicing is a great start.

    Great piece, John!

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      Thanks Pat.
      Obama bragged about being a “community organizer.” I was out there in the South Chicago neighborhood–when the steelworkers were gut punched and knocked to the ground– and I didn’t see any evidence he organized anything.
      A phony 100 percent

    2. The American public has been crying out for years.”We don’t make anything here anymore!”
      We have a chance to finally fix this. We can’t live on a service economy; we must make things. I don’t know if Trump’s tactics are correct but we’ll soon find out. If we don’t attempt to fix this now, then when?

    1. Very well written article John. My dad worked at International Harvester as a Machine Repairman for many years and was able to support me and my four older sisters. He only had a 7th grade education due to the depression but he helped build this country. I have seen the Leverage Buy Outs and the offshoring of our manufacturing jobs damage it.

      I tried opening and running a manufacturing business in the late 90’s making specialty fasteners. There was just no way to compete with foreign competition.

      Now we end up massively in debt as a nation and without the industrial base we once had. Let us hope our children and grandchildren can reverse this trend and build a stronger nation.

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  5. Thank you for sharing, for caring in a broken world. My dad was a union electrician who brought a sense of work ethic into our family life. He left a legacy of concern for his children buying farm land and moving us away from Chicago. He always did the best he could. I wonder how he would feel seeing this new world of the Democrats who he voted for all of his life as a union man? God bless you, Betty and your sons.

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  6. Beautiful Family. What a wonderful precise article about where America is right now. I still have hope after the election that people are willing to stay the course and let some of these tariffs and policies change the course for our benefit. Remember when an automobile with 60000 miles was junk.

  8. This column reads like the MAGA bible. It should be required reading for all.

    Let the truth be known. We need capitalism with soul informed by faith.

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  9. Great article sir. I think of what I owe my children and grandchildren often. The answer is always the freedom I was born with in America. Just as you said in your piece here.

    It seems like the progressives are in an undeclared war with us (freedom loving Americans).

    May God bless America and keep us free.

  10. I, too, have an old car, an old phone, and old pics of the neighborhood kids. My dad served in WWII and returned home and found hard work and instilled that in his kids. We are blessed for that.

  11. Thanks John for another great article. Like you, I own a vehicle with over 200, 000 miles on it.
    When I bought new it ten years ago, I said I want to take it to the grave and at 75 years old with enough maintenance I might be correct.
    I love the replay of Shumer and Pelosi railing against Red China a few years back for the trade imbalance and in support of tariffs. I remember once upon the time when labor unions railed the sucking sound of NAFTA and wanted tariffs. The unions were also vehemently against illegal immigration as it depressed the wages of American workers. Thank God for Trump

    1. Agreed, Mike! And got a smile from me at “fekin’ A” – it was a term heard often among my friends and I in the 60’s. Only with a U rather than an I. 🙂

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  13. Interesting that the Democrats keep crying about taxing the rich when they are the rich. Anywhere there is a financial hub in America it run by the Democrats who tax the Hell out of everyone but themselves, and being two-faced, demand that the rich be taxed with no intention of actually taxing themselves. They double and triple tax the retirees and buy votes with the money. Taxes are also one of their methods of class and race warfare, which they excel at. Trump is right – we only one chance to get this right, and one of the ways to get it right is to Hell with Wall Street and the Democratic hypocrites running it masquerading as Republicans.

  15. We live in interesting times. The New World Order of Global Elites poised to complete the restructuring of everything most of the rest of us hold dear. Standing in the way is the American experiment, our values and way of life. If they destroy that they win. Reagan reminded us that each generation must defend our liberty. We’re at the crossroads.

  16. John-have you considered a feature where subscribers could share x number of columns per month for free like many other publications do? Many columns such as this one deserve wider distribution (post on X with no paywall?). It would get wider distribution on your excellent columns and probably mean more subscribers! Just a thought.

  17. 100% agree that politicians leaving massive debt (Fed+State+Local) to our children and our children’s children is amoral. Regardless of some economists arguing that debt becomes less burdensome due to inflation over time.

    Regarding politicians working to effect economic change (or much else), I place my trust in God and most definitely not in false idol politicians (from either side of the aisle).

  18. Sometimes it’s difficult to see, but this country is still full of men with steel in their spines and convictions to what is truly right. I see these people here, in South Carolina. People who are unashamedly “American.” When I lived in Chicago (for 63 years) it was easy to lose sight of what it meant to be pro-American. A city increasingly full of weasels.
    This became clear when NAFTA was all the rage. The clear-minded saw the obvious, that you can’t have national greatness with a service economy. The country didn’t need armies of Starbucks baristas and fast food servers. This meant nothing to the globalists. As you’ve written, their pride and patriotism crumbled with the promise of easy money.

  20. I grew up in South Chicago. Me and many of my neighbors lost our jobs when the mills closed as well as many businesses that depended on them. As far as I know. No corporate or government assistance was provided to help the area and people recover. Some people never even got their final pay as the checks bounced. Yes John. Even the daily cal didn’t survive.

  21. I love the way this column blends two perspectives on the 21st century sell-off of America’s economy and job base.

    The column clearly spells out the establishment’s cold calculation of exporting manufacturing while welcoming legal policies and illegal elements that hurt American citizens.

    This same narrative movingly describes how elitist and heartless the establishment has been — haughty posers like Obama AND McConnell. They create generational wealth for the establishment’s children and trillions in debt for other children.

    This great piece of writing makes the reader angry but inspired at the same time, because it shows the path forward.

  22. John, I agree with your assessment of the many problems we face as a Country and how Walk St always wins, but the tariffs, designed to level the playing field with our trading partners, are going to hurt many of us, including those who can least afford more economic pain. You have cited Rand Paul in the past and I believe he has a healthy perspective on how to address global trade problems. https://youtu.be/iuUECPxrjVU?si=UwWfSOfVSRfwj5oq

  23. Excellent commentary esp about the “community organizer”. My dad crossed Utah Beach and cared for many who would receive a Purple Heart for their sacrifices that day (he did too). His Company is pictured in a book about the 101st Airborne. The work ethic was basic. He taught me about the value of work and Earning It numerous times growing up and respecting people for who they are not just what they are. The Dems are screaming because the gravy train/free lunch is coming to a halt. Yes short term pain will be necessary and maybe the wall streeters will feel some of the pain Main Street small town America feels daily.

  27. Thanks for the article John…I’m sending the article to a friend of mine ready to jump off the cliff…as I have said to him, what we have is for our Kids and Grandkids.

  28. John, I hope this article reaches millions of people who have been duped so often by the politicians and so called industry leaders. It’s the best I’ve read from you since becoming a subscriber!! God bless you and all who support your words. I have been a witness to just about everything you bring to the table and still try to instill hope for my grandkids.

  29. Spot on, John.
    I, too, remember in the ’60s and ’70s how you could walk out of high school on graduation day, get a good-paying factory job, and raise a family. Pure Middle class. Yes, these Panicans are crying, and Trump is right to try to bring jobs and manufacturing back to the USA. Also, the Universities need to quit scamming the cost of an education and streamline the requirements to get a degree. Bigger ripoff than anyone, and now are crying with funds being cutoff!
    Hang tough everyone and watch the countries line up to make new trade deals with us.

  30. Thanks, John. We have been sold out. Way back in 1992 I voted for Ross Perot – he was right about “That sucking sound” being the manufacturing jobs moving to Mexico. And that was just the beginning. In the early 70’s I used to read meters in the Cicero/Berwyn areas abutting the City and went into many small to medium sized factories – all gone now.

  31. “..And you’re going to hear a giant sucking sound of jobs being pulled out of this country..” H. Ross Perot, presidential debate. Perots assessment of Nafta had Clinton and Bush laughing at him. Protecting was an object of ridicule from our political elites. Amplified by the media to depict Perot, a self made billionaire as a crackpot. Sound familiar? I grew up on the East Side of Chicago and vividly remember the orange skies when the Wisconsin Steel foundries were going full steam. Hard work, dangerous work but more than just a living wage for those that wanted a good living. Wisconsin, US Steel, and Republic Steel all were gone by my teenage years. Thousands out of work. All of the smaller factories on the Torrence strip soon followed. A wire mill. A car part manufacturing company. Vacant lots today. The change was gradual so most of us didn’t notice. Adults working jobs that used to be taken by kids and bored retirees. Working fast food and retail. Honorable work but low paying. Most held two or three of these if you were trying to support yourself. The same media that now screams about Trump spent the last four years lying to the public. Lying that Biden was mentally competent. That the economy was doing great. That the Ukraine was winning its war. All lies. Trump is the only president who is trying to fix the mess created by both the democrats and republicans. Even after Obama ridiculed the concept years ago. Even after a union rep from the UAW thanked Trump for trying to resurrect manufacturing in this country. While the UAW president endorsed Biden. Trump ran on this and the smart companies already have announced over a trillion dollars in manufacturing moving over here. Americans have taken a beating for the last thirty years over NAFTA. It’s gonna take some belt tightening for a little while but everyone’s tightened their belts , especially after the last four years of Bidenomics. Trump is the ONLY president who has the BALLS to take on the elites who make their money on stock market manipulations. These people let out their belts since they get fat all the while we tighten ours since we get poorer. This won’t last long. Trump is going to win.

  32. My 2008 car had 250,000 miles on it when I backed down a curving driveway and ran over a street sign. The next morning I traded it in ($2000) and bought a car with rear cameras that beeps when I get too close to something!

  33. My parents lived through the great depression and WWII. They both worked hard all their lives to provide us with the thinks they never had. Growing up I always wanted to do things that would make them proud of me. Now that I’m older I realize that I had it backwards – my parents did things to make me proud of them, and I am. We should be doing things to make our kids proud of us. This is our opportunity. We should be giving them a country stronger and freer than ours has become.

    Great article John! Required reading!

  34. With all due respect to South Chicago, focus a little further east. Take a drive on US 12/20 from one end of Lake County to the other through Hammond, East Chicago, and Gary. Fifty years ago, there were one manufacturer after another, big and small, supplying tens of thousands of good paying jobs to people on both sides of the state line. Now they’re either completely gone, or a hollowed-out shell of what they used to be.
    You also mentioned Walmart – ye of “Always the Low Price – Always”, primarily by forcing suppliers to source from China. I’ve always refused to shop there, unless I had absolutely no choice. Unfortunately, I am in a tiny minority, and now it’s too late.

  35. John, this is one of the best, if not the best, articles on what is happening in the US. You are correct, and thank you for providing a refresher on history. BTW, I lived in Old Town in the mid to late 80’s.
    Tom

  36. The most cogent article I have read so far on the current state of affairs. A couple of other thoughts:
    1. I will attempt to share this column with my family, but anticipate another moutza for myself expecting a different response than last time.
    2. As someone who worked on Maxwell Street I can tell you that the suits from Bigsby and Carruthers were terrible and of port quality.

    Keep up the good work and stay healthy John because we need you

  38. Good column but….
    1. Where are the tears for the thousands of federal employees fired, John. Why aren’t you mentioning them. Are they all lazy bums? I have several friends who worked hard for govt. One was pushed out after 47 years of loyal service and excellent yearly reviews.
    2. Don’t forget to add the Vietnam War to your list of stupid wars. You seem to leave that out.
    3. Fentanyl ‘crises’?. I was told in my Roman Catholic education about ‘free will’.
    Nobody forces anyone to start their rode to demise. If they want help there’s help.
    AND drugs, whether Fentanyl or any other drugs, exist because certain cops, judges, states attorneys, and politicians are on the take. In Lake County, Illinois our jail is named after a former sheriff who use to pick up the drugs at Waukegan Airport and distribute to the dealers. Remember GI Joe Gliniewicz? The cop who faked his suicide becuz he was stealing chump change from Explorers account. Well, I found out (as coroner) he was also a drug runner and sold used US Army weaponry that US govt gave to police depts, to the gangs of McHenry and Lake Counties. Did FBI look into that? Hell no. Too many ‘important’ people were involved that. They were outrage about the $600 a month on average he stole, but not about the thousands per month related to drugs and weapons he sold.
    4. It’s the little people being hurt with these tariffs. Salesmen being let go, car dealerships folding, with mechanics out of jobs. Parts companies folding. It trickle down economics. I’ve lost 30% in my IRA. I don’t have a guaranteed pension. What I saved is what I live on. How do you think people who see their 40lk savings going down tubes gonna vote in 2026 midterms? Hmmmmm.
    Finally, I have a 31 year old Jap SUV with 250,000 mi; a 18 year old ford sedan with 96,000 mi; and Jap car 18 years old with 150,000 mi. Don’t plan on getting a new vehicle

    1. Thomas, you make great point regarding the toxic effect these tariffs have on retirement plans. As you know, the defined benefit pension is mostly a thing of the past in the private sector. So destroying folk’s 401k (and 403b) and other savings is not a good way to win friends and influence people. But it is a great way to resuscitate a near dead DP for the midterms in 2026. Stupid is as stupid does.

  39. In 1996-97, the sociologist William Julius Wilson published a book about the urban Black culture, titled, “When Work Disappears.” It’s all there, what happened in the Black inner cities in the 1960s-80s happened to much of the rest of the country in the following decades, and with similar results.

    The warnings were there, a noted and respected academic sociologist had even published a well-received book about what would happen. And the warnings were brushed aside if acknowledged at all, because of the greed of some and the stupidity of those who believed them.

  40. Born in 1955 and raised in South Chicago until I left in 2021. My father worked at South Works. Trained many an electrician and told the young guys. Train and get out. This place will not last. Many of them repeated this to me at my Dad’s wake. Unfortunately many of these people continued to vote for the same party that caused this collapse and now continue or their children and grandchildren continue to vote for the Mayor’s of Chicago of which we can now see the disastrous effect it has. I moved to the south suburbs and I never thought that I would never go back to the city I loved and worked for as a police officer.
    Manufacturing may again save this country, but this new generation wants to have it all but not work for it. Discussions with my friends say the same thing. No one really wants to work.
    Sad, just sad.

  41. JK this is one of your best columns ever. I remember first reading you at the Daily Calumet. Long time ago we were both kids.

    The south east side and those mills in Indiana was the key to the American success.

    To this day the community has never recovered from the loss of those jobs.

    Families torn apart, marriages destroyed, alcoholism and drug abuse ,suicides, families no longer could take vacations, tuitions couldn’t be paid, all that the men worked for taken from them.

    Their dignity ,values, and work ethic.

    I would feel guilty because at 22 I had a civil service job, likely guaranteed for life, was single no family responsibilities yet, and my friends and their dads were robbed everything in a matter of months.

    Tragically Our Country did nothing for those American people.

  43. Outstanding as always, Mr. Kass. Your description of the demise of many communities as the factories and mills closed brought back a lot of sad memories. I grew up in Gary, in the shadow of U.S. Steel, and most of my friend’s Dads and many of their grandfathers worked in the mills, which employed tens of thousands of people. Some folks don’t realize that when the mill shuts down, like Wisconsin Steel did, entire communities and every business in them dries up quickly. I drive through Gary on occasion, especially the area on the East side I grew up in, and it breaks my heart.

    My Dad was a WWII Vet who was a very pragmatic man. One day I was complaining about the air pollution and smog that was being harped on by TV reporters. He waited until that evening, took me outside, and told me to look to the North. He said “You see that fire in those skies?” I said that I did, and he shared a very poignant thought with me- he said “As long as those fires are burning, guys are working and feeding their Families, so shut the hell up and breathe”. Without question, the smartest man I’ve ever known.

  44. John you are wrong.

    International Harvester and Wisconsin Steel failed because of union demands. Management told workers they could not keep their doors open with their demands and regular strikes. It closed.

    There was an increasing worldwide supply of steel. And American quality was falling behind. I had a friend who worked for a large buyer of steel. He told me he had sleepless nights because he wanted to buy American steel, but the price was too high and the quality was too low.

    Once upon a time, many large American companies had some monopoly power. They charged American consumers higher prices with less concern about quality. These firms shared some of those monopoly profits with workers. Increased competition gave lower prices and more choices, but it could no longer support those monopoly wages.

    Protecting American steel and aluminum will only raise the costs for those who buy their products. That will price cars out of the reach of the average American while making them impossible to sell on world markets. China will happily step in to fill the void on international markets.

    If jobs return to America, they will be to highly automated factories, each additional job costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. These tariffs are the biggest single tax increase in history and will damage the working class.

    The stock market is tanking because investors expect growth to be much lower. Domestic and foreign investors think America has become a less safe place to invest. It isn’t Wall Street panic. That is the future if this stands

    This trade war threatens a downturn in economies around the world. That means a lot of suffering for people just trying to get by.

    1. Well said. I doubt the late Prof Friedman could have stated it better. What John obviously does not understand is a tariff is a tax, and Trump’s proposed tariffs are the biggest tax increase in American history. Tariffs are ultimately paid by the American consumer and not the targeted nation. The other thing John does not seem to understand is the stock market is the “average opinion” of not just a few folks or even a few elite rich folks but the opinion of tens if not hundreds of millions. John really needs to have a long conversation with his friend Prof Lipson of the UoC, because his economic naïveté and ignorance of this issue is just stunning.

      1. The bond market started to collapse this morning. Foreign buyers and many domestic buyers decided that the future prosperity of America was at risk. They would only buy at a higher interest rate. If Trump had continued on his path he could have risked America’ ability to pay its debts. Bond markets put a gun to Trump’s head or if you prefer his advisors told him he was looking at a declining dollar, inflation, and a deep recession. He had no choice but to back away from his tariff policy and spin it the best he could to save face

        1. I hope you are right. I had severe doubts that President Trump would listen to reason or acknowledge any data to the contrary given his religious like faith in the sanctity and power of tariffs. I really thought Trump and the rest of us were going down with the ship. But he has to get out of this chaotic tariff policy and put it to rest. And Sen. Rand Paul makes a great point: if the tariffs choke off China, China’s next move may be a military assault upon Taiwan. I would not bet against that.

  45. Here, here! After college I was Riffed/Laid off/downsized [pick your term 4 times in 10 years due to mergers/buy-outs/moves/ and Jim Florio’s tax increase. I had my first truck, a Mitsubishi, for 13 years & 154,000 miles, my second, a Tacoma, for 25 years and 192,000, and my wife’s 204 VW New Beetle lasted for 17 years and 164,000. I became a teacher in ’95 so I’d never go through that again as a married man with a family in my 30s, 40, or 50s. This year, I retire. If I had tried to stick it out in manufacturing I’d be a single guy living out of his car! Reshoring & reindustrializing is a national defense priority and a long overdue [too late for too many] justice.
    Wall Street can take care of itself – as it always does.

  46. One of your most powerful columns ever.
    I will never forget, in 2019 Presidential Candidate Joe Biden told a group of blue collar workers and coal miners in Derry, NH : “Learn to program, for God’s sake!” Learn to Code.
    Cold condescending arrogance.
    Can you imagine telling out of work bureaucrats “learn to code”?
    How about telling them to pick up a shovel?

    The loss of manufacturing in this country was devastating.
    Thousands and thousands of people and Families across the country were affected.
    Generations of skilled laborers lost good jobs. Hard work that provided for a family.
    Democrats did not care. It was all about the investors, not the workers.

    I got tired of hearing from elitists we need massive immigration to fill the jobs
    no one else will do.
    Really? Thousands of people born here want those jobs, they want that chance in life.

    There has been talk of a recession for the past few years before President Trump.
    Maybe that time has come. Don’t panic. Wait it out.

    Adorable Family picture. This time it is “all about the children”, future generations
    who deserve a better chance in life. Free from massive debts of the past.

  47. “Learn to code”? Hah! Maybe fifty years ago. Those jobs have been disappearing faster than the factory jobs. It’s cheap and easy to set up an off-shore office staffed with highly trained, inexpensive, English-speaking workers and ship the product back. Instantly and for free.

    Remember the cars of the 50’s through the 70’s? Terrible quality that rusted out within a year if it even made it home from the dealer. The Japanese and Germans discovered that Quality sells and it forced the Big 3+1 to confront their products’ problems. Do we really want to go back to that? Competition has its benefits.

    Disclaimer: I own (and have only ever owned) cars built in the USA by US-branded companies. Half my cars were built on the South Side. I was, at one time, a UAW member.

    1. You make a great point: isolated (from competition), protected industries get lazy and eventually produce crap (maybe that’s why our government bureaucracy is so f’d up). I remember my father’s “luxury” Cadillac Seville – from decades ago – where the fit and finish was a terrible.

  48. Great article John. Another point President Trump made is that the majority of our pharmaceuticals come from China. If we get in a dispute with do you think they will sell them to us? We would have people dying in the streets. Now is the time to act and bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

  50. Good column. The tariffs may bring business back but to keep it in the long run, Right-to-Work and Work Comp costs and regulations may need to be addressed. It wasn’t just the hourly wage that caused this, it was the collateral costs as well.

  51. very spot on again John. I well remember those decades of prosperity in Hegewisch, & South Chicago…Gary too. The following years brought us Chinese & foreign goods made cheaply off the labor of foreign and child labor. Those workers were and are basically slave laborers. The future of our American labor force was traded for global commerce and corporate greed. Those jobs are up and gone.

  52. Let us not forget one very important fact. The last time Trump tried to straighten out the trade mess with China, China responded by unleashing the Wuhan virus upon the world. This also benefitted China by enabling the “election” of Joe Biden and the four years of “prosperity” that Bidenomics rewarded us with. I expect no less a response from that country in response to Trump’s tariffs.

  53. Your economic ignorance is profound. If you really cared about the economic viability of the next generation you’d focus on the entitlements – SS and Medicare – which are deep drivers of our debt. In fact your kids will be faced with a double whammy with SS: responsible for the debt it creates and also deriving a fraction of the benefits you and I enjoy today. And as far as tariffs go, maybe you should consult your friends at the UofC and get a lesson in economics. Perhaps they can recite to you the teachings of the greatest free marketer of ’em all, the Godfather himself – Milton Friedman – who can then explain to you why in the long run tariffs are a bad idea.

  54. John another excellent perspective.
    I was discussing how Perot called out the poor decision making during the election that brought us Clinton.
    He was so prescient.
    On another topic please check out Trump signing of executive orders today.
    Representatives from Michigan including the Governor were there for his signing of an order to move the barrier to protect Lake Michigan and all the Great Lakes from the Asian carp.
    Noticeably absent was JB Pritzker.

  55. Come on John, Get a Tesla!! It will self drive you everywhere 🙂 Mind blowing tech.

    Love your writing as always. Trump is doing the right things. We owe our children an opportunity, so they can keep America as the most innovative country in the world. The best Ai models have to be built here. The next big drug has to be found here, not in China or any other country.

  56. Great piece John

    I remember growing up in Chicago during the 70s, and my Dad , a machinist, working as much as he could, took in a second job, mom went back to work, just to make ends meet during the inflationary decade.

    That was just the beginning, of the great sell out by some of our greedy politicians.

    Now here we are, with a large percentage of our youth shackled in college debt, either useless degrees.

    Still there is opportunity, for those who acquire the right skill set, and work hard.

    Thank God for DJT, but he can’t do it alone.

    People of our generation can’t just coast into retirement, we need to do more, be involved in pushing back against these destructive policies at the local level.

    Thank for all you are doing in this regard.

    John Stanton

  57. John, I agree with the premise that we have an obligation to give our children the best opportunity to be educated, to work in decent jobs, hopefully raise a family, and to contribute to society in a meaningful way. I think it is too early to judge how tariffs can assist us to deliver the opportunities for our children and grandchildren. Trump’s hero on tariffs is President McKinley. I don’t know if the tariffs imposed during his presidency resulted in creating a great economic environment. The economists would know better. Mister Rudd does raise some legitimate concerns regarding the effect upon individuals who are not in an enviable economic situation.

  58. The reality you point out is a cultural divide. For some, they’ve lost the ability to dream, to have a vision of the future that is achievable through hard work and some luck, to patiently pursue something once known in an era of cooking and sewing and farming and gardening. To imagine something wonderful. Plant a seed or small seedling and nurture it to maturity.

    These are the casualties of the microwave.

    Standing at the oven window screaming, “Come’on!!!” as popcorn cooks or the dinner warms inside not instantly enough for the impatient. Order a preshopped, precut meal and a quick Hello Fresh! Or just phone it in and get Uber Eats in a Door Dash. Buy your clothes, don’t even learn to make them! Buy your produce from a farm stand or have Instacart deliver it, and buy an instant garden with full size plants, just drop them in and enjoy.

    What we’ve lost is patience, the ability to wait. I’d argue those same people don’t believe in heaven or God either.

    To all the doomers in my life, I’ve created a deadline and an invitation to my Crow Luncheon. Dec 29th. If no major arrests have been made, if tariffs have ruined the US economy, and if no tax cuts have been delivered to the American people, I will post Crow Sandwich pictures online all day. I’ll wait because I know how to do it.

  59. First, nice picture of innocent kids playing at the swing. Next, the mention of the southside steel industry and the sight of the Bethlehem Steel Building structure, brings back the fond memories I have had about US Steel. For, in 1973 when I started my engineering career in this country with a major Chicago firm that designs (from 1891 till to date) Fossil & Nuclear Power Plants, I did not have much expertise/knowledge about Structural Steel Design since I was from the Eastern Hemi-Sphere that specializes mainly on concrete structures. So, my supervisor advised me to call US Steel who will provide me with steel design material. Bingo!, in a week time I got the USS Steel Design Manual and other design aids that I used later to crack the American Steel Construction code, mailed to me free of charge to my office address. And yes, I felt very sad to see the south side steel mills go down on by one.

  60. It’s been a singular concern of mine since taking Mimi-vacations to visit my Dad’s side of the family. His sister was a veterinarian and Uncle Bob worked on infectious disease for Mayo Clinic, focusing on AIDs and HIV patients.

    He told me once that medicine is recession-proof from somewhere inside their mansion. I remember their first son’s 7- year advanced vocabulary words were used to put me in the place, even if I knew most of them. We were from “the South Side of Chicago” and dangerous urchins who just got by.

    Compared to their stately pleasure dome or their couple of cabins and money to pay for anything, around the age of 8, I began to form notions not
    only of what being rich meant for society at large. I was an early egalitarian.

    This chip on my shoulder hasn’t left—what motivates me is getting cheapskates to pay taxes so the rest of the country can be educated to the point of having a chance if they can mimic the finishing schools’ unwritten rules. Dress like them and they’ll never figure the poor to middle class “rubes” they laugh at on the squash court is equally good at squash and a standard deviation better than the boss’s nepotism hire.

    Don’t do what I did and break the crime of the century hoping that fellow journalists will vouch for you on your journey. In the US, they will work you to the bone if you don’t advocate for yourself and demonstrate truth each time it arises. The masses find it all too easy to dismiss the Roman false flags 2,000 years ago; Hearst lying us into war with Spain; Pearl Harbor (look up Joseph Rochefort); operation Himmler; the Gulf of Tonkin lie discovered by IF Stone and 9/11. The media do not seek to even rationally discuss these pretexts for war. They only delete emails, cleansing the truth from their systems, and look for another hot take for their clip roll. “The job of journalists is to afflict the comfortable; and comfort the afflicted.”

  61. Great article. America as a nation does need to become a producer again; how long will that take? Remember when all the factories were closing and thought about how we were all going to be under China’s thumb at some point, and that was NOT going to good! Fixing this is going to be monumental.

    I keep thinking about all the small businesses that have closed since (and because of) Covid lockdowns. Those Americans were trying to live their American dream, but our government ripped it away from them.

    Somebody please tell old Joe’s party that we don’t need anymore coders!

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