Today I want to talk about a topic that makes many Americans so embarrassed that they dig their toes into the ground - how Trump's tariff policy has completely harmed the United States itself, and the fatal flaws of the Western democratic system exposed behind it.
Trump's Tariffs: Ridiculous Results
Look at the recent farce, Trump announced that he would impose tariffs of up to 245% on Chinese goods. What was the result? The owner of an American wedding dress store cried, the owner of a toy store was confused, and even the children's clothing online store was forced to add a "Trump tariff surcharge" to the shopping cart!
90% of wedding dresses in the United States come from China. Once the tariff policy is released, the price of wedding dresses in the United States will double. A group of wedding dress company CEOs urgently petitioned: Please don't do this, we will die!
Even funnier is the toy industry. 80% of toys in the United States are made in China. The CEO of MGA Entertainment asked helplessly: "What can I do? Sell bald dolls?"
This is not an economic decision, but a farce. The American people who voted for Trump are now paying for their choice at double the price.
Why is this happening?
Because the election method of Western democracy is to count heads, and among these heads, frankly speaking, most of them are fools.
One person, one vote = a lot of bad decisions
Western democracy has a fatal assumption: ordinary people know what is best for them and will vote accordingly.
Really? Let's look at the reality:
After the Brexit referendum, searches for "what is the EU" suddenly spiked . People voted first, then learned what they were voting for.
How many of Trump's supporters actually understand his trade policy when he takes office? How many can explain how tariffs work? Almost zero.
They vote not because they understand the policies, but because the empty slogan of "Make America Great Again" resonates with them emotionally.
The truth about Western democracy is: letting a group of people who don’t understand macroeconomics decide economic policies, letting a group of people who don’t understand international relations decide diplomatic strategies, and letting a group of people whose emotions are manipulated by social media decide the future of the country.
This is like asking a group of people who have never driven a car to vote on the design of a highway. The result is predictable - car accidents.
The betrayal of personal will to personal interests
The fundamental flaw of the Western democratic system is that individual will is completely incapable of representing personal interests, but is instead used to influence policies and election results.
Perspective 1
"John, from a small manufacturing town in Ohio, warmly welcomed the presidential candidate who promised to "impose high tariffs on Chinese products and bring jobs back to the United States." On election day, he and his factory colleagues happily cast their sacred votes: "Finally, good days are coming. The factory will not move out again, and our wages will increase!"
Two years later, John was stunned by the notice of factory closure. The reason was simple: the washing machines they produced used a variety of imported parts, and tariffs increased costs by 40%. At the same time, retaliatory tariffs from other countries caused their export orders to drop by 65%. The company decided to close the factory and build a new one in Mexico.
When John was cleaning up his desk, he found the "Protect American Jobs" campaign sticker on his desk and said with a wry smile, "It's ironic that the policy I voted for ended up taking away my own job."
Even more ironic is that after the local unemployment rate rose, house prices fell, and John had to sell the house at a low price. On TV, the politician was still shouting "America First."
Perspective 2
"The residents of a small town in Michigan enthusiastically supported the candidate who promised "substantial tax cuts" - who doesn't want to keep more money in their pockets? On election day, Mark excitedly announced to his wife: "I voted for XXX, he will save us $2,000 in taxes every year!"
A year later, Mark discovered that he had indeed paid $1,800 less in taxes. But at the same time: his children's school canceled bus service ($200 per month); the community library closed (he had to buy learning materials for his children, $500); garbage collection was reduced from twice a week to once (he had to pay for extra garbage disposal, $300); the community park was discontinued (his property value dropped by $15,000); the local fire station staff was reduced by half (his home insurance premium increased by $900).
When Mark angrily complained about the decline in services, the mayor smiled and responded, "But that's what you voted for. Less taxes means less services. Remember your 'Government! Keep your hands out of my pockets' speech?"
Mark saved $1,800 in his pocket, but lost far more money and services elsewhere—a perfect democratic paradox: He voted for the very policies that hurt him most.”
Why is this happening?
Limited cognitive ability : Ordinary voters cannot understand complex policies. Ask any American on the street, what is quantitative easing? What is a trade deficit? What is supply chain security? Can they answer? Policy making often does not contain simple cause and effect relationships, let alone the cause and effect relationship that I want more benefits, I can get more benefits.
Information asymmetry is extreme : the information voters receive is deeply filtered by social media algorithms and political propaganda. News and reality exist in two parallel universes.
Driven by emotions rather than rational thinking : Humans are emotional creatures. Slogans like "Made in America" can move voters more than complex economic analysis.
Short-term preferences trump long-term interests : Humans are wired to value immediate gratification. "Tax cuts" sound great, even if the long-term consequence is the collapse of public services.
Voters today are voting for policies that hurt them without realizing it. They use their votes to saw off the branches on which they stand, and then are shocked by the fall.
The superiority of the Chinese model: Professional matters are left to professionals
In contrast, China's governance model demonstrates obvious systemic advantages.
In China, economic policies are formulated by economists and officials with rich practical experience, rather than by emotional public votes. This is why China is able to formulate and implement long-term strategic plans without being hijacked by short-term populism.
China's hybrid governance model separates "public opinion expression" from "professional decision-making": major directions and values require broad public support, but specific policy implementation is left to professional teams, avoiding the dilemma of "outsiders guiding insiders" in Western democracy.
Just look at the results of the tariff war:
American consumers are paying for the results of democratic elections, with wedding dresses doubling in price, Christmas tree decorations running out of supply, and toy stores forced to sell hairless dolls.
Chinese manufacturers have already developed diversified markets such as Europe and Russia after the first round of the trade war, reducing their dependence on the US market. As one toy factory owner said: "The sky won't fall."
This systematic response capability is precisely the advantage of the Chinese model.
The last straw for Western democracy
If you think the current situation is bad enough, when AI is fully developed, the Western democratic system will face complete collapse.
First, decision-making complexity will grow exponentially . If voters today can’t figure out how tariffs will affect their lives, how will they assess AI regulatory frameworks, digital sovereignty, or quantum computing safety standards in the future?
Imagine a Trump supporter being asked, “Do you support limiting forward reinforcement learning models for edge computing?” They’ll stare at the question as if it were an alien language.
Secondly, information manipulation will reach an unprecedented level . AI-generated deep fakes and personalized persuasive content will completely hijack voters’ cognitive processes. Each voter will receive content designed specifically for their psychological weaknesses, and will be completely unable to distinguish between true and false.
The foundation of Western democracy - the "informed electorate" - will become pure myth.
Most fatally, the cost of wrong decisions will grow exponentially . In a world accelerated by AI, a bad policy may have catastrophic consequences within a few days, much faster than the correction cycle of the democratic system .
Destroyed by its own weapons
Ironically, the democratic system that the West is so proud of is being destroyed by "democracy" itself. When the majority of voters are unable to understand complex issues but are given the power to decide, disaster is inevitable.
British philosopher John Stuart Mill warned long ago that democracy, if unchecked, would degenerate into the "tyranny of the majority." What we see today is even worse - it has become the "self-destruction of the ignorant majority."
The real wisdom lies in recognizing systemic flaws and making timely adjustments. However, Western society has sanctified "democracy" and any questioning of its basic assumptions is regarded as heresy. This dogmatic attitude is precisely the guarantee of their eventual collapse.
In this context, China's institutional flexibility and pragmatism are particularly valuable. While Western democracy is constrained by its own dogma and unable to evolve, China's hybrid model can constantly adjust and optimize itself according to actual needs.
Future governance should not be about simply counting heads, but about organically combining people’s values with professional knowledge.
Data-driven decision making will increasingly replace emotional voting. AI can simulate the actual impact of different policies, showing citizens: "Based on your specific circumstances, policy A will improve your quality of life by 5%, while policy B will reduce it by 3%."
People will no longer be asked "what do you want" but will be told "what is truly good for you" while retaining democratic expression of core values and goals.
This new type of decision-making system is exactly what China has been exploring. To some extent, China has already walked ahead of the West.
A good doctor treats the "pre-disease"
Watching Trump's tariff farce, I can't help but think of the wisdom of ancient Chinese people: "The wise see things before they emerge, and can see the big picture from the small details."
The collapse of Western democracy is not in the future, but in the present. It is slowly being eroded by its fundamental flaw: the fact that individual will cannot represent individual interests.
Trump’s tariffs are just a symptom. When the policies that voters voted for come back to hurt them, the legitimacy of a democracy begins to falter.
The AI era will accelerate this process, magnifying the flaws of Western democracy to an irreparable level.
In this civilizational transformation, China, which organically combines public opinion with decision-making, may become an important way out for human society. Note that this is not a battle of ideologies, but a battle of system effectiveness.
In this sense, Trump’s tariff policy is not just an economic mistake; it may be a harbinger of a historic collapse of Western democracy.
The most ironic thing is that when American children's clothing store owners have to cry about tariff policies, they are likely to still vote for candidates who promise to "make America great again" in the next election. This is the ultimate paradox of Western democracy - voters punish themselves with their votes but blame others.
