As some critics on the left may have almost wanted, US prosperity may crumble, but it's brought on by the right and the law of unintended consequences.

Tariffs are a way to finance the government versus income taxes. It's a way of shifting taxes to consumers. Lower income and middle class gets taxed more while higher income and wealth categories get taxed less.

This is what was voted in last November. American voters shooting themselves in the foot by a slim margin, back then. By now, maybe regret.

It will likely lead to higher inflation along with a downturn in the economy; possibly a steep downturn similar to when coronavirus happened.

Our relations with our allies and trading partners are going sour. Meanwhile the US is becoming more friendly to autocratic dictatorships; such as Russia.

Some people, including some folks in USA leaning toward the left, have been critical of American prosperity and consumerism all along. Consumerism has been seen as destructive to the natural environment; for instance. Also destructive to the human psyche.

Over the years, quite a few people have predicted a downfall of the US economy. This turmoil may be the reset some people have been predicting as in Mother Earth striking back.

My thoughts have been less drastic. I do think much of our consumer culture does need change, but not such a catastrophic change. I think we need to reduce consumption and probably value money less. At the same time, I would like to see us keep many of the good virtues we have had in our culture such as open mindedness, innovation and interest in the community's well being.

If we are smart, we can have a soft landing off what has been our somewhat too hectic economy. We may need to slow down a bit, but do it carefully. This is not what Trump voters had in mind and if it happens, it will be from the law of unintended consequences.

Unlike some folks on the left, I tend to not blame US imperialism for most of the world's problems. Yes, there is the history of imperialism. There has been slavery, land taken from native people's, the US conquest over part of Mexico in the 1840s and so forth.

More recently there has been some continued exploitation of world resources by US interests, but this has happened all throughout world history. The Romans did it. Various tribes among the American Native peoples did it before European settlers arrived. The world has a long history of conquest and bullying. Much of the world's problems, today, are not caused by the US.

World history has not been all about conquest and bullying. A case can be made that European conquest, during the so called Age of Discovery (Columbus and so forth), was the worst. Still, I think these problems of violence and greed are world problems and not necessarily all about the US.

The US has done many good things as well. Innovation, inspiration to much of the world. We have promoted freedom of thought, multi multicultural communities and so forth.

Especially, in recent times, we have done much toward looking at ourselves in the mirror. We've criticized our own actions; such as reexamining the Japanese internment during World War II. We have reexamined our own history of slavery and treatment of native Americans. We've criticized ourselves in regards to how we treat the environment. We've had many good intentions even though some might say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Lots of people, including many of our critics on the left, have benefited in their personal lives from the vary prosperity of the American economy.

There has been a lot about American culture and the American system that I continue to like. I'm hoping that the good things, in our culture, are salvageable; given the worldwide human condition that also includes greed and viciousness.