Trump isn't offering liberation, but stagnation

By David Brooks / The New York Times

I’ll let others describe the economic carnage President Trump’s tariffs have already begun to wreak. I want to describe the damage they will do to the American psyche and the American soul.

Trump is building walls. His trade policies obstruct not only the flow of goods but also the flow of ideas, contacts, technology and friendships as well. His immigration policies do the same. He assaults the institutions and communities most involved in international exchange: scientific researchers, universities, the diplomatic corps, foreign aid agencies and international alliances like NATO.

The essence of the Trump agenda might be: We don’t like those damn foreigners.

The problem is that great nations throughout the history of Western civilization have been crossroads nations. They have been places where people from all over met, exchanged ideas and came up with new ones together. In his book “Cities in Civilization,” Peter Hall looked at the most innovative places down through the centuries: Athens in the 5th century B.C., Florence in the 15th century, Vienna from the late 18th century to the eve of World War I, New York from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, the Bay Area later on.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/brooks-trump-isnt-offering-liberation-but-stagnation/