From Being Chicken to Playing Chicken

 

May 21, 2025

 

Walmart didn’t want to upset the Trump administration, so it cheerfully rolled back any DEI initiatives it had implemented in previous years. Whatever it takes to keep on the president’s good side, ya know.

 

But how far is the company willing to go to keep The Donald happy?

 

Only as far as its cash drawer, it seems. Now that tariffs are wreaking havoc on the company’s bottom line, it’s planning to raise prices. That, of course, will make consumers unhappy, and upset the administration’s dream of happy people enjoying a great big beautiful economy and praising Donald Trump.

 

Trump tells Walmart to hold the line and not raise prices.

 

Walmart says, effectively, “Sorry, Mr. President, this is business.”

 

Who’s gonna crack?

 

 

The Environmental Pendulum of Tariffs

 

April 13, 2025

 

A little while ago, I speculated that having a large group of people chant, “Environmentalists for Trump” might flatter the president enough to make him grant some concessions (however short-lived) to the environmental cause.

 

When the tariff chaos took off, I thought that maybe, since it will probably cut down on spending, environmentalists might cheer about the decrease in wasteful manufacturing that will temporarily ensue as production costs rise.

 

Then I thought, “Well maybe that will be bad for the environment, as it will increase the desire for strip mining for rare earth minerals, which will definitely be an environmental loss.”

 

So many ways to go.

 

But today I read that some manufacturers are considering cutting down on packaging and, in some cases, replacing plastic with cardboard—definitely a win for the environmental cause.

 

Earth Day is April 22^nd. Let’s see where the pendulum sits on that day.

 

April 22, 2025

No change.