Trade Wars Won’t Fix Broken Families
President Trump has shaken up the global trade system since “Liberation Day,” raising tariffs on Chinese goods to 125% in April. Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame at one point suggested going even further with a 400% tariff. As of the time I’m writing this, the president has brought tariffs down to 30%, but who knows where things will be tomorrow. God only knows what next week could hold.
Trump has taken a liking to using emergency powers to hit everyone and the cousin with tariffs, totally bypassing Congress. Some MAGA folks love it—he’s our elected guy acting fast to get the job done. But what happens when the next president (maybe an AOC type) declares a climate emergency and tanks the US energy grid?
Emergency powers cut both ways. Every time.
Anyways, countries are calling to beg for deals (so we’re told) and the stock market’s been all over the map. On a double-episode Thursday a few weeks back, I dove into this trade chaos with two heavyweights: Oren Cass, the pro-tariff founder of American Compass, and Scott Lincicome, a free-trade advocate from the Cato Institute.
The trade debate is loud, almost all-consuming. Trump says that China is ripping us off by stealing our tech and cheating the rules. And…
He’s not wrong.
Huawei tried sneaking backdoors into our internet and the Chinese government is obviously a totalitarian nightmare. Oren Cass applauds Trump’s hard line and says that it’s time to bring manufacturing home. But Scott Lincicome thinks that’s a fantasy. Most Americans don’t want to sew sneakers or work on a factory floor—they’d rather be at JP Morgan than General Motors.
Data backs this up.
Only one in four of us wants a plant job, even if 80% romanticize manufacturing. Both sides have good points, but the economic tug-of-war misses something bigger. Trade balances, tariffs, global markets… they’re not the heart of America. You are. Your family is. Your community is. No matter who wins the trade war, it won’t fix what’s most broken in America—the family.
Family Breakdown Is The Real Emergency
The last 25 years—more than half of my life—have been a political rollercoaster…
The dot-com bust, 9/11, the housing crash, COVID, and now this trade upheaval. Oh, to live in “normal” times.
Every generation faces chaos, though… Vietnam, JFK’s assassination, the Great Depression. But what’s constant is family. It’s the buffer against turbulence. When I lost my job at MTV or watched the Twin Towers fall, it was my close-knit circle that kept me grounded.
Along those lines, the Star Wars TV series Andor features a pre-marriage counseling session on the planet of Chandrila. These young women are rehearsing the cultural creed of their planet about why marriage is valuable. It goes:
“Safe in the braid of the old ways. True and steady and braided in trust. The old ways hold us. Safe in the knot, in the binding. The old ways teach us. Bound against the wind, tied to shore. Tethered in permanence.”
It’s pretty simple. The world is full of storms and chaotic winds. But the family, the marriage, the union of one man and one woman, is supposed to be the safeguard against it all. Bound against the wind.
Karl Marx knew this. He attacked the family to make us weak and more dependent on the state. Today, one in four Americans grows up without a strong father figure, which recent reports say is roughly 18 million kids.
That’s not a trade problem; it’s a cultural one.
No tariff will bring back the dad who shows up, leads, and loves.
Be the Leader Your Family Needs
So, what do we do?
We man up—or woman up.
If you’re a parent, be the rock your kids need. Set boundaries, have tough talks, and show them what strength looks like.
If you didn’t have a dad, be the father figure for the next generation. Mentor kids in your town. There are countless organizations to facilitate that.
I’ve seen it in my own life. After years of political and cultural disruption, it’s connecting with friends and family that keeps me sane, not compulsively staying up to date on the latest executive order or “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress.
Alexis de Tocqueville saw this in early America—the little platoons of resilience, solving problems without waiting for Washington. That's an America worth saving.
Hug your kids.
Call your parents.
Check on your neighbor.
Build your tribe.
That’s how we save America, one family at a time.