I’m a bit confused why capitalists support Trump when he plans on doing stuff that I think would destroy the economy. Thinking of mass deportations and high, broad tarrifs.

I’m not sure if:

  1. They just don’t care because they have enough wealth to weather anything.
  2. They don’t think Trump will actually do these things.
  3. They’re dumb and think it won’t hurt the economy.
  4. They plan on trading wealth for more direct power. I.e. becoming oligarchs.
  5. They have other ideologies (racism, Ayn Rand-ism, accelerationism, Dark Enlightenment, etc) that they prioritize higher than obtaining as much wealth as possible.

Or maybe some combination of the above, or something else entirely.

Edit: by “capitalists,” I mean the “elite” like Musk and his other billionaire donors. But I guess it’s a good question for smaller donors as well.

  • FooBarrington@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    6 days ago

    Why did many powerful and rich people support Brexit? Crises shake up existing ownership structures, e.g. people sell houses and companies for lower than usual to cover rising costs. If your investments are spread out globally, you’ll be able to invest at these cheap low points, giving you a massive boost once the economy comes back.

    Just look at home ownership since the mortgage crisis - so much wealth was transferred up, and it happens again and again.

  • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.mlEnglish
    51·
    6 days ago

    It’s important to know that Capitalists support both the Democrats and the Republicans. Many donate to both, even. What’s important is to analyze what Trump offers that Harris didn’t.

    1. Decreased taxation on higher tax brackets. Plain and simple.

    2. High tarrifs on goods from China, as a means to combat the PRC’s rising influence globally and ideally force development of US industry. Marco Rubio is especially warhawk-ish about the PRC, which ties into the US Navy’s plan to be ready for a hypothetical war with the PRC by 2027

    3. Austerity politics. Trump is slated to take a similar approach to Javier Milei and dramatically cut back on government spending, in many ways by selling publicly owned assets to private interests.

    4. Strong anti-immigration rhetoric endangers undocumented workers, which means the Capitalists can leverage this fear to pay them even lower wages under the table. Instead of paying foreign workers microscopic wages traditionally and paying hefty transportation costs, they can have a super-exploited underclass domestically.

    The important note about Capitalism, and by extension Imperialism, is that it starts to suffocate itself as it ages. The Tendency for the Rate of Profit to Fall is only able to be fought through expansion or centralization, to raise the absolute profit margins, and this sell-off of government assets is one of the most effective ways to do so.

    Now, more than ever, is a great time to start reading theory. I made an introductory Marxist reading list if you want to check it out! Feel free to leave feedback.

  • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    51·
    6 days ago
    1. The poor and middle class are stupid. Inflation got out of hand all over the world and profits went up faster than they did under Trump because companies were screwing us.
    2. Businesses will be overall happy with the new regime because they can ignore more regs (better margins), fire workers more easily, merge and buyout competitors easier, and take advantage of more slave (i.e. prison) labor.

    Anything bad that happens will either be framed as Bidens fault or the price of getting our finances in order.

  • Bookmeat@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    6 days ago

    It’s a two stage solution to today’s existing corruption and problems.

    1. Break everything to expose the rot
    2. Break it again to make sure it stays broken
  • ultranaut@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    6 days ago

    All of the above.

    Another one is that they think they can manipulate or bribe him into exempting their interests or targeting their competitors.

    There’s also the true believers who fell deep into the cult and accept whatever Trump says as their current truth so economics isn’t really a consideration for them now.

    I do think most of them don’t really believe him yet and won’t until he actually starts implementing the tariffs and rounding up immigrants. Then we get to watch them freak out while the economy crashes yet again.

  • njm1314@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    5 days ago

    Should be a known by all by now that capitalists are incapable of long-term thinking. They worry about the money right now. Can they make more next quarter? Well if yes then who cares about 10 quarters from now.

    Besides, it’s not necessarily true that capitalists can’t prosper if the rest of us have a shitty economy. As long as the economy works for just them. When they say make America great again they’re not talking about the 50s, they’re talking about the Gilded Age.

  • aesthelete@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    5 days ago

    Every modern “capitalist” is just a wanton neo-feudalist. They don’t want to compete with other capitalists; they want to be feudal lords from whom the peasants (and capitalists) must rent their tools and resources and pay forever; they want the government to cement their fiefdoms forever.

  • Diplomjodler@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    6 days ago

    A lot of them are motivated by power more than anything else. They want to feel superior and get off on the misery of others. They’d rather have a bigger slice of a smaller cake, even if the smaller slice of the bigger cake would be objectively larger.