We will find out allies among the American people, not its government led by Donald Trump. Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Often what we think is original has actually been said before. Take for instance the famous song Money’s Too Tight (to Mention) by Simply Red — it was actually a cover version of a 1982 song by African-American duo The Valentine Brothers. Even Beyoncé’s If I Were a Boy was initially done by a white American artist BC Jean. It should not surprise us when we hear something and think it’s new when, in actual fact, it has been coined or put forward a while back.
Back in 2008, many of us might have thought that US president George W Bush was being quite clever when he seemingly came up with the term “too big to fail” as he bailed out US banks and airlines.
Hate to break it to you, but the “too big to fail” concept was not the Bush administration’s invention. It was made popular by US congressman Stewart McKinney in a 1984 congressional hearing. He raised this argument when calling for government intervention to assist the Continental Illinois bank.
Sections of the South African media also raised the “too big to fail” argument to justify that no action be taken against the construction industry when it became known that some companies had deliberately inflated prices for the building of the 2010 World Cup stadiums.
Like most things, it is a matter of perspective whether something is so important that we cannot allow it to fail. If we are honest, that which is in favour of business and profit-taking seems more likely to pass muster. We will seldom hear society’s elite argue that social welfare must be increased because the poor are too big to fail.
In the first period of his second reign, American President Donald Trump has come out with guns blazing. No country is safe. Trump has declared economic war against all, from the benign Canada to historical allies such as Western Europe, from semi-independent countries like South Africa and Mexico, to historical foes like Russia and China.
He has raised tariffs on all Chinese goods by 10% and announced that he intended to increase tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods by 25%, initially giving them a 30-day reprieve, which has been revoked. Canada reciprocated with a 25% tariff increase on American imports. Trump’s ultimatum is that the goods companies are exporting to the US must be manufactured in the US.
If, for instance, John Deere, a US company that manufactures agricultural vehicles in Mexico, does not cross the Rio Grande and (re)establish their manufacturing plants State-side, then it will be subject to a 25% tariff or surcharge when exporting to the US. Trump has essentially signalled to all countries that, if manufacturing plants do not move to the US, they must expect an increased tariff.
The problem is that the exporting country is not the one who will pay the tariffs, it will be the American consumer who will have to fork out more for that Apple iPhone manufactured in China. Furthermore, if Apple returns to the US, a cellphone made there will be a lot more expensive than those manufactured in China. So, goods in the US will become more expensive and inflation will increase. But, over time, the dollar will increase in value and this is how Trump expects the exporting country to pay for the tariff increases.
China has reportedly taken the US to the World Trade Organisation for unfair tariff practices and we shall have to wait to see whether it will take up the matter and, if it rules against the US, whether the US will heed it, or exit the body like it did the World Health Organisation and the UN Human Rights Council.
The economies of all the world’s countries are tied to the US — other than those under American economic blockade, such as Russia, Cuba, Belarus, North Korea and Venezuela. Therefore, it is not easy to just walk away from the US. The US might not be South Africa’s largest trading partner, but if we suddenly could not get access to American news and entertainment channels, many of us would think the sky was about to fall. Europe is worried about their internet connectivity because of their reliance on Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites.
As a world, not just in the West, but as a planet, since the end of World War II, we have become accustomed to US cultural domination. Even in apartheid times, as much as South African society was isolated, all South Africans, black and white, imitated American culture. Your parents (or grandparents, depending on your age) will tell you about soul and R&B artists like Smokey Robinson or stadium rock bands like Guns N’ Roses and many more.
Are we ready for a world where the US does not set the trend? (South) Korean television series, such as Squid Game, with its Far East values and take on life, were all the rage a few years ago. But, even these cultural phenomena, albeit emanating not from the US, still have roots firmly in American culture. Just like hip-hop is not solely American anymore — as we have witnessed with the rise of hip-hop-inspired genres like Afropop and amapiano or reggaeton — we still need to accept that, although they are a fusion of various cultures, their foundation is American hip-hop.
The analogy with culture is very important because, as much as it will always be about the economy, we need to begin recognising that economic ties are built on people-to-people relations and understanding.
Trump’s term is only four years — and he might try to be a dictator, who knows? — but we cannot focus mainly on him and his government administration. In their recent campaign against the Expropriation Act, AfriForum did not start with Trump. They began by appealing to middle America’s growing paranoia about “cancel culture” and “wokeism”. Working-class Americans have begun to despise what they consider overzealous policing of what can or cannot be said. They feel overwhelmed or shouted down by the so-called moral police. Therefore, AfriForum’s message had resonance with what middle Americans, especially white, working-class America, felt was happening to them.
As South Africans, both progressive and conservative, we must be willing to admit that we have had an increase in nativism, especially after 2007, with the meteoric rise of Jacob Zuma. We have stopped talking to each other and prefer shouting each other down. This acknowledgement does not make AfriForum correct but our self-centredness, at times, allowed them to weaponise their irrational paranoia and get support from conservative America. And, of course, Trump loved taking up their battle.
We must remember that we did not complain about the American and British governments when they refused to embrace our noble struggle against apartheid, so why do we want to complain about AfriForum and Trump?
The South African government and civil society, if they have not begun, had better start to reach out to the people of the US, not just their public representatives. We cannot focus on the Democratic Party leadership who in real terms are no better than their Republican counterparts. It is among the American working class, both black and white, that we will discover our true allies.
We also should not be afraid to reach out to those political parties who are not in power in Europe. Those that the European political elite are quick to label either supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin or right-wingers and fascists. We must reach out to explain our positions to rightist politician Marine le Pen in France as well as the left-wing Reason and Justice and right-wing AfD parties in Germany.
Trumpian America is not too big to fail because, even if it succeeds, it mainly involves a fight among the Western elite. On the other hand, what should be too big to fail, is our relationships across races, borders, genders, cultures, religions and any other differences that might exist. We cannot forsake these relationships.
We have been here before and we overcame the US government’s opposition to the South African people. We can accomplish that again. As Gladys Knight famously reminded us in her live medley with Boyz II Men, “They don’t know nothin’/ All this stuff been worn over and redone.”
Donovan E Williams is a social commentator. @TheSherpaZA on X.