Tea at Trianon: Making America a Factory Giant Again

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, March 14, 2025

Making America a Factory Giant Again

From Amuse on X:

Within weeks of returning to office, Trump has set the stage for a manufacturing renaissance of unparalleled scale. Decades of economic erosion, facilitated by bad trade deals, regulatory strangulation, and corporate outsourcing, are being reversed through a combination of strategic deregulation, trade renegotiation, and a relentless push to attract domestic and foreign investment back onto American soil. The results speak for themselves: billions in new investments, thousands of jobs on the horizon, and the unmistakable return of optimism to America’s industrial heartland.
The philosophy is simple: reward those who invest in America and penalize those who seek to profit while producing elsewhere. Trump’s policy arsenal includes tariffs that neutralize foreign competition, tax incentives that make domestic production more attractive, and targeted infrastructure investments that create an ecosystem conducive to industrial expansion. The carrot-and-stick approach has already yielded unprecedented results. Apple, a company that once epitomized the offshoring model, has announced a historic $500 billion investment in U.S.-based production, creating 20,000 new jobs. Meanwhile, global semiconductor leader TSMC has committed to a $100 billion investment in chip manufacturing in America, ensuring that the future of high-tech industry is built on U.S. soil, not in Beijing’s shadow.
Moreover, companies once reliant on foreign supply chains are rapidly reshoring their operations to avoid Trump’s aggressive tariff policies. Electronics giants Samsung and LG are considering moving their plants from Mexico to the U.S., while automotive manufacturers like Hyundai and Nissan are weighing similar moves. The message is clear: America is once again the best place to make things, and those who fail to adapt will find themselves economically sidelined. (Read more.)