Why don’t we just impose tariffs on the people we don’t like?
Jun 26, 2018, 6:44 AM
Instead of shaming each other, why don't we just impose tariffs on the things we don't like? (File, Associated Press)
(File, Associated Press)
This whole shaming thing seems to have taken off. Sarah Sanders, who was refused service at a restaurant last week, led off a White House briefing with an appeal for civility.
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“We’re allowed to disagree, but we should be able to do so freely and without fear of harm,” she explained.
I wish we could look to the U.S. Supreme Court for guidance, but justices can’t even decide whether bakers have to sell cake to a non-political gay couple.
Maybe we can look to the president himself for inspiration. Suppose businesses who find themselves faced with customers they disagree with simply impose a tariff on those customers, instead of shaming them. These would not be mean tariffs. These would friendly tariffs, like the ones we’re imposing on Canadian steel and German cars.
For example, I could see where an anti-Trump business like that restaurant in Virginia that didn’t serve Sarah Sanders would apologize, invite her back, then simply add a 20 percent tariff which could go to an immigrant rights organization.
In the same way, a pro-Trump business could cheerfully serve a customer with a man-bun, refrain from mocking him or calling him a snowflake, and instead quietly impose a man-bun tariff of 20 percent — or maybe 25 percent, depending on the size of the bun. That could be spent on developing even better “Make America Great Again” hats with man-bun openings.
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