Standing with Our Country, Standing Together with Family and Friends, Weathering Hard Times Together
These days, when one opens the news, the front pages are almost entirely filled with reports on the tariff and trade war initiated by the U.S. president. The unpredictable U.S. president has not only stirred up the broader world economy but also issued one reversal after another. This series of developments has caused stock and bond markets to fluctuate wildly, paused global trade, and left people everywhere watching anxiously as the situation unfolds.
Apart from a small group around the U.S. administration who may have profited handsomely from this volatile situation through insider trading, ordinary people around the world, including those in the United States itself, have all been harmed by this enormous uncertainty. When this damage will end remains unknown for now. The credibility of the U.S. government and the U.S. dollar has been affected, and U.S. Treasury securities have been sold off. This has finally alerted the administration and its advisors that, if things continue this way, the foundations of the United States will be shaken.
Confidence is gold. The shaken confidence of consumers and traders is quickly reflected in the markets. The halt in trade is bound, in turn, to affect finance and politics. The harder the president swings, the faster the market reacts. What the president, who fancies himself a skilled negotiator, fails to understand is that he cannot earn respect and trust in the international community through bullying and through harming others' interests and dignity. With more than three years remaining in their term, the distrust this unpredictable team has generated will inject considerable uncertainty into the world economy and politics for years to come. At present, risk aversion is spreading: consumers dare not spend, investors dare not invest, and confidence is collapsing faster than expected.
Given the external situation, we cannot avoid being affected, and we will certainly go through a period that is harder than before. Faced with this situation, as ordinary people we need to adjust our psychological expectations. At such a moment, we should stand with our country through thick and thin, draw close to our family and friends, and weather these hard times together.
The world is in a period of transition, and this transition may bring about far-reaching changes. The current tariff war may be an unfavorable factor in the short term, but taking a longer view, it may not necessarily be a bad thing. As Laozi said: good fortune lies within bad, and bad fortune lurks within good. Difficulties are often the resources for growth. For the sake of survival, we will always find the wisdom to overcome hard times and create new ways of living.
Faced with bullying and humiliation, we certainly should not yield. Standing up to bullies is the best courtesy one can show them, because once a bully profits from bullying, he will continue, and even escalate. Only by pushing back can we make them stop and, in future dealings with us, know where to draw the line. This is a basic self-defense capability we as living beings must have to survive in this world.
The tariff war launched this time has left most adults around the world anxious about the situation, because it has genuinely affected everyone's income. Many of my relatives and friends are caught up in this anxiety, which is only human. But I believe our lives will not be particularly terrible. Ordinary Chinese people have long had the tradition of thinking of danger in times of peace, living frugally, and preparing in advance for unforeseeable risks. Moreover, we value family. Compared with Europe and America, where overspending and individualism prevail, we may be better positioned for a protracted struggle.
I believe the situation will change once those who bully others feel the great pain their own bullying has brought upon themselves. At this moment, what we need is patience. We can shift our attention away from the current social focal point, go outdoors to enjoy the bright spring, or develop our hobbies; this can ease our psychological pressure.
Time will help us solve many problems, and we must believe that. The material needs of our brief lives are limited, and there is no need to worry excessively about the future. As society develops, such fluctuations recur periodically because of various distributional conflicts. As human beings, we must learn to adapt to these changes in our environment.