I've recently had some amusing conversations. At the same soiree, where I learned about the Game of Thrones, much folderol surrounding the tariffs. Two people were going on and on about how the government would have to increase the subsidy to pork producers (they referred to them as "pig farmers"). I interjected myself into the conversation and told them that the U.S. federal government has NEVER given ANY subsidies to livestock producers. Of course, they had seen something on CNN and I, obviously, did not know from whence I spoke. Good thing about these new fangled "smart phones" ... I readily proved myself correct and them to be unknowledgeable boors. So, the conversation turned to that was going to make all of the pig farmers go out of business and their poor families would starve. I attempted to explain how the PRC has already had to kill off over 100 million head of hogs, due to African Swine Fever / AKA Pig Ebola. Moreover, it is conservatively estimated that before it's all said and done, over 300 million head will have to be culled and killed off ... so, they're in desperate need of pork meat. So, the next thing was ... Well, they'll buy it from some other countries ... and ..... I pointed out to them that the closest pork exporter, second to the U.S., is Germany. If Germany sold pork to China, their normal European consumers would need to find their pork elsewhere. If they turned to the fourth largest exporter of pork, Canada ... no big deal. The majority of pork produced, in Canada, is not even for domestic production .. rather, it's for U.S. export. Point of fact, may hogs cross the border to be slaughtered in the U.S., getting the USDA stamp. If Canada increased their exports to China, their exports to us would drop .. and our domestic producers would simply sell it to us.

They had a difficult time understanding. Well ... CNN says ... I laughed and said, "Orange man bad! Tariffs bad! Orange man bad". You might have guessed, by now, that I live in an area that is Democrat Party controlled.

Not the sharpest machetes in the shed.