News Flash: The same people who peddle the merits of paying higher taxes in hopes of reducing planetary temperatures are currently bemoaning the pending avocado price increase if President Donald Trump enforces the 5%- 25% tariff on Mexico for failing to control potential illegal aliens on their side of the U.S./Mexican border.
A few months ago, somewhere in the annals of the DNC headquarters, the person in charge of Democratic talking points recently made the decision to present rising avocado prices as the key rationale behind protesting the President’s tariff. Just as obedient mouthpieces do, the press immediately jumped on the looming Avocapacalypse with all of the eagerness of young journalism interns trying to break their way into the news world. In early April, Bloomberg Economics blamed the tariff threats for a 34% price increase, CBS News touts a 44% increase and as recently as this week, CNBC lamented that Chipotle will see a $15 million expense increase if the President follows through on his threat.
The hipster jokes practically write themselves. Especially when one considers that avocado prices increased 125% in 2017 alone, according to CNN Money. But set aside the frightening perspective of $15 avocado toast for the moment, and ask yourself the obvious questions: Is that it? Is that the argument against a 5% tariff? Do the talking heads on the left honestly comprehend what is at stake here?
They do, but they don’t want you to comprehend the enormity of the border issue. To begin, what is at stake, according to an April 21 article from The Hill, is the following:
“Even after deducting the $19 billion in taxes paid by illegal immigrants, the 12.5 million of them living in the country results in a $116 billion burden on the economy and taxpayers each year.”
$116 billion dollars is a LOT of avocados. To put this dollar figure in perspective, Statista reports that the total 2018 worldwide avocado market was valued at $13.8 billion. So, why did they choose this particular hill on which to die? Undoubtedly because the “Avocapacalypse” directly affects the much fought for 23-38 year old voters, otherwise known as Millennials. Known as the “Me Me Me” generation, the bulk of millennials have been psychologically classified as predominately narcissistic (not ALL of them, don’t shoot the messenger), which means they loathe being inconvenienced by any of life’s trivialities, such as paying for college loans, enduring the weight of personal responsibility and missing their Turkey-Avocado BLT lunches.
It is no secret that Democrats are hedging their bets on the overwhelmingly left-leaning Millennial voters to pull them through the 2020 presidential election. It should come as no surprise then, as crazy as the argument seems to the rest of us, that the party of “free stuff” will use the threat of being inconvenienced to rile the Millennial masses. The Democrat’s plan does not have to be foolproof or long-lived in order to bring more Millennials to the voting booth in 2020, it simply has to tie in with the perceived “injustice” of having to enter this country legally. Logic has no place in this game, for if it did, it would be relatively simple to show them the cost of this foolishness and point out how inconvenienced they will be when they are on the hook to foot the bill for the foreseeable future. Likewise, the issues of human trafficking, drug smuggling, and illegal weapons entering U.S. soil at a phenomenal rate should cause each of them to reflect on the real injustices of an open, unprotected border. The true wrongs will be to their children and their children’s children, but unfortunately, that travesty will happen in a time that many Millennials truly believe will never come. After all, the world is supposed to end in twelve years due to rising planetary temperatures, according to their political leaders on the left.
Make no mistake; tariffs are not ideal for a free market, as they punish the consumer more than the supplier forced to pay the penalty. However, as a short-term tool to draw the leaders of another nation to the negotiating table, a tariff can be a persuasive tactic. If President Trump succeeds in forcing Mexico to stifle the flow of illegal immigrants to the U.S./Mexican border, it will be a big loss for the Democrats. After all, the DNC needs dependents in order to stay relevant. But the lame debate over avocado prices simply shows how desperate the left has become, and how limited their arguments are in their efforts to keep the borders open.
The Hardcore Patriot 