The mad king and his court of clowns
- Reeta Dhar
- May 2
- 13 min read
The last hundred days will go down in history as being a period of economic and geopolitical turmoil that we probably didn't need ...
No mysterious virus or natural disaster in sight. Just a narcissist, his ginormous ego and his band of bottom-dwelling buffoons, bringing chaos and disorder to our world.
Most of these grifters couldn't run a school canteen -- in fact some won't even pass NSW's Working with Children Check. So, it really is staggering to see them in charge of the world's largest economy.
Our own little enterprise, thousands of miles away, is feeling the consequence of the gross uncertainty this modern incarnation of a mad king and his court of clowns have heralded our way.
As Trump took to the stage to announce his dubious Liberation Day tariffs, we witnessed uncertainty take hold of people even in Australia. Consumer behaviour on our platform changed almost immediately. First, site traffic dropped. Then conversion and sales, as even those who arrived on the site hesitated to check out.
Uncertainty rattles people and makes them cut back on spending. This in turn impacts business sales, confidence, investment and yes, jobs, growth and overall prosperity.
The irony, from our perspective at least, is that wisdom is exactly what our world needs right now.
What if 'baby Trump' had grown up reading books like Willow the Wonderer -- would he have still turned out to be so deeply insecure?
We had to dig deep to find an upside to the debacle, and admittedly, were rather pleased with what came out: A new 'brand campaign' about the importance of raising children grounded in wisdom. It was gratifying to see the videos tickle quite a few folks on the internet ... ;-)
Why are so many people bending the knee?
Trump's tariffs are perhaps the most glaring example of an ill conceived policy, but it's his full scale assault on the arts, sciences, education, environment, universities, public sector and civil rights that is truly confounding.
He is systematically undermining every sector that the US has developed a distinct advantage in. Far from making America great again, it will act as a drag on the country for decades to come -- especially if the best and brightest start leaving the US to work elsewhere.
What's even more surprising is that all this chaos has been met with the meekest of protests.
As an opinion piece in the New York Times recently noted, had any one of these events transpired in France, the whole country would have erupted in riots ...
The most disappointing, albeit unsurprising, thing has been how easily leading figures in business have capitulated.
Even large law firms have recently given into the intimidation without putting up a fight.
Whilst it may be pragmatic on the part of big business to bunker down and let this temporary storm pass, a lot of the societal pain (that is yet to come) can be alleviated by collectively taking a principled stand against the bullying.
Sadly, principle and courage are not exactly attributes the corporate world is known for...
Indeed, decades of solely focusing on maximising profits and shareholder returns is at the heart of the social problems spurring the current populist revolt in the US -- a legitimate cause hijacked by grifters looking to cement their own political power.
Are the subjects to blame?
No one thinks clearly in the fog of anger, let alone despair.
For those who find themselves stuck on the brink of surviving, with no prospect of improving their or their children's economic and social standing, politics is no longer a distant, theoretical thing -- it's their only way out.
It is this understanding that compels us not to blame the millions who voted for these grifters, even as some remain convinced that a 4D chess game is underway ...
Entrenched inequality is the scourge at the centre of the debacle in US politics.
It didn't happen overnight either - Commentators on the issue note that economic inequality took root in the US over the past three decades, with politicians, business leaders, elites and institutions on all sides sharing in the blame.
People who found themselves in positions of power and influence over this time have done little to acknowledge its existence, let alone, much to fix it. Indeed, Economic policies implemented by both Republicans and Democrats, in cahoots with their corporate donors and lobbyists, are to blame for creating and exacerbating inequality.
As the famous Edmund Burke saying goes,
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Evil may seems like a strong word but bigotry was certainly front and centre in the Trump campaign. This form of petty prejudice has no place in our world today.
Where hate or prejudice motivated the support or vote for Trump, it is hard to garner empathy for the suffering that will follow -- Although the enlightened advice even then would be to feel compassion for the ignorance.
Did the world need this disruption?
It must be said that it wasn't just the desperately poor that supported Trump. A lot of well to do and otherwise reasonable people, even on the left, backed him.
Some did it for obvious personal gain -- and are not worth discussing -- but many others genuinely thought that the system needed the disruption that Trump would bring.
Their rationale went something along these lines:
'Without disruption, there will be no change. He may just bring the whole system down ... but if that is what it takes to build something new/better, so be it.'
I am sure that some would empathise with this viewpoint but even so, I feel that this sort of sentiment is misguided, if not reckless.
For one, it fails to understand under what circumstances 'disruption' actually drives positive change and the other, the belief that nothing changes without it.
Most of the substantive changes in life is the work of invisible pawns - not angry kings
Prior to switching to the Arts, I've had a 15 year corporate career working in large and complex organisations (mainly in financial services) on projects that deliver strategic change.
One of the main things I learnt in all my time is that no one likes change -- even when it's good for them...
The default setting everyone operates under is to resist change -- and that is why there is a strong inertia at a personal and systemic level towards change. Overcoming this inertia is what makes driving change so difficult.
Some of the projects that I have been involved with though, were successful at driving major changes in banking and the Australian economy more widely.
We take a lot of these for granted now but they include:
Development of mobile banking apps - this was back in 2007/8 when most Executives thought iPhones were nothing more than toys ...
Establishment of one of the first major venture capital funds in Australia - this went on to play a pivotal role in spurring the startup sector in Australia
Improving banking services for small, venture backed businesses - a task I assure you is much more difficult that it sounds ...
None of these changes happened overnight and there was no one person who can take the full credit. Rather, a whole lot of people came together to champion, develop and progress the ideas through layers of bureaucracy so as to first, create the case for change and secure funding to work on the initiatives. Many more then worked tirelessly over many years to further develop and execute the idea.
To this day, there are thousands of people, working quietly away, in large public and private sector organisations, to slowly but deliberately change things for the better.
Most of their efforts will no doubt go to waste ... but the little that sees sunlight, will make all the difference.
There is another more jarring sought of change I experienced in my corporate career - one that will feel very familiar to anyone in the US public service right now ...
Hiring an angry duke to bulldoze change -- never works
Every now and then, Boards and CEOs like to hire an executive (or worse - management consultants) who comes in with a clear mandate to 'bulldoze' through change. It happens more often than you think and usually comes down to a new CEO trying to assert their authority.
The appointee, inevitably, will come in weiling an ego so enormous, you have to wonder how it fits inside their head. They will also embody a profound inability to listen and be uncanningly talented at dismissing good advice. And nothing is ever their fault ...
I can't recall any of these high profile disruptive appointments ever deliver lasting change. These sort of people arrive, make a lot of noise, break things and then leave -- The folks at the bottom of the chain are left picking up the pieces, for years to come...
Being 'disruptive' is not the same as having a 'disruptive strategy'
There are industries that have been changed for the better through what is popularly called in the business world, disruptive innovation or simply disruption.
The late Clayton Christensen wrote the book on the subject (Innovator's Dilemma), painstakingly documenting, through real-world case studies, the conditions under which such disruptions transpire.
I have been a great fan of this work but even so, wish that Christensen would have come up with another word -- as disruption tends to be taken literally and hence widely misrepresented ...
The sort of disruption that Christensen was talking about takes a lot more than some narcissist throwing hissy fits and executing on every brain fart that comes out of his unfathomable mind.
Rather, there is a deeply considered strategy at play, built around a set of levers that confers a real advantage to the entity, who is usually a new entrant/startup in an industry. They pull and push these levers to compete against an entrenched incumbent (who also usually enjoys monopoly power), eventually winning over their market share and dominance.
The competitive advantage often stems from advances in technology that gives the new entrant a 'unit cost advantage', which their competitor is unable to replicate. In other words it is innovation, rather than market leverage (or indeed deal making), that sits at the heart of disruptive strategies.
Disruption also never happens overnight or with loud fan fair ...
Even disruptive change by the most innovative of minds can take a decade to unfold. It happens quietly, with most of the blows dealt in little increments that fall below the radar. By the time the incumbent becomes aware of what is going on, it is usually too late to fight back as their new competitor has whittled their power away by then.
Trump is no doubt a 'disruptive' leader - But given the lack of strategy, this is not the sort of 'disruption' that will amount to anything great. Rather, it will create a lot of unnecessary pain for businesses and the populace at large.
Is there a silver lining?
Finding a silver lining in a situation as messy as this is where knowing a bit of wisdom comes in handy...
For the past two weeks, I have been reminding myself about the lesson in our fourth Willow the Wonderer book - The Gift:
Keep going - This too shall pass.
I also genuinely believe that there is no need to despair. Good things may yet come out of this whole saga.
For one, the inevitable pain of the fallout will no doubt lead to some introspection and realisations on the part of many who voted for Trump - or found themselves supporting him from afar. Hopefully a more enlightened populace will emerge as a result, in the US but also in the West more generally. Already, many folks are regretting voting for Trump.
Another silver lining from this saga, as well as the tragedy of Truss, Farage and Boris that played out in the UK, is that we now have ample evidence that angry right wingers don't have some miracle economic sauce that can magically fix everything ...
This hopefully gets people to realise that Conservatives are not great economic managers by default either:
Their 'trickle down' economic theory in particular, is best confined to the grave.
Justifying eye watering tax cuts and generous taxpayer funded subsidies for the ultra rich and highly profitable corporations, by saying that it spurs investment and growth in prosperity, has been well and truly debunked now.
What the US and the UK have demonstrated categorically, is that it only serves to deepen and entrench inequality.
This is because tax cuts and subsidies have to be funded somehow -- and more often than not it is done by taking money away from public services like education, healthcare, housing, transportation and core infrastructure like roads and utilities -- ie all things that are core to enabling upward economic mobility and good overall economic management.
Once these 'public safety nets' become compromised, everyone's fate comes down to the lottery of birth.
Children born into well to do families do well whilst those from poor backgrounds, have very little help, and perhaps also hope, to improve their social and economic standing.
No one, on the right or left, enjoys paying taxes. Yet, everyone wants a state pension, free healthcare, great public education, free higher education, fantastic roads, clean air and water, abundant and cheap energy, fast internet, a safe and secure community, vibrant and fair economy and someone else to deal with their sewage and garbage - the list goes on ...
Someone has to pay for these things and what could be fairer than asking people and businesses who have done well out of the help the country has given them to perhaps contribute a bit more? After all, no one is really 'self-made'.
Seeing we are in the midst of an election cycles ourselves, the final silver lining is that it helps Aussies learn from the US and hopefully, not repeat their mistake!
For the sake of our country, lets not vote for people who put on a good show of confected outrage -- yet have very little of substance to offer to fix any of the problems people are dealing to.
Admittedly, it was hard to get inspired in this latest election cycle. It seems politicians did not have anything to offer that dealt to the major challenges of our time:
The taxation system we have in place has outlived its usefulness. There needs to be a comprehensive review and recalibration to ensure that the burden of funding public services is shared fairly by all parts of our community. We also need to remove the perverse incentives that has seen housing positioned as a speculative asset class rather than a basic human need that everyone should be able to effortlessly access and afford.
It’s become clear that enough action is not being taken to avert Climate Change locally or on the world stage. We have to face into facts and prepare for the reality of living in a warmer and more volatile climate, which means investing in climate resilient infrastructure and also looking at how the home insurance market works. Given how essential having cover is, it is unreasonable for this to remain an unregulated space which can pass on cost increases in whatever fashion it chooses to. The costs of premiums is already unaffordable for so many and the trajectory of increase is simply unsustainable.
Not one politician had said anything about Artificial Intelligence and the risk it poses to jobs. This is no longer a theoretical possibility but a near term certainty. Instead of burying our heads in the sand, there needs to be a plan on how the transition to an AI centric world. Open AI and Sam Altman cannot be allowed to siphon up all the value from replacing humans ...
Small Businesses collectively are the single largest employer in Australia, and take it from this small business owner, it's a hard gig that is at the frontline of the mounting cost of doing business. Like consumers we are also often acquiring services from large monopolies who are actively using their power to increase costs. Facebook for example have exploited their market power to massively increase the costs of ads. They own two of the major social media platforms were most of our customers reside so we like many small businesses have nowhere else to go. With the decline in sales and the increased cost of marketing, we find the tenuous economics of our business model upended ... Yet, the only thing politicians are offering up is $75 off the quarterly energy bill, whilst mind you, driving up the cost of ads further with all their infantile political ads ...
The future of Arts is also at stake. AI has already replaced the work of illustrators and writers are next in line. As it is, most authors in Australia are earning below the poverty line from their craft alone. And it's not just books that is on the decline -- live music, theatre and performance arts are all in the firing line. The Arts is a celebration of our human culture - it enhances our experience of life. We need to do more to protect this space from technocrats and support the people who work in it. To see this not earn a mention, even from a Prime Minister who is a great fan of the live music scene, has been disappointing.
Ultimately my (early) vote came down to making sure that the worst of the mediocre bunch do not get hold of power ... I suspect many others are doing are the same. And as sad as it sound, that will be a win in this political climate.
Final thoughts
Had someone told me six months ago that the choice an American makes on their presidential ballot will be consequential to a small business in Australia, I would not have believed them ... yet here we are.
We are choosing to stay calm, and carry on.
We continue to work away at developing the fifth and final book in the Willow the Wonderer series. It is a commitment both Darren and I reaffirmed a few days ago - we will finish the work we started.
I've only just today finalised the manuscript for Book 5 - it took three times as long to write/edit this latest instalment ...
It's another book that comes straight from the heart, with the story conveying what is perhaps the most profound mind training practice I have encountered in my life.
Over the last decade, it has transformed the quality of my life and relationships - and given me the tools with which to deal to difficult people and situations... if only someone had taught me this when I was younger ;-)
The story itself is very engaging, with a ‘surrealist vibe’ that Darren will no doubt bring to life with his illustrations in the months to come.
We are working to a release date of around October and November, just in time for Christmas. We will keep you posted!
For now, thank you for your support -- and if you can, please lend us a hand in spreading the word on Willow.
Tell your friends and family about our wonderful picture books series and feel free to share your 'forever voucher' with them as well. Who knows, together, we may just raise a much wiser generation!
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