Finitude, wars and passion
07
Apr
We are not referring here to emotional passion, but to that which suffering causes and which, according to religious sentiment (recalling Jesus’ passion), is also a time of many tragic changes and the reaffirmation of a saving breath.
When man forgets his finitude, he imagines himself to be the master of his future and doesn’t look elsewhere.
Humanity seems to be experiencing this, now on the economic side, with an economy that is already fragile due to wars, the Trump administration’s tariffs on imports from that country are causing strong instability in international trade, with repercussions on the financial exchange rate and stock markets.
Only a few countries with little economic significance have been left out of this tariff, the Seychelles, Burkina Faso and some Pacific islands. Even the Argentine government, which rushed to reach an agreement (Milei personally went to the US), came back empty-handed, the excuse being the delay of the helicopter carrying Trump, but shortly afterwards he said that he was demanding a withdrawal from China, which has strong investments there since the previous government.
The tariffs are reminiscent of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, passed by a margin of 20 votes in the US Senate, which provoked a global world war and deepened the Great Depression, according to trade experts.
Not only because of these tariffs, as the Trump administration’s unpopularity grows, there were several demonstrations this weekend in the US, even traditional partners neighboring Mexico and Canada are in this war, already with retaliatory measures against US imports.
The Asian stock markets have already opened with a “sharp drop” this Monday, according to several news channels, and this should lead to a worsening of the wars, in addition to the economic problems, and an even stronger wave of authoritarian governments, measures to restrict freedom, etc.
It’s a climate of passion, not divine, but human. The process of civilization could enter a more accelerated phase than the military wars in an economic and humanitarian crisis, which is already serious almost everywhere in the world.
Brazil at the time, during the beginning of the Vargas government (which after being elected would become a dictatorship) burned tons of coffee in the ports, then a national wealth, to hold down prices and this ended the great coffee cycle in Brazil and especially in the state of São Paulo, a major producer.
Two economic analysts André Valério and Rafaela Vitória said that “the scenario, which was already complex, has become considerably more uncertain”, also referring to production rates in Brazil, which fell slightly in February/2025, Rafaela pointed out in X (see in graphics).
