…though honestly in the thread in question I wasn’t sure.
Anyway, the point of using tariffs as a cudgel is to hurt others and show your sincerity by hurting yourself. Arguments for free trade in goods and services line up with arguments with free entry and exit of people, though they are not identical.
Even worse, since we’re operating in a framework of dominance politics rather than advancing actual national interests, deportations and oh I guess everything else like the Friday Night Massacre of the Inspectors General that Trump was pushing off of the headlines - these are all topical.
Ok then MfM, how would you mod these discussions? A: No bloody clue. Maybe ask the author of the OP? I dunno.
I would mod them in accordance with P&E policy to keep them on the given topic. More wide-ranging discussions are also possible in P&E. I started one myself. No one has been modded there for being off-topic AFAIK.
I do believe in some amount of organic shift in the conversation as a thread progresses, and I’ve said so before. But the point remains, IMHO, that someone joining a thread should not have to wonder WTF the discussion they wanted to participate in has become, where it has little to do with the original topic.
@What_Exit If the OP flagged it, then the decision looks pretty straightforward.
As a poster, when I introduce tangents I try to allude to the link between the tangent and the topic at hand, to encourage others to be mindful of topic drift. Though deviations of inches can eventually add up to miles.