I’m far from alone in being frozen in place rather than making everyday decisions in a timely fashion. It’s hard to make choices and commitments when the situation can change in a minute on a whim. The president explained what each nation would suffer from U.S. tariffs, complete with a visual aid, only to turn around and delay much of the implementation. Then came exemptions. Worse, the whipsaws often came while markets were open, so there was no time to evaluate.

It takes investment capital to create productive jobs; how can I or anyone else commit funds and effort under today’s circumstances? Franklin Roosevelt’s ever-changing policies prolonged the great depression, in my mind. Yet, Trump makes him look like the sole of consistency. Nothing seems safe. Even if you negotiated a trade agreement in Trump’s first term, the president unilaterally pulls out and enacts new terms. Do we have allies? Do we have friends? What are the rules? For how long?

We hear of dozens of nations lining up to come to terms. Maybe they just want answers to these questions. If I’m having problems going about my business under these circumstances, imagine what leaders of nations are going through.

There used to be rules of the road to avoid unintended collisions. When I grew up, it seemed everyone had a copy of Emily Post’s “On Etiquette” or something similar. While this may seem quaint today, it served a practical purpose, preventing misunderstandings that could create ill will when intending none. Simply forgetting to send a thank-you note or a reply sends the wrong message and ruins friendships. If you don’t intend a slight, do the right thing.

We have rules governing relations between nations, the government, and the people in the U.S. When someone runs roughshod over regulations and conventions, what’s the message? Some of them are treaties and legislation signed into law. Can you do your thing without regard for others, without sowing distrust and anger?

Emily Post understood. Rules may seem a burden, but they’re worth it if we interact better. After all, unless we want to live alone, how we play with others will determine much of our lives and humanity’s progress.

Adhering to good manners has always been key to earning the trust of others. It shows you’ll go to extra lengths to do the right thing. How many of us have relationships with people we deem untrustworthy?

Loss of trust is what worries me most about Trump’s last hundred days. Even if he were to drop all the tariff nonsense, his bromance with Putin, and general nastiness to our friends and allies suddenly, I fear we’ve already done massive damage.

I recall the lament of Reagan’s commerce secretary when cleared of a multitude of charges in court: “Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?” Being stripped of the trust and honor you spent a lifetime re-establishing is daunting.

Most of the world’s international trade is in dollars, and national reserves are held primarily in our currency. No law says this has to be so; it’s a matter of trust. Being the world’s reserve currency gives us a huge advantage. We pay our bills in our currency rather than using someone else’s.

Unlike many other new nations, our first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, saw the value of recognizing our Revolutionary War debt and continental currency. Honoring our debt and dollars earned the world’s trust. As we approach our 250th birthday, one thing we’re known for is paying our bills.

Now, questions of confidence threaten to undo centuries of trust. Usually, in times of market stress, the dollar and U.S. treasuries are seen as safe havens and rise in value; however, when Trump announced his tariffs, both fell, and gold and the Euro rose.

Confidence in our currency and debt has developed over centuries. We’ve participated in NATO for 76 years and have had a demilitarized border with Canada for 207 years. Our long-standing relationships and honoring our obligations define our place in the world.

Until now, no U.S. administration has undermined international trust like our present one in 100 days. To what purpose? Trump says the world has ripped us off, making our people poorer, but as I’ve pointed out, we’re doing better than almost everyone else. The few countries with somewhat better per capita output haven’t done with high tariff walls keeping our goods out. Countries such as Singapore and Switzerland feature free trade over tariffs instead.

How does it increase our national safety to threaten our NATO allies who honored their Article 5 obligation by sending troops to Afghanistan? Are Canadians our enemies?? Are we stuck in a South Park film?

Are South Korea and Japan robbing us blind by adhering to trade agreements they made with Trump in his first administration? How does alienating them improve our stance against China?

Maybe Trump sees no value in having friends and allies, just the servile ones we don’t have to treat with respect. That way, you don’t have to bother with niceties.

Adhering to Emily Post means getting along with our friends and neighbors because we realize we need them. As John Donne admonished in “No Man is an Island,” we inhabit this planet with others and are interconnected, whether we like it or not.

Trump may have a vision of a closed nation made up of sycophants producing everything needed. Does anybody else want that future? If you don’t dig out the etiquette book, start figuring out how we repair our relationships. Even then, regaining what we so foolishly squandered won’t be easy.