My FB Post:
“For all the hype of a conflict, President Trump and New York City's next mayor, Zohran Mamdani, had a surprising bond when they met Friday in the Oval Office: populist outsiders, lovers of the Big Apple, and two politicians who each want what the other has.” -- Axios
This is no surprise to me. Donald Trump has once again shown his true ideological orientation, this time in the most dramatic fashion—a “lovefest” with the openly Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani. Like Mamdani, Trump is fundamentally a collectivist. Collectivism is the foundation of Socialism, whether of the Fascist or Communist variety.
It’s instructive that, after his meeting with Trump, which he characterized as “productive,” Mamdani reiterated his belief that Trump is a Fascist. Indeed, as Axios reported on “Why it matters: For a few minutes, Mamdani — whom Trump had called a communist — and Trump, whom Mamdani had called a fascist, gave a glimpse of how they might find common ground . . .“ Common ground, indeed! Whether or not Trump is a full-blown Fascist or Mamdani is a full-blown Communist, the fact remains that Fascism and Communism are, as the great champion of The Enlightenment Steven Pincker has observed, “fraternal twins.” No wonder the meeting went so well—these 2 are kindred spirits--Socialist at the core.
Trump, remember, is a life-long New Yorker and Democrat. He and Mamdani both praised FDR, whose Constitution-upending New Deal mimicked Fascism, not Communism. Trump is also a Teddy Roosevelt admirer. TR was the Progressive who ran on the Republican label because he believed he couldn’t win as a Democrat. Like TR, Trump hijacked the Republican Party because he knew he wasn’t Leftist enough to win as a Democrat.
Please don’t tell me that this meeting is a mere pragmatic political ploy. Trump has given Democratic Socialism a nation-wide credibility and prestige it could never have earned on its own. This is how totalitarian Socialism comes to America—not on merits it doesn’t have, but by supposed Capitalists (which Trump is not) granting it a legitimacy it doesn’t and can never deserve. True, they are still political adversaries, and will probably butt heads in the future. But it will be superficial, not fundamental. Trump has pushed the Republican Party sharply to the Left, helping to pave the way for the Mamdani’s of the Democratic Party.
Related Reading:
Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump Prove That There Are Two Paths Toward Socialism by J.D. Tuccille for Reason
Will Trump’s “State Capitalism … a Hybrid Between Socialism and Capitalism” Make America Great Again? by Michael Chapman for Capitalism Magazine and The Cato Institute
Reason on "Republican Socialism" -- Trump Embraces Mamdani Socialism as 'Practical'
5 comments:
Been gone a while. Thought I'd check back. Glad to find you're still here.
About have to agree with that you say about Trump here. I've always known there were problems with Trump, but I never thought of him as a collectivist. I still think he leans at least a bit more toward individualism than collectivism. I totally think anybody is NUTS to vote for ANYTHING democrat over Republicans or Trump. I await to see what happens between Trump and that communist criminal that will soon run N. Y. C. I still think opposition will be real and fundamental.
I have a dispute with Linkedin over a comment of mine they deleted. They say it was harassing, hateful, against their smelly "community standards", etc. It was about Somalians in Minnesota. Here's my comment.
"I don't see how these Somalians can be a voting block. They're not citizens. Are these non-citizens being allowed to vote anyway?"
Can YOU tell me what's wrong with that? Maybe it's that some of them ARE citizens. But what about those who aren't citizens? Linkedin's "community standards" are smelly, period. I haven't unsubscribed from them or spammed them yet. But they deserve it.
I forget if I ever told you about my own website: mikekevitt.substsck.com. I've done very little with it yet. If you check it out, you'll probably laugh at the name I gave it, but that's ok. That's the name. If you read the little bit of writing I've done on it, you might feel like you're reading something written by a high school sophomore. I just do the best I can. Maybe I'll improve. I re-read my opening article recently and I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would. I'll be writing more in it very soon. I'm very radical in my views and I'll show it all over the place. I'm sure I'll be (oh, gee) hurtful. People today need it. I've needed it myself. If the radical left (or even right) read it, maybe they'll re-read, feel, think, write about it, and maybe act, somehow. So they might.
I'll also catch up on the later articles you've recently written here. M. K.
Hi Mike. Yea, I guess I've gotten a little burned out with writing. So my motivation isn't quite there these days. Trump has shown his collectivist orientation in his rationalizations for the tarif war: to wit, other nations "taking advantage of us," disregarding the fact that Americans voluntarily trade for foreign-made products. Or the "we are getting rich" from the tarriffs, mreaning the government, not the Americans paying the tarif taxes.
I didn't see anything particularly wrong with your linkedin statement. If there are inaccuracies, it should be left for others to rebut. I guess Linkedin doesn't want political debate.
I couldn't find your substack.
Actually, I hadn't checked your blog for a long time and decided to do so yesterday. If you've been burned out I don't blame you. If you don't get many replies, that doesn't help either.
It's my view that those exporting goods into the U. S. pay the tariffs. I find the terminology a little confusing. The exporter from his country imports goods into the U. S. He charges the receiver in the U. S. more to cover his tariff expense. The U. S. receiver passes it downstream, ultimately to the end consumer, us. Tax is a good enough term for this forwarded expense downstream, for practical daily purposes. Maybe some of it has been "eaten" upstream rather than passed on. But it probably still gets all the way downstream sometime somehow. The tariff war, leaning collectivist or individualist, etc, are things I will get into, ongoing, on my website.
I identified my website to you wrong, above. The website is mikekevitt.substack.com. That should get you there. M. K.
Thanks. I'll check it out. I started a Substack too. But I haven't posted anything yet.
I ain't posted but quite little on mine, but, as I said, more will be coming. I think I probably should keep my most radicalness on my own site. Others might not want it on theirs. What I already have on my site gives a little premonition of it, but doesn't really get there. We'll see. M. K.
Post a Comment