The title of the article immediately below verbalizes the big question: Who will win, Trump or the Deep State? The answer will determine the course of our nation. The United States has been on the path to a collectivist (statist) dictatorship for over 100 years. The odds of turning the direction of our country around are very slim. But, “We the People” finally spoke up, hopefully before it is too late. We elected the “outsider” Trump as our President, and the “Deep State” was immediately threatened. That is the real reason for the vehemence of the “Never-Trump” and anti-Trump movements. They are now fighting for their lives because many of them will go to prison if Justice is served. That is the significance of the FISA memo controversy currently dominating our news. Making this “secret memo” public will reveal some of the Deep State operations and prove its existence. You need to encourage your Congressman to make them public.
Most of Trump’s advisers are “insider” members of the Deep State. Trump himself does not seem to be fully aware of the existence of the Deep State, and it is so pervasive that it is difficult to find advisers who are not part of it. Trump has not made a concerted effort to get “outsider” advisers and that is a crucial mistake. His advisers are influencing him to move back to the “status quo”, to business as usual in politics. Trump is in a very difficult position because he is not fully aware of the nature and pervasiveness of the enemies of freedom.
Trump is a pragmatist. Most assume that pragmatism means that one is practical, but that is incorrect. Pragmatism as a philosophy rejects principles, on principle. As an example, if Trump were to negotiate between a murderer and his intended victim, he would engage in negotiations with no pre-conceived notions. He would talk to both parties and attempt to weigh their positions equally. He would make his decisions based on the “expediency of the moment”, based on the situation at hand without reference to principles. In contrast, if I were the arbiter, I would not need to speak to the intended victim at all. I would simply inform the murderer that murder is wrong, on principle. The intended victim has a right to his own life that the murderer will not be allowed to violate. If he does manage to murder his intended victim, he will be punished severely, period. Individual rights are sacred!
Trump vacillates between positions and actions that are both for and against freedom because he is a pragmatist. But then, if he consistently acted for freedom, he might have already been assassinated. The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 has still not been “solved”. This illustrates the power and extent of the Deep State. Hopefully, the Deep State still believes that they can manipulate Trump and mitigate his impediment to their statist-collectivist plans for the United States. One promise needs to be made perfectly clear to them. “We the people” will revolt if Trump is assassinated. It will be physically violent and bloody, and very few of the Deep State collectivists will personally live through it. They must be purged if we are to have a chance at re-establishing our individual rights and freedoms.
Trump vs. The Deep State: Who Will Win?
https://townhall.com/columnists/frankcannon/2018/01/27/trump-vs-the-deep-state-who-will-win-n2440280
The United States is a mixed economy, a mixture of capitalism and collectivism. The actual version of collectivism does not matter materially. They all result in dictatorship; they all result in the opposite of freedom.
The three variations of collectivism are socialism, fascism, and communism. Communism is the most extreme form, but the other two are similar. Taken to their logical ends they both eventually morph into communism. Under socialism the government owns the means of production. Under fascism the means of production are privately owned (in name only) but controlled by the government through regulations. Some believe that fascism is the most practical form of collectivism because it takes advantage of its most talented individuals to efficiently manage and run the means of production.
Our mixed economy is unstable because it is a mixture of two opposite and incompatible elements. We have been moving toward more collectivism and away from capitalism and freedom for over a hundred years. The particular form of collectivism in our mixed economy is fascism, not socialism. Regulations are part of fascism. They cannot come from capitalism because the essence of capitalism is freedom. How do you derive a regulation from freedom? Crony capitalism is mis-named and should really be called crony fascism. The collectivists are very good at manipulating language to serve their statist ends. Cronyism is a feature of fascism, not of capitalism. Controls breed more controls. The more regulations we have, the more fascist we become. How many Americans understand this? But, you need to understand this the next time someone attempts to criticize capitalism by criticizing our existing system–which is a mixed economy. It certainly is not capitalism because it is half (or more) fascism!
A collectivist government (the state) is large and all-powerful. It can easily be understood with the analogy of a honey bee hive. All subjects, they are not citizens, are worker bees whose lives are owned and controlled (regulated) by the all-powerful state. They have duties to their collective (group, tribe, nation, religion, or race), but no rights. The purpose of their lives is to serve the state; their moral obligation is to sacrifice their lives for the “common good” of their collective, of their honey bee hive. Their individual lives and happiness are irrelevant. What matters is the well being and survival of the group, not of the individual.
Individualism is the political opposite of collectivism. It logically rests on the concept of individual rights. When your rights are recognized and honored by your government the result is freedom. The United States was founded on the principle of inalienable rights and the resulting freedom in our early history is the reason we became the richest country in the world. It is cause and effect; wealth is created when citizens are free to act in their own rational best interest. A nation’s prosperity is proportional to its freedom! Adhering to our Bill of Rights and Constitution is crucial to maintaining our freedoms. Our Declaration of Independence is the overall statement that explains the “why” behind our Constitution.
Individualism is the ideology that results in freedom. Collectivism is the ideology that results in slavery, the slavery of the worker bee. This issue of rights versus duties is a moral one, and morality is more powerful than practicality. Morality carries more weight when people vote for one or the other. They will choose what they think is right. Unfortunately, few Americans have a clear understanding of the difference between the two ideologies, and that is the reason why their children’s fate will be to live in a tyrannical dictatorship. The rights that they once took for granted will be a distant memory.
I am referencing these linked articles in an effort to gain credibility in your eyes. They show that I am not the only one who thinks this way because the linked articles show aspects of my views. Many of them were shaped or acquired by reading Objectivist writings. Ayn Rand has changed my life for the better by helping me to gain an integrated view of life, of existence. I agree with Objectivists that the philosophical values we hold shapes our culture and thereby determines the course of our nation, our history. We cannot escape the significance of philosophy, of abstract ideas, and that is why I strive to explain them in simple ways so that you too can understand them. What is at stake are our individual rights and freedoms.
The American system is not capitalism
https://personalliberty.com/american-system-not-capitalism/
In Capitalism, Nice Guys Finish First
Capitalists get a bad rap for being greedy and ruthless, but John Mackey shows another way.
https://fee.org/articles/in-capitalism-nice-guys-finish-first/
The Rise of “Reality Capitalism”
https://fee.org/articles/risk-reward-and-the-rise-of-reality-capitalism/
What are the economic consequences of Socialism? They’re saying in the audio linked below that the source of the misunderstanding between the means and ends of any given ideology is ignorance, which agrees with my own conclusion. They’re also talking about finding the right mix between governments and markets. What they are really asking is how much poison should you mix in with your food? The answer is: none! The answer is that the government should have no authority in the market place. There should be no government regulations in business because it is literally none of their business how you conduct your business! As long as you do not commit physical force or fraud on anyone, it is none of the government’s business! This is an issue of private property rights. The fact that you open up your business to the “public” does negate the fact that it is your business.
Philosophy is all about finding the truth. Then, we need to apply that truth consistently. In the realm of principles, everything is black and white. Things only get grey when we attempt to apply these principles to real life which can get complicated. That is why we should organize and simplify as much as we can, wherever we can. Getting your principles straight entails dealing with abstract ideas. We must think hard about it because that is what makes us truly human. We are defined as the rational animal. Objective thinking is the highest expression of our identity, of the kind of creature we are. Rene Descartes said: “I think, therefore I am.” He was wrong. He had it backwards. The correct formulation is: I am a rational being, therefore I think.
Intentions Don’t Matter — Outcomes Do
In the ongoing battle of ideology between capitalism and socialism, what do the outcomes say?
Reining in fascist regulations will make you more free. The result is that everyone will become richer. Again, a nation’s prosperity is proportional to its freedom.
Reining in Regulations Will Make Americans Richer
If the current deregulatory momentum is sustained, the United States will rise in rankings and Americans will be richer.
We are all becoming worker bee slaves in the collectivist bee hive, in our large and all-powerful government. We are admonished to do it for the common good!
How we are slaves to the system
https://personalliberty.com/how-we-are-slaves-to-the-system/
Bureaucracy is a feature of collectivism, not of capitalism. Ludwig von Mises defines it as “the government’s method of managing its affairs”. In a free market, each private business would manage its own affairs because their affairs would be none of the government’s business!
Bureaucracy is an expression of government centralization. Its opposite is the decentralization of the free market which requires conceptual thinking by all participants. Man is the rational animal because he is capable of conceptual thought. The free market is the appropriate socio-economic system for man. Its opposite is the collectivist honey bee hive which is an appropriate system for insects. What is the essential difference between a man and an insect?
Bureaucracy is merely one of the myriad ways in which collectivism inhibits prosperity. A nation’s prosperity is proportional to its freedom, and free market capitalism is the essence of freedom. Most Americans do not truly understand the nature of capitalism.
Bureaucracy Buries the Human Spirit with Paperwork
“The list must be correct!”
https://fee.org/articles/bureaucracy-buries-the-human-spirit-with-paperwork/
Are we on the same path as Germany in their Weimar Republic before WWII? Will we find ourselves living in a totalitarian dictatorship like Hitler’s Nazi Germany? Certainly looks like it! “Nazi” was a German abbreviation for the National Socialist Party of Germany. Freedom of speech and of association are currently under heavy attack. Are you aware of this? (Examples are “safe spaces” on college campuses, Facebook censorship, and lawsuits against Christian bakers by gays. Anti-discrimination laws are anti-freedom!) The Liberals are leading us toward a collectivist dictatorship with no awareness of what the end of the road will be like. Ignorance! Emotionalism? Yes! That is why it is so important for you to think and to understand a few abstract ideas like rights and freedom, and the kind of government they require! We must initiate a change toward an individualist government as defined by our Bill of Rights and Constitution. Continuing along the path to collectivism can only result in the enslavement and poverty of all of us worker bees. We must assert that we are humans, not insects! As humans we have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Progressively Frightening Totalitarian and Judgmental Left