ndrosen

Thirty-eight years ago, I don’t think I ever expected to say, “I wish that the United States of America were led by a statesman as wise and ethical as J. Danforth Quayle.”

At the farmers’ market this morning, I met a young woman passing out fliers for Democratic Congressional primary candidate Mo Seifeldein, who seems to be very much on the left, with views typical of the Democratic Socialists of America. He’s for Medicare for All, universal childcare, affordable housing, low prices, etc. Of course, I’m for affordable housing, but I understand economics. When I tried to explain that universal childcare would mean raising taxes on everyone, perhaps benefiting parents who wanted to send their children to childcare, but rendering those who preferred to have the mother stay home worse off, the young woman interrupted that taxes would be raised on billionaires, not on everyone.

My attempts to educate were her interrupted partly by her own words, partly by her handing out fliers to other people. I didn’t get so far as to tell her that the federal government is already running a deficit of six percent of GNP, and reducing that would require some combination of spending cuts and higher taxes on billionaires and ordinary people, without any new programs. Also, while it might be possible to raise taxes on billionaires enough to pay for this, that, or the other without wrecking the economy, there’s no possibility of taxing billionaires enough to pay for this, that, and the other. Countries like France and Sweden have progressive income taxes and un-progressive value added taxes to pay for all their government services, and France, for example, runs major deficits as well.

I plan to vote for incumbent Congressman Donald Beyer in the Democratic primary. He may not be my ideal, but he’s anti-Trump and not a loony leftist.

There was a recent article in The Atlantic (with which I did not entirely agree) on why Great Britain is now below Mississippi in per capita income. The journalist had been to Manchester, and mentioned Andy Burnham, who is now the prospective Labour Prime Minister. It turns out that Mr. Burnham is an advocate of land value taxation, which he supports as an alternative to the current rates (property tax) and stamp duty. This should be a change for the better, if Parliament will support the reform, and, an important practical consideration, if reasonably accurate assessments exist or can be made on schedule.

Mr. Burnham identifies as a socialist, which I do not, and it appears that I would have some substantial disagreements with him. Then again, if I were British, I would not be much inclined to support the Tories, with whom I also disagree, and who gave an unimpressive performance when they were in power.

Thomas Massie, agree with him or not, is a Tea Party Republican, concerned about fiscal responsibility, low taxes, and limited government. Donald Trump is fine with big and overbearing government, so long as he is the one in charge, and tens of millions of Americans are apparently fine with whatever Trump the Duce wants, never mind whether it contradicts his previous rhetoric. Hence, a man named Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL, defeated Congressman Massie in the Republican primary.

I am reminded of Davy Crockett, an imperfect human being, but a man with a core of decency and integrity, unlike the current occupant of the Oval Office. Congressman Davy Crockett opposed President Andrew Jackson’s intention of removing thousands of American Indians from Georgia, and sending them west on the infamous Trail of Tears, where many men, women, and children would die. When criticized for going against the wishes of his constituents, Crockett replied that he would oppose this evil bill if he were the only man in the United States to do so, and that he would rather be right than President. He lost his seat, and told his former constituents that they could go to Hell; he was going to Texas. I hope that Thomas Massie will someday be remembered somewhat as Crockett is, the alternative being that the Trumpists will win a long-term victory, Constitutional goverment will be dead, and those who opposed Trump’s rise will be portrayed in the school history books as the evil fools.

Speaking of profiles in courage, I note that Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, a Trumpublican and perhaps the least intellectually impressive member of Congress, campaigned for Thomas Massie, causing Trump to excoriate her. Sometimes wisdom and courage can be found in unexpected places.

If you have lost track, or if you are not already aware of enough appalling acts of the current administration, the Trumpists are denying asylum in the United States to Afghan refugees who worked with American forces, and negotiating to send them to Congo, where they would not be safe. Gentle Reader, you may speculate for yourself on whether this is due to xenophobia, malicious cruelty, or the desire to serve Putin’s interests by making it harder for the United States to find allies or employees in times to come.

I plan to make a donation to No One Left Behind, mentioned in article, providing some assistance to people in great need, and reducing the tally of my country’s dishonor by some tens of dollars. Others may be moved to do likewise. This is not to be interpreted as a solicitation to make a donation if you have business before the Patent Office, or are a fellow federal employee.

The other day, I found my way to an interview with the late Professor Milton Friedman back in the 1990s (the interviewer, Brian Doherty, died recently). I think that Friedman had wise words on various matters, and I was particularly struck by his views of Ayn Rand (whom he never met): “As I always have said, she had an extremely good influence on all those who did not become Randians. But if they became Randians, they were hopeless.”

That makes sense. Atlas Shrugged dramatizes the results of government trying to take over everything and manage the economy. Some of Rand’s essays standing up for liberty are also memorable, and make cogent points. But you should not mistake her for the great philosopher she thought she was.

Or, as someone said after the 2008 election, “You can disagree with her philosophy, and you can say that her heroes aren’t realistic. But you have to say one thing for her: it has now become clear that her villains are pretty realistic.”

And now to work.

Back in November of 2016, when I was on LiveJournal instead of Dreamwidth, I reacted to the election results, if I recall correctly, by quoting Kelvin Throop’s emendation of Euripides, “Whom the gods would destroy, they first make President,” and expressing the hope that the country would not be destroyed along with Donald Trump. Donald Trump has pledged ten billion dollars of the public’s money to a “Board of Peace” of which he is to be president for life, without, so far as I am aware, obtaining a Congressional appropriation; he has unlawfully imposed taxes (tariffs) not authorized by Congress; and he has now gone to war with Iran without a declaration of war or other authorization from Congress. You don’t have to be fond of Iran’s Islamofascist regime to disapprove of this.

If Congress were responsible, and if its Republicans were not terrified of offending Trump and his MAGAts, the House of Representatives would be busy impeaching him now, by a bipartisan vote, with swift conviction by the Senate to follow. If the president can get away with behaving like an absolute monarch without suffering consequences, much of the Constitution has become a dead letter, and the rest may follow at the jefe’s discretion. The United States of America is acting like a rogue state in its behavior toward Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, and forfeiting its standing to condemn brazen aggression by Russia or China.

If there is any hope, it is that Trump’s war with Iran may prove unpopular, especially if it goes badly, and we may finally see Trump and his gang discredited and removed from power. I fear, however, that tens of millions of American voters are either fascists, or bamboozled by the fascists and their fake media. This is a problem that cannot be expected to go away soon.

I used to read the columns of Daniel Hannan, an astute British observer, in the Washington Examiner. Baron Hannan, as he now is, had an article in Reason about Greenland, MAGA, and America’s prospects. He quotes those famous words, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

There is a Reason podcast in which guest Sarah McLaughlin talks about how foreign governments police speech in the United States. She is the author of Authoritarians in the Academy, a book which I recommend.

There is a case to be made for deporting foreigners who are illegally present in the United States; it may be said that the law is the law, that we cannot admit everyone in the world who wants to live here, and that people of different cultures bring problems with them, and impose costs on state and local governments (even if they may also bring energy, initiative, and the willingness to work). However, the Trump administration is not content to deport illegal aliens, but also foreigners given permission to be in the United States, including those fleeing from Cuba and Venezuela, however anti-Communist Trump proclaims himself to be. Our current president is a fascist, rather than a Communist, but his behavior illustrates the horseshoe model of politics: authoritarians of the left and right have more in common with each other than with liberals (in more or less the classic sense of that word).

Trump’s xenophobia, whether personally felt or chosen to appeal to his base, outweighs concern for people whose plight would command the sympathy of a real anti-totalitarian, or simply of a decent human being. A better man would not, absent good reason, turn on refugees already given asylum, and seek to expel them to misgoverned pestholes where they are liable to be murdered. An unsentimental statesman would at least consider the consequences to his country of becoming known for such inhospitable behavior. However, the current successor to Washington, Lincoln, and Gerald Ford (I remember the Indochinese refugees) is neither a decent person nor a prudent statesman.

And since today is Veterans’ Day, let us take a minute to recall the veterans wantonly assaulted by ICE.