Taking the gloves off
Putin must be proud of the way that Trump is no longer making any attempt to hide his love of authoritarianism:
Bye bye civil service system. And don’t forget to purge all the state election certification officials. Especially that guy in Georgia who refused to come up with the extra 10,000 votes that Trump demanded.
And what impeccable timing for Trump. Propose abolishing civil service protections right as Putin is purging his government of the “deep state”, aka “people who oppose his insane policies”.
Meanwhile the president’s son is spreading Putin’s propaganda:
“It’s not a “war,” it’s a much needed cleansing,” wrote a member of a Telegram group called “Patriot Voices” that is popular with supporters of Trump. “Ukraine has a ton of US govt funded BioWeapons Labs that created deathly pathogens and viruses.”
Television pundits and high-profile political figures have helped spread the claim even further. Fox News host Tucker Carlson devoted segments on his shows on Wednesday and Thursday to promoting the conspiracy theory. On Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr. said conspiracy theories around the labs were proven to be a “fact” in a tweet to his 7.3 million followers.
Can’t wait until Trump’s “much needed cleansing” of the US in 2025. Should be fun.
Francis Fukuyama is more optimistic:
The invasion has already done huge damage to populists all over the world, who prior to the attack uniformly expressed sympathy for Putin. That includes Matteo Salvini, Jair Bolsonaro, Éric Zemmour, Marine Le Pen, Viktor Orbán, and of course Donald Trump. The politics of the war has exposed their openly authoritarian leanings.
Really? Who’s the current leader in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination? Perhaps Americans actually favor an authoritarian leader. Not most Americans, just the minority necessary to elect Trump in our “democratic” system of government.
[BTW, I’ve criticized many of those authoritarians in my blog, along with jerks like Putin and Tucker Carlson. I’ve said Germany should not have shut down its nukes. I’ve said Russia was a bigger threat to world peace than China. I’ve favored a carbon tax. Dare I say, “I told you so”?]
And speaking of Tucker:
And people say that I’m a CCP stooge.
I’m starting to think that calling the US a banana republic is an insult to Honduras.
Tags:
13. March 2022 at 12:03
To be fair, any executive branch employee should be able to be fired at whim by IDK, the chief executive. The USG is free to establish QAGOs and the nightmares that come with that if they don’t like it.
The entire MSPRB is a joke. It’s simply there to protect wilful insubordinate SESs from being fired so they run their kingdoms. If you are a GS, the MSPRB in practice don’t care at all if your persecutor is another GS or SES. I’m a senior level GS and I see SESs openly and willfully ignore and undermine president directives daily. And under Trump I personally seen them actively work against his administration.
Civil service needs to get reformed because the swamp (let’s say GS14 to SES, not the appointees) is unassailable and actively works to hurt America to increase their own personal fiefdoms. As with most organizations, it’s middle management that is the problem.
“Perhaps Americans actually favor an authoritarian leader. Not most Americans, just the minority”
I laugh when I read that. Most Americans favor an authoritarian leader period, it’s only by august political norms and the self discipline of politicians has that been resisted but at some point a Crassus always arises. Lincoln, FDR, Clinton, Obama, etc had all seen the massive increase unconstitutional executive power grabbing. The Federal agencies are all little dictatorships as are all small businesses, large ones are oligarchies. We run schools and our families the same. State and municipal level likewise.
It’s not a hatred of authoritarianism that has kept America “free”. It’s a distrust by the average citizen to capitalize on rent seeking for themselves over their neighbor long term plus a distrust by those above equally be able to keep those same rents. I.e. jealousy and low self-esteem are what keeps our nation a semi functional republic.
13. March 2022 at 13:29
Peter, You said:
“Lincoln, FDR, Clinton, Obama, etc had all seen the massive increase unconstitutional executive power grabbing.”
I’d just as soon not see people like Putin, Xi Jinping and Trump do even more power grabbing. But I’m resigned to the inevitable. Banana republics don’t have good outcomes. I’m old, it’s future generations that will have to clean up the mess.
13. March 2022 at 18:00
What about the other comments Peter made?
Also:
1. Are many civil servants are lazy and overpaid?
2. Do many civil servants take advantage of the fact they can’t be fired?
3. Were there irregularities or questionable tactics in the Presidential election? A swing of 45,000 votes in the 5 straggling states would have given Trump the win. That’s out of 150 million votes. Special counsel of one of them, Wisconsin, just recommended theirs be decertified.
4. Do we have have an entrenched, self-serving bureaucracy? Some call it Deep State or Swamp. All are just names for the same thing.
5. Could Trump implement a reform without resorting to tyranny?
With your TDS, I have no doubt your answers to all are NO. Or is your TDS a way to get traffic?
Please stick with economics.
13. March 2022 at 21:54
Peter, Vince,
short answer as to why it’s a bad idea to make every federal employee fireable by the President personally.
1. extended separation of powers
2. subsidiarity – issues should be handled by the appropriate level in the hierarchy
3. original intent of the position of President of the US as being outward looking, not domestically
4. insulation of the civil service from the vagaries of politics – to make it a professional class that is independent in its duties from the political flavors of the time.
The deep state is not a swamp. It has its (limited) independence by design.
Note I am not even American… but the independent civil service class is a thorn in the side of authoritarian leaders everywhere in the world. And yet, this independence exists precisely because of historical experience. There is a need for it. The president sets policy but shouldn’t be able to fire the janitor just because he isn’t from his own political party.
13. March 2022 at 23:19
While I don’t agree that the civil service should be politicized; any rational person can see that it needs reform. It’s almost impossible to fire anyone in the civil service these days. The agencies are bloated, the people are incredibly lazy, and those at the top spend lavishly on unecesssary things – like 40,000 dollar chairs. I believe this is what Trump is alluding to.
I’m still more worried about the left.
BLM, ANTIFA, Cancel culture, CRT, and other signs of neo-marxism is a much greater threat to liberty than offhand remarks at a rally.
Totalitarianism is not going to emerge from the hands of one man, president or not, but it can emerge from changing culture, propagandizing socialism/communism to youth, harrassing those who disagree with violence, and canceling opposing views – especially scientists.
14. March 2022 at 01:01
“I’m old, it’s future generations that will have to clean up the mess.”
I’m not confident we’re old enough. Those Life Extension technology folks that Tyler and Alex go on about, what are they thinking?!? Robin Hanson, God bless him (or should I say em), really seems to want to see the end of the movie.
(Speaking of which, how amazing is Satantango?!? As good–and as damp–as a Tarkovski film.)
Kevin Williamson had a good column on the banana republic thing in NR last week. Briefly: We’ve always had Trumps and Putins and so forth in the USA, and at the same rate and caliber as everywhere else. The difference is they don’t accumulate power here. This system hasn’t quite failed yet.
14. March 2022 at 01:28
“11:07 . . . you want to remember it’s president trump in december of 2017 who was under great pressure who decided to arm the ukrainians so we were arming the ukrainians we were training the ukrainians . . . ”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppD_bhWODDc&t=3s
14. March 2022 at 01:50
Sarah is correct.
14. March 2022 at 04:52
“The head of the executive branch should be able to fire employees of the executive branch”, doesn’t quite strike me as authoritarian.
The late 19th century CSR movement was anti-corruption, not anti-authoritarian. If you’re willing to deal with the corruption inherent to a spoils system or have some other way to deal with it, peeling back CS protections even feels like the right thing to do. The Federal bureaucracy is vast and mostly outside of anyone else’s control, in practice. That’s not a good thing in a republic.
14. March 2022 at 08:59
“but the independent civil service class is a thorn in the side of authoritarian leaders everywhere in the world.”
I respectfully disagree with this sentiment. First, institutional busybodies are not the apex of virtue. The cronies at the top are horribly corrupt, and the uneducated blue collar workers at the bottom have no clue what is going on.
Second, the people working for these so-called government “institutions”, both supranational and national, are unelected! When Ursula von der Leyen makes a decision that affects hundreds of millions, she does so as an autocrat — or a sort of philosopher-king who sits on top of an arrogant, grandoise, pedestal, without any accountability. Nobody voted for her, or her subordinates.
Lastly, all of these problems can be resolved if you reduce the size of govt. The federal govt wasn’t designed to be the largest employer, and the bigger it gets the more corrupt and abusive it will become. That is a historical inevitability.
14. March 2022 at 09:34
mbk wrote:
“1. extended separation of powers
2. subsidiarity – issues should be handled by the appropriate level in the hierarchy
3. original intent of the position of President of the US as being outward looking, not domestically
4. insulation of the civil service from the vagaries of politics – to make it a professional class that is independent in its duties from the political flavors of the time.”
1. The bureaucracy was never intended as a power. Separation of power is among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
2. The top of the executive branch is the President. “The buck stops here.”
3. Whose original intent?
4. Insulation is what makes the swamp powerful, unaccountable, and self serving.
14. March 2022 at 09:42
On separation of power, I’m not even sure why we allow political parties whose blatant goal is autocratic domination of all three branches of government. That sounds like a conspiracy against our constitutional checks and balances.
14. March 2022 at 10:24
‘I’m starting to think that calling the US a banana republic is an insult to Honduras.’
Well, it’s certainly an insult to the United Fruit Company. They knew how to run a country!
If ‘Ukraine has a ton of US govt funded BioWeapons Labs that created deathly pathogens and viruses’, then why didn’t Trump do something about this when he was President? I’d have thought that when Covid broke out investigating these types of labs would be an immediate priority.
14. March 2022 at 10:28
We got rid of our nukes? We had nukes? And have abolished them? Did I miss something? You mean nuclear power plants, right?
The whole blog entry lacks focus. It’s true that Trump now seems to be completely insane, and that he has definitely lost all morals, all decency, and all shame. And Tucker Carlson has been beyond stupid for many years, unbelievable.
But I’m missing a little bit of overall analysis. Trump doesn’t have a good chance at the presidency, and if he did have a chance, it just proves how incredibly weak Western leaders and politicians have become.
The reaction against Putin is just embarrassing, gutless, senile, and characterized by wishful thinking. Biden now talks more about WW3 than Putin himself. Biden and Scholz have taken many options off the table from the start for no rational reason at all, simply out of really cheap domestic populism. These politicians don’t even adhere to the simplest strategic principles. Putin must feel like he is playing chess with kindergarten children.
14. March 2022 at 10:31
@ Sarah,
‘Second, the people working for these so-called government “institutions”, both supranational and national, are unelected! When Ursula von der Leyen makes a decision that affects hundreds of millions, she does so as an autocrat — or a sort of philosopher-king who sits on top of an arrogant, grandoise, pedestal, without any accountability. Nobody voted for her, or her subordinates.’
Uh, no. Von der Leyen was elected by the European Parliament, the members of which are elected directly by the people in EU states. She is absolutely elected and is absolutely not an autocrat.
14. March 2022 at 10:33
Everyone, First they say I’m being hysterical when I suggest that Trump is an authoritarian at heart. And then when I’m proved right they say “what’s wrong with authoritarianism?” “Why should all government employees (not just the FBI director) be personally loyal to Trump?”
mbka, A voice of reason.
Dzhaughn, Yup, Satantango is an amazing film.
Tacticus, Good point. Perhaps he was helping OJ find the real killer.
14. March 2022 at 10:36
Christian, Yes, I should have said nuclear power plants.
“Trump doesn’t have a good chance at the presidency,”
Yes, just like he didn’t have a good chance in 2016. Don’t current polls show he’d likely win in 2024?
14. March 2022 at 10:57
Both of Sarah’s comments are so spot on.
1) I have never seen/heard of a place where the “independent civil service class” was the bridge holding back authoritarian rule. That certainly is not the case in the US…
2) The US civil service class is particularly terrible because there has been no cleaning up for any of these departments in years. Having checks and balances is fine, but who exactly is checking the UNELECTED officials? At least allow for committee members in the House/Senate to have some kind of authority here? Members of congress + President?
3) Scott thank you for confirming the point that many republicans make- election officials/electioneering should be done at the state level and there should not be Federal oversight 😀
4) If we’re going to move toward a more authoritarian world, can we at least pick someone like Dwayne “THE ROCK” Johnson? I’d give up my freedom to see him posing with other world leaders.
5) Sarah’s best point- REDUCE THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT and so many of these problems just automatically become smaller.
14. March 2022 at 11:51
“Special counsel of one of them, Wisconsin, just recommended theirs be decertified.”
Yes he did. He didnt find any fraud that was committed but he thought it was bad that some cities used money donated by a private citizen, Zuckerberg, to encourage people to vote. He specifically listed poor and disabled as being those who ere encouraged to vote an that, from his POV, is wrong.
“Uh, no. Von der Leyen was elected by the European Parliament, the members of which are elected directly by the people in EU states. She is absolutely elected and is absolutely not an autocrat.”
Oh no, but dont worry. The conspiracy folks will make up a reason why this is not true.
“If ‘Ukraine has a ton of US govt funded BioWeapons Labs that created deathly pathogens and viruses’, then why didn’t Trump do something about this when he was President?”
These were largely agriculture labs. I suspect the Trump admin knew about them but absent war there was no need to worry about them. The pathogens at risk might destroy crops but unlikely to transmit to the US.
“Everyone, First they say I’m being hysterical when I suggest that Trump is an authoritarian at heart. And then when I’m proved right they say “what’s wrong with authoritarianism?”
These are the same people that laud Putin. They have no problem with an authoritarian as long as it is their authoritarian.
Steve
14. March 2022 at 12:18
The US had the so-called “spoils” system for a long time prior to Garfield being assassinated and civil service reform being enacted. There are definitely some good arguments in favor of such reforms (though not long ago I came across a study I can no longer find showing that Pendleton had little effect), but nobody thought pre-Hayes presidents were all “authoritarians”. Rather, that was the expected outcome of a democratic system. Positions like judges with strong job protections (though even they could be impeached) were the exception. Garett Jones is in favor of insulating more government officials from the threat of removal, but then he’s explicit in regarding democracy as overrated and saying we should be less (but still somewhat) democratic.
Off-topic, but via Scott Alexander’s latest post linking to Nuno Sempere here’s a “rationalist” arguing against the EMH based on his own success in betting and finding persistent opportunities for arbitrate:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ybQdaN3RGvC685DZX/the-emh-is-false-specific-strong-evidence
These appear to be relatively niche prediction markets rather than the familiar big financial exchanges, but since our host is the foremost living defender of the EMH I can think of I thought it worth bringing to his attention.
14. March 2022 at 12:32
On Wisconsin voting report, Steve wrote: He didnt find any fraud …
Here’s one excerpt from the report: the OSC has uncovered evidence of fraud in the November 2020 election.
Of course, no one can ever say with certainty that our elections are not fraudulent. The system doesn’t provide a trail. Visit wikipedia for end-to-end auditable voting.
14. March 2022 at 12:43
Here is the link to the report. Where did they cite specific fraud, not just make vague claims?
https://www.wpr.org/sites/default/files/osc-second-interim-report.pdf
Steve
14. March 2022 at 12:55
I have to confess that I didn’t know how little power the modern president seems to have to fire civil servants. After reading up on the matter a little bit, it seems that what Trump was arguing for could be construed as a return to the understanding of the Presidential power of removal that existed for over 100 years after the “Decision of 1789.”
I can see the danger of the President effectively usurping legislative authority by firing bureaucrats who don’t do his bidding. On the other hand, it’s hard to argue that that executive power is vested in the President of the United States” if he does not have the power to fire any but a handful of people over whom he supposedly holds that executive power. By retaining control over the firing of civil servants isn’t Congress effectively usurping some executive authority?
14. March 2022 at 13:25
Scott, you are clearly desperate to find any evidence at all to prove something unimportant.
The “research” you linked to is laughable, absolutely one-sided. I was particularly “impressed” by the reference to retaliation against somebody. This is from people who for the last five years are doing everything possible to destroy whoever dares to side with the enemy using all legal and illegal means. Shameful. Did I see you admit that Trump correctly stated his campaign was illegally wire-tapped? I don’t think I did.
American system is very well designed to protect against a populist leader. What it fails to protect against equally well is a quiet agreement by the elites to ignore the voice of people.
I voted against Brexit – I was afraid to lose my good job. But I – as quite a few other people in the same position – was appalled by the way the “elites”, the bureaucrats, the media joined forces after the referendum to try and bury the result, let alone paint everyone who voted out in the same terrible way. I read with equal dismay how gleetful morons cheered publications from “resistance inside the administration” in the US. Ignoring people’s voice is a dangerous step. Sooner or later it will blow up in the faces of those doing it. Yes, of course people (we) are not always right, heck, we are probably rarely right, but the thing is we pay for our mistakes. I’d much rather have this then technochracy and civil service isn’t even that – it is just a random assembly of mostly mediocre people who chose job stability over anything else. Firing specifically civil service management should be absolutely normal if they refuse to follow legitimate orders – they are ultimately the part of the executive branch. Obviously those outside of this branch should be excluded.
Linking it to Putin’s purge is another very odd statement. Trump admin planned this change in 2020, why would you reference something that happens (or rather may happen) in Russia now?
14. March 2022 at 13:28
Steve wrote: Where did they cite specific fraud, not just make vague claims?
I responded to your first post, which said the report *didn’t find any fraud* that was committed.
14. March 2022 at 14:42
I’m glad that Scott finally acknowledged the relative competence of real banana republics relative to the probable future path of our country under a Republican junta. The United Fruit Company was at least able to export bananas.
Trump has the greatest grift of all time–he gets his devoted followers to send him money while he rants and raves. What does he give back to the RNC? Not one thin dime. If he runs and wins in ’24 they’ll give him more money. If he loses, they’ll send him even more money to stop the steal again. He doesn’t have to go to the actual risk of creating corrupt government agencies, or stealing property, or accepting bribes. He just cashes checks and eats Big Macs.
15. March 2022 at 03:52
The “civil service” as a sinecure? I guess you professors think that is the natural way of the world. Ever try to hire a civil service employee away from the government? I have. Many. No one wants to leave. The pay is good enough for what they want—-that part is fine with me. The part that is not, is the general “freedom” of coming and going as you please, no stress no pressure. No productivity. At least politicians need to run for office.
Further, the administrative state is virtually untouchable. It exercises their power at will as they “interpret” vaguely written laws. You experienced the difficulties of performance before you got tenure. For most people, seeking “tenure” is a daily job. How do you not know this?
15. March 2022 at 04:50
“Uh, no. Von der Leyen was elected by the European Parliament, the members of which are elected directly by the people in EU states. She is absolutely elected and is absolutely not an autocrat.
I suppose I have to respond to this. I respectfully disagree. She was not voted into office by the people she serves. The people don’t know which MEP’s voted for her because the votes are conducted in secret. There is also no uniform voting system to elect an MEP, so some of those MEP’s may not be representing the interests of their people. Smaller countries with fewer seats may also feel that their views are not being represented.
We can agree to disagree on what constitutes representation, but I think we can all agree that there is still a problem of transparency. When Von de Leyen witheld personal texts between herself and the CEO of Pfizer was that in the best interest of the people she serves, or was that in her best interest?
So again, I ask what makes you think “institutions” in Brussels or Washington are more capable of safe guarding liberty, and more capable of acting virtuous, then local representatives?
A mayor is a member of a community. He or she attends the same sporting events, goes to the same restaurants, and shops at the same supermarket.
If a mayor spends 40,000 on a chair, then he probably won’t be mayor for very long. It is much easier for the people to hold a corrupt mayor and governor accountable for their actions, then a complex and opaque “institution” that is far from home.
I don’t think proposing reforms is a sign of totalitarianism. In fact, I welcome the debate. And in the end, I hope that debate leads to more accountability and transparency.
15. March 2022 at 06:57
Zelensky is king martyrdom. The U.S. will lose its economic war with Russia.
15. March 2022 at 08:05
The election official in Georgia who stood up to trump was not a civil service employee. He was a Republican elected to the SOS office. Nearly all folks who oversee elections in the states (usually SOS) and counties (usually county clerks) are elected to office.
15. March 2022 at 12:02
America started transforming itself into a banana republic with the abolishment of the meritocratic civil service exam in 1978. It’s been downhill ever since.
15. March 2022 at 14:53
Kirk, very good point indeed.
Scott,
We have a war against the Western world in which hundreds of people die every day. We already have thousands dead and there will be thousands more. And the only thing you’ve managed to do in all your blog posts on the subject so far is a lot of posts about a certain Donald Trump. An idiot who hasn’t been president for quite some time. If that’s not the final proof of your severe TDS, then what is?
I didn’t understand this kind of TDS for a long time. Now I’m beginning to understand it better. It is a shelter, an excuse. One’s own world view wobbles, it falls, it crumbles. You can no longer look in the mirror, you cannot bare this mass death, where your ideology offers no real way out. The Jeffersonians, the Hamiltonians, the Jacksonians are reaching their limits. But admitting that to yourself is really painful. So they rather continue TDS. It is a welcome diversion.
15. March 2022 at 15:01
Steve, Finally, a voice of reason.
TGGP, I don’t know about those markets, but I don’t believe the Hypermind market is efficient.
Carl, You said:
“it seems that what Trump was arguing for could be construed as a return to the understanding of the Presidential power of removal that existed for over 100 years after the “Decision of 1789.””
1789???
Did the founders want our presidents to engage in undeclared wars? How about having the president determine tariff rates? How about having the president withhold Congressionally authorized aid to an ally unless the ally digs up dirt on his political rival? How about building a wall after Congress specifically refused to appropriate money for the wall? The original constitution is long gone–our presidents are becoming elected dictators.
If this were 1789 I might agree with you. But the modern president has far too much power already—why give him even more?
Joseph, You said:
“I voted against Brexit – I was afraid to lose my good job.”
That’s all I need to know.
Kirk, Yes, I know that. I was being sarcastic.
15. March 2022 at 15:08
Christian, You said:
“We have a war against the Western world in which hundreds of people die every day. We already have thousands dead and there will be thousands more. And the only thing you’ve managed to do in all your blog posts . . .
You expect me to stop the war with my blog posts?
The fact is I’ve been warning about nationalistic authoritarians like Trump, Putin, Orban, Modi, Xi, etc., for the past 6 years.
And now you are angry at how I have the nerve to point out how wrong all you guys were when you accused me of TDS.
“The Jeffersonians, the Hamiltonians, the Jacksonians are reaching their limits.”
Ummm, will someone explain US history to Christian.
15. March 2022 at 17:33
The answer to all your rhetorical questions is, of course, no for the simple reason that each represents a case of the executive usurping the legislature’s authority. I don’t think the solution to the executive usurping the legislature’s authority is to have the legislature usurp some of the president’s authority back.
15. March 2022 at 18:01
Scott,
What a silly argument and red herring. You expect to stop Trump with your blogposts?
Even now in this currently so extraordinary situation, with this really huge war in Ukraine going on, you talk more about Trump than you do about this war. In the last ten blogposts alone, three entries are about Trump and his supporters.
And even when you talk about this war, there’s still some angle that always points to Trump. Just as if he was the president calling the shots. That’s TDS: You always end up at Trump somehow.
The psychology behind this was not clear to me until I read an article about it in the NZZ: When one’s ideology brutally hits a brick wall, it is very difficult admitting this to oneself. So many people put the focus on others who are even more wrong.
15. March 2022 at 18:12
Christian List wrote this about TDS: “The psychology behind this was not clear to me until I read an article about it in the NZZ: When one’s ideology brutally hits a brick wall, it is very difficult admitting this to oneself.”
Thank you for a partial explanation of TDS, but it must be deeper. We need psychological studies on TDS, but only from those who don’t have it. It’s fascinating how irrational its victims become.
15. March 2022 at 18:24
Professor Sumner wrote: Ummm, will someone explain US history to Christian.
Meanwhile, as you harken history and authoritarians, be sure to include Lincoln. An interesting read is Thomas DiLorenzo’s The Real Lincoln.
Heh, as I was reading it years ago a woman walked by and said “Oh, a book about Lincoln, what a great President.” She clearly had no clue what was in it.
15. March 2022 at 21:31
What undeclared war are you referring to, Scott?
16. March 2022 at 05:22
vince:
Thomas DiLorenzo? For an author associated with an institute that claims to be dedicated to the cause of individual freedom, the Mises Institute, Lorenzo seems awfully confused about who was doing more to further the cause of individual freedom: the guy trying to put an end to slavery or the guys trying to extend slavery.
16. March 2022 at 06:03
@ Christian List
I completely understand why people dislike Trump. But Scott is driven toward him in a completely emotional way. We have Biden and Harris, who I find ridiculous——but I cannot come close to being as deranged toward them as Scott is toward Trump —-who he links to dictators—-. But I try to ignore it—-and I have been better at it—-but he still can get me.
I do almost believe —-and sometimes feel certain——that he is simply being a troll for fun. This would be a compliment, as it would imply he is not a dummy.
Do you know his view on the current war? I don’t. But I know his view on Trump.
16. March 2022 at 08:33
Carl wrote: “Lorenzo seems awfully confused about who was doing more to further the cause of individual freedom: the guy trying to put an end to slavery or the guys trying to extend slavery.”
DiLorenzo’s thesis is not about slavery.
16. March 2022 at 09:25
vince:
Here’s a quote from DiLorenzo
from https://www.lewrockwell.com/2010/05/thomas-dilorenzo/lincoln-authoritarianism-manipulated-history/.
I think if DiLorenzo were writing about the current Russo-Ukrainian war he’d focus on what a tyrant Klitschko is for implementing a curfew in Kyiv.
16. March 2022 at 10:56
We’ll make every executive employee fireable by the president
And that’s only half of it! Remember, he also said he’d only hire people who are dumber than him!…
“I hear so many times, ‘Oh, I want my people to be smarter than I am.’ It’s a lot of crap. You want to be smarter than your people”.
This is important he says, because you don’t want to have to put “too much trust” in your people or “things will start to happen that you’re not gonna like.”
Now, of course, ‘hire people who are dumber than you’, ‘don’t trust’ who you hire, and make sure they don’t do or say things you don’t like, runs 100% opposite to every organizational lesson everywhere. And once you apply it at the top, your dumb minions will iterate it all the way down the organization to the bottom by following your great advice!
Can we think of any place where this philosophy has actually been applied in practice?
We sure can! Just look at the news today. Apply it to the govt of the world’s biggest nation, possessing extraordinary human and natural resources — then watch its economy go backward 10 years in a row and see its former superpower military get humiliated by a bunch of Ukrainians led by a TV show comedian (who hired smarter underlings!).
Trump is not Hitler. Trump is Cliff Klavan.
16. March 2022 at 11:03
I’m starting to think that calling the US a banana republic is an insult to Honduras.
I’ve been hearing such doomism since I was a kid in the time of Lyndon Johnson, then Nixon, Jimmy Carter! … times much worse than today. It is a constant going back to 1789. And the further back, the worse. (In the 1930s Madison Square Garden sold out for both Fascist and Communist rallies.)
And yet here the USA stands as the world’s unipolar power. With the world’s longest running governmental regime, with no end in sight. (The British constitution has changed much more than the USA’s since 1789.)
Larry Summers just said that such constant self-disrespect is a self-defeating prophesy that has always helped America come out on top.
As Pope John Paul II said at another time worse than now: Be not afraid!
16. March 2022 at 21:31
Scott’s been 100% correct about Trump from the beginning. It’s only those who disagree who are deranged. Trump truly does represent a threat the US never faced, and in many ways, has been unprepared to face. Any who don’t understand that are some combination of pig-ignorant, stupid, crazy, and epistemically closed.
Trump is not close to being comparable to any previous President. The only comparisons are other clown fascists such as Berlusconi, the Le Pens, Erdogan, Balsonaro, etc. These are people who openly celebrate corruption, anti-liberal values, ignorance, stupidity, and bigotry. They are extremist populists who encourage citizens to burn down their systems, with nothing, but banana republicanism to replace it. It’s total nihilism in favor of personality cults.
17. March 2022 at 08:47
Christian, You don’t think it odd that when the entire western world is allied against Putin, the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nominal is a Putin supporter? It’s rather talk about that fact than the obvious fact that Putin’s invasion is similar to Hitler’s invasion of Poland. Why don’t you also complain that I forgot to mention that 2 + 2 = 4?
Michael Rulle, You asked:
“Do you know his view on the current war? I don’t.”
I’m against it.
Seriously, has any blogger done more posts over the past decade warning that Putin is the biggest threat to world peace? In response, I’ve gotten abuse from right wing Trumpistas who think Putin is protecting Christian civilization and tell me the CCP is the real threat. Tell that to the Ukrainians.
TGGP, Wasn’t WWII the last time Congress declared war? Every war since has been undeclared.
17. March 2022 at 10:11
Christian, This is for you:
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1504516631480963078
17. March 2022 at 11:57
You asked “has any blogger done more posts over the past decade warning that Putin is the biggest threat to world peace?”
Maybe Kasparov, although he’s technically, I guess, more an author than a blogger. Nevertheless, I do want to acknowledge that you were right on this critical issue and to say thanks for putting the warning out repeatedly.
18. March 2022 at 08:23
Putin didn’t dare invade Ukraine under Trump’s watch. Just sayin’.