Eccentric billionaire and "reality TV" star Donald Trump continues gaining traction as a Republican presidential candidate. A survey by Public Policy Polling taken last week has Trump leading the Republican field with 26%.
Trump's popularity, in a way, is amazing. He's made himself an early contender on nothing more than birtherism and braggadocio: "I'm a much bigger business man and have (a) much, much bigger net worth. I mean, my net worth is many, many, many times Mitt Romney. I built a very big net worth and I’d like to put that ability … to work for this country."
More so, Trump's popularity represents the sad state of American society ... and it's downright frightening.
It wasn't that long ago when Americans thought political "leaders" were despots. A land of pioneers who believed in self-government had no need, or even interest, in political "leaders." But during the Progressive Era, this attitude began to change. And with the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, the "great man" theory of politics began to overtake America.
Americans have become sheep in need of a shepherd. Lost without a "great man" in the Oval Office.
Nobel Prize winning economist F.A. Hayek tried to warn us long ago about "great men" who promise to "get something done." He addresses these "can-do" leaders specifically in chapter 10 of "The Road to Serfdom," where Hayek explains "Why the Worst Get on Top."
NO DOUBT an American or English "fascist" system would greatly differ from the Italian or German models; no doubt, if the transition were effected without violence, we might expect to get a better type of leader. Yet this does not mean that our fascist system would in the end prove very different or much less intolerable than its prototypes. There are strong reasons for believing that the worst features of the totalitarian systems are phenomena which totalitarianism is certain sooner or later to produce.
Just as the democratic statesman who sets out to plan economic life will soon be confronted with the alternative of either assuming dictatorial powers or abandoning his plans, so the totalitarian leader would soon have to choose between disregard of ordinary morals and failure. It is for this reason that the unscrupulous are likely to be more successful in a society tending toward totalitarianism. Who does not see this has not yet grasped the full width of the gulf which separates totalitarianism from the essentially individualist Western civilization.
In last week's "Donald Trump 2012," we took a look at his politics and economic policies. If you haven't read it, please do. This week, I hope to show you that "anybody but Obama" is not just a bad strategy, but indeed, the surest road to serfdom.
While the allure of Trump may escape you, you can at least understand why news organizations looking to draw traffic would be interested in him. His fact-free fixation on President Obama’s birth certificate, and his failure to locate his own, gives reporters the best of both worlds: a chance to revisit the interlocking weirdnesses of the birther story while mocking its premises. The Donald’s lengthy history of business failures and personal disgraces provides easy context, and his humorlessness makes him a rewarding person to mock. His ornery comments on policy—demands to seize Libya’s oil, for example, and red-faced machismo toward China—fit a ready stereotype of the right-wing ignoramus. And in a real gift for a slow news period, you can find nearly word-for-word precursors for Trump’s anti-China tirades in comments he made about Japan nearly three decades ago. Nothing in Trump’s caterwauling approaches serious engagement with the various crises facing the United States.
The above article by Tim Cavanaugh looks the media's fascination with Trump, as well as the lack thereof for "the mild-mannered representative from the Republican wing of the Republican Party," Ron Paul.
Cavanaugh says the "Republican Party's disinterest in Paul is not so easy to explain," but I disagree. Paul is unpopular for the same reasons Trump is popular. "Republicans can’t find any place for Paul’s supposedly radical message for the same reason they can’t manage to make even ten-figure spending cuts."
Donald Trump: The Wish Fulfillment Candidate
The emergence of Donald Trump as a serious candidate for President shows just how far off track conservatives -- and Americans more generally -- have become.
Trump represents the development of an attitude, an attitude that all that matters is "getting something done." If this attitude could speak clearly it would say, "Donald Trump is a man who will get things done. He's not going to allow China to get away with what it's doing. And he's not going to let the economy get more out of control. He'll make everything OK. He got things done in his business, and he's going to get things done for America."
One false belief is that the Presidency and the government should be some kind of business, run successfully by someone who knows something about business. While it's true that Barack Obama knows and cares nothing about business ... it doesn't follow that he should be replaced by a businessman who will run the government like a business.
The crisis in today's government is not that it's unintelligent or incompetent. The problem is that the government is trying to do things it cannot do, should not do, and has no right to do. Donald Trump ... has no recognizable sympathy for the ideas of a free market, capitalism, individual rights, or even garden-variety conservatism ...
Another false belief behind the rise of Donald Trump for President is the idea that one man (or woman) can save us.
If you're looking for a label to describe Trump, the one I'd pick is fascist ... As a businessman, Donald Trump can probably be counted on not to embrace socialism. But I'd bet money he'd be a fascist. And fascism will drop the free market of capitalism, as well. Things will now be run by ... Donald Trump.
As the American economy continues not to grow or get any better, the appeal of a fascist-lite dictator such as Donald Trump will grow. This isn't because there are no rational alternatives to dictatorship. It's just that none are being offered. The Tea Party talks cutting spending, but offers no strength because it offers no ideology of any kind. As a result, it's hardly cutting a penny from the budget (and in today's terms, a penny is a billion). Quite naturally people are going to listen to Donald Trump, because they think he's something different from Barack Obama. But Donald Trump is not the voice of reason, nor the voice of the personal responsibility Americans must take if we are to remain a free country (politically) and become a free country again (economically).
If his attitudes and beliefs about the cult of personality applied to government don’t convince you, then consider some of his policy positions reported in a recent interview Trump gave to the conservative publication, "Human Events."
Donald Trump favors protectionism. In other words, he advocates "free trade, but also fair trade." This is what socialists and fascists say; it's not what proponents of capitalism say.
Donald Trump says that protectionism is the solution to the exploding federal deficit ... He says that the budget deficit isn't caused by less productive Americans mooching off more productive ones; he says it's caused by "freeloading" foreign countries. There's no talk of reducing or eliminating foreign aid, however. He wants to punish American business and the American consumer -- all in the "American interest."
Trump reversed his views on abortion, from pro-choice to "pro-life" only after switching parties from Democrat to Republican in 2009. No real reason is given, other than that's what you have to do to be a Republican. What does this say about his devotion to principle -- any principle at all?
Trump insists that government spending is the means to greatness: "I want to build our highways. When I look at airports in China, at airports in Abu Dhabi and Qatar and the different places, [and then] you land in New York, at LaGuardia Airport, at Kennedy Airport, it’s like a Third World airport system" ... if only Trump is in charge. Like Hitler and Mussolini, the planes and the trains will run on time.
Donald Trump shares the delusional thinking of all fascists. "If only I were in charge, all would be fine." The laws of nature do not apply, if Trump is in charge. And individual rights don't really matter, if only Trump is in charge.
Ready for fascism, America? Ready for the Trump form of socialism? Trump stands ready to impose it. Barack Obama has the ideology of a fascist. Trump has the style and the policies to make it really happen. If Barack Obama hammered the nails in the coffin of the American republic, it will be Donald Trump who buries it.
You've already learned "everything you need to know about President Donald Trump by watching The Apprentice":
Trump can make a decision ... Trump commands respect ... With Trump, what you see is what you get; there are no holds barred and no punches pulled.
In other words, Donald Trump for fascist dictator 2012!
Donald Trump for President is a post from: The Classic Liberal Blog