Liberals and lefties giggle at Donald Trump. “He’s just not serious”. Perhaps they should listen to conservative libertarians who think Trump is downright dangerous, a 21st century fascist, and not a clown at all, more like a rough beast slouching.
Jeffrey Tucker, conservative libertarian and past editor at Mises.org, recently heard Trump speak and found the experience unsettling.
I just heard Trump speak live. It was an awesome experience, like an interwar séance of once-powerful dictators who inspired multitudes, drove countries into the ground, and died grim deaths.
His speech at FreedomFest lasted a full hour, and I consider myself fortunate for having heard it. It was a magnificent exposure to an ideology that is very much present in American life, though hardly acknowledged.
The ideology is a 21st century version of right fascism — one of the most politically successful ideological strains of 20th century politics. Though hardly anyone talks about it today, we really should. It is still real. It exists. It is distinct. It is not going away. Trump has tapped into it, absorbing unto his own political ambitions every conceivable bourgeois resentment: race, class, sex, religion, economic. You would have to be hopelessly ignorant of modern history not to see the outlines and where they end up.
For now, Trump seems more like comedy than reality. I want to laugh about what he said, like reading a comic-book version of Franco, Mussolini, or Hitler. And truly I did laugh, as when he denounced the existence of tech support in India that serves American companies (“how can it be cheaper to call people there than here?” — as if he still thinks that long-distance charges apply).
Let’s hope this laughter doesn’t turn to tears.
Liberty Blitzkreig says Trump is a demagogue. Zero Hedge agrees, reprinting the article.
The main reason I chose to start this blog in the first place, was rooted in my deep fear of what might emerge after the current paradigm collapses. I have no doubt something very different is coming, I just desperately want that thing to be freedom, free markets and prosperity as opposed to the disaster that a $2 despot like Trump would bring. His ascension in the polls is very troubling, and makes me wonder whether the public will ultimately choose to rally behind some statist-demagogue wrapped in an American flag when things get bad enough, as opposed to something far more difficult: Liberty. I fear they may eventually choose someone like Donald Trump.
From the comments on Zero Hedge:
I’m not a Trump supporter (for my own reasons, not those stated in the article), but if you’re a leftist and think he’s just some carnival freak show you are in for a very rude awakening.
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Lemme ask one question:If this scumbag does make it (insane how many even here are rushing back into the system) then will y’all give up your rights to object to how bad we get fucked by this guy?
Insane how many people clamor for a leader, even those who are supposed to know that it is the system that is the problem, not who sits in the white house.
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Blah, blah, blah…And what about the FED? Wall Street fraud and corruption? Regulatory capture at the SEC and CFTC? Corporate lobbyists hijacking DC? Illegal and immoral wars overseas?
Indeed.
The image is from Tucker’s post, Trump as Bane, the despot in Batman who would rule Gotham.
Or, if you prefer pop culture, think of Bane, the would-be dictator of Gotham in Batman, who promises an end to democratic corruption, weakness, and loss of civic pride. He sought a revolution against the prevailing elites in order to gain total power unto himself.