If “state capitalism” were proposed by Democrats or progressives, it would be considered socialism or communism. Done by a neofascist president — as chronicled by the The Wall Street Journal — it’s simply considered inefficient (as the Journal concludes).
But Trump’s state capitalism is already large and growing, and it’s profoundly altering what we once thought of as the private sector. Consider what Trump has done in recent weeks:
Allowed Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to license artificial intelligence chips to China on condition they pay the United States 15 percent of the money they make.
Demanded that Intel’s CEO resign (the CEO met with Trump yesterday to plead his case).
Proposed that the Defense Department take a 15 percent stake in MP Materials, which mines critical minerals.
Allowed Nippon Steel to take over U.S. Steel on condition that Nippon pay a “golden share” of the proceeds to Washington.
Reserved the right to personally direct some $1.5 trillion of promised investment from America’s trading partners into the United States.
Never before in peacetime has the United States owned so many critical businesses. Never since World War II has the American public owned as much of the private sector.
Karl Marx might have been thrilled. Is the proletariat finally becoming the bourgeoisie, owning the means of production? Not a chance.
It’s unclear what the “United States” means when the deals Trump has struck give the United States ownership rights in corporations, but it’s certainly not the people.
How do America’s ownership rights get exercised? By whom? Who holds the equity, and where is it held? It appears that all this is up to the whims of Trump.
In reality, Trump’s state capitalism is just another part of Trump’s growing fascist state, extending his personal arbitrary control into what had been the private sector of the U.S. economy.
Recall that in Trump’s first term, CEOs spoke out when they disagreed with his policies on immigration and trade. After his bigoted “you had some very fine people on both sides” response to the violence in Charlottesville, CEOs resigned from his business advisory panels. After he orchestrated an attempted coup in 2021, they shunned him.
Now, CEOs are showering him with donations and praise. They can’t kiss his derriere enough. Jeff Bezos won’t run editorials critical of Trump in his Washington Post. CBS won’t allow “60 Minutes” or Stephen Colbert to oppose him (when Colbert’s contract runs out). The bros of Silicon Valley don’t dare say a word against him (look what happened to Musk).
As with other aspects of Trump fascism, Trump has extended his power by exploiting greed and fear.
Much of the public is playing along because he has also tapped into a deep vein of distrust in the system we previously had. American free-market capitalism has done wonderfully well for a few at the top, but most working families are less secure than in living memory, and their real (inflation-adjusted) wages have barely risen for decades.
At least since the bailout of Wall Street, most Americans have concluded that the economic game is rigged against them — and they’re right. So when Trump promised he was on their side, they believed him. (He wasn’t, of course.)
In addition, China is eating our lunch in what are considered the industries of the future — solar cells, semiconductors, batteries, super-computers, and AI — creating another opening for Trump to assert power over the private sector by arguing that national security requires it.
Rubbish. Several of the deals noted above are likely to compromise national security.
Trump’s state capitalism has nothing whatever to do with public ownership, socialism, helping the working class, or improving national security.
It’s all about centralizing ever more control over America in the Oval Office. It’s simply another power grab by Trump — just like his usurpation of Congress’s authority over spending and tariffs, and his new threat to occupy Washington, D.C., with federal troops.
Make no mistake. Trump’s ever-increasing power is an ever-growing threat to the rule of law and democracy.
This is what fascism looks like."
 |
| Source:Robert Reich actually arguing against socialism. Perhaps the Atlantic Ocean has finally run out of water as well. |
From Robert Reich
From CNN's reporting today about the U.S. Government getting $10 billion from Intel to have an official stake in that company:
"President Donald Trump said on Friday he reached an agreement with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan that would involve the struggling chipmaker giving the United States a company stake worth $10 billion, a deal model that Trump said he hopes to revisit with other companies.
“I said, I think you should pay us 10% of your company,” Trump said of his conversations with Tan. “And they said yes.”
Trump said the deal will was a win for both sides.
“I think it’s a great deal for them. And I think it’s a great deal,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday. “He walked in wanting to keep his job, and he ended up giving us $10 billion for the United States.”
Two weeks ago, Trump called for Tan’s immediate resignation following reports about his alleged connections to China.
The agreement Trump announced is part of an effort to help boost semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, although it is not immediately clear how involved the Trump administration aims to be in strategic decision-making at the company.
Trump also said he would do more of these types of deals. His administration has been weighing opportunities to take similar stakes in various US companies in critical industries, two people familiar with the White House discussions on the matter told CNN last week.
Intel declined to comment following the Trump announcement. The chipmaker’s stock (INTC) rose 7% on Friday."
From CNN
From what my colleague Rik Schneider wrote about President Trump back in May, responding to Conservative columnist Kevin Williamson's argument that Donald Trump is a Socialist:
"I could give you old cliche to talk about whether or not Donald Trump is a Socialist or not, by saying: "If it quacks, like a duck, walks like a duck.. but hopefully you want to hear something more interesting than that. I sure as hell want to say something even more original and interesting (ha, ha) than that.
I think what's going on here, is the President and The White House know they're in trouble:
House Republicans are freaking out about not just losing the House in 2026, but getting blown out and not having much of an opportunity about winning it back in 28.
Senate Republicans are even worried that maybe even their majority will be at risk in 26, because of what House Republicans are worried about as well, which is who unpopular the President is, especially as it relates to his economic policy.
And The White House is out of believable, positive spin, The Donald himself has even run out of decent lies in how to spin his bad economy, (I guess the Trump tariffs have even hurt TrumpLies.Inc) so they're desperate and are trying to come up with anything that they can think of at the time, to try to justify (because they can't spin) the weaknesses in the American economy right now.
So Donald John Trump: the Manhattan real estate mogul, the self-proclaimed billionaire, the "king of reality TV", sounding like a Socialist, because he's talking about sacrifice and the need for Americans to cut back. When no one in his White House, including himself, would ever even consider cutting back anything that they enjoy in life, to benefit someone else who isn't doing as well... I don't think there's anything more to it then what I just laid out. Donald Trump is not a Socialist... but he's a desperate politician, to the point if sounding like a Socialist is what he needs to do to improve his political fortune, that's exactly what he will do."
From The New Democrat
And from what Rik Schneider wrote about The Socialist Don yesterday:
"My real point here is it's not Democrats (at least not left-wing Democrats) who are freaking out about the Trump Administration's using the U.S. Government to purchase a stake in Intel. Most of the opposition is coming from the Right, in some cases, even the far-right, especially if you look at where Erick Erickson has been on cultural issues the last 20 years or so.
So if you are a die hard MAGA follower, who has been living in this political cult the last 10 years or so... you are so lost in space, that you might be able to make 1 of Charlie Manson's followers seem very sane and sober. But if I were try to talk to you anyway, (perhaps like some dedicated shrink who simply wants to try to help as many of my patients as possible) and even use reason (which is very out-of-style right now) to try to get you to see the light here, I would tell you too look at the Kudlow's, the Erickson's, the Steve Moore's, because they would tell you why this is such a horrible idea.
As Erick Erickson's said on his blog post:
"When the federal government took control of General Motors, GM no longer engaged in risk assessed based on shareholder value and economic value, but in political risk...
I would add to that, once the Feds become part of a private company, that company starts taking more bad risks because they now know they have the taxpayers there to bail them out. Unlike if they are completely in private hands, there's no guarantee of even a private buyout if they go under or pile on so much debt from their own bad investments, that they either have to be bailed out, or go into public bankruptcy...
From The New Democrat
As Robert Reich said so himself:
If “state capitalism” were proposed by Democrats or progressives, it would be considered socialism or communism. Done by a neofascist president — as chronicled by the The Wall Street Journal — it’s simply considered inefficient (as the Journal concludes).
But Trump’s state capitalism is already large and growing, and it’s profoundly altering what we once thought of as the private sector. Consider what Trump has done in recent weeks...
Take out the word "Progressives" and replace it with "Socialists", Mr. Reich is 100%, damn right about this. If this were Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, (or God forbid) Bernie Sanders, Liz Warren, or Alex Cortez proposing this in the future, as President, the Republican Party (or what's left of the Republican Party) would immediately be calling for the impeachment and removal by Congress, of that President, because they would say that person is a Socialist or Communist.
But since its Manhattan, New York, real estate/reality TV mogul, Donald John Trump, they call this "state capitalism", or economic nationalism. I guess in their far-out in outer space, warped view, "state capitalism" and "economic nationalism", sounds more patriotic to them.
As we've said before, when even Conservatives are arguing that what you are doing is socialist, or you are acting like a Socialist, and you are a registered Republican, (whether you are actually a Republican in reality, is a different question) wouldn't you at least listen to those folks?
Does anyone whose currently not institutionalized, or off their medication, who isn't high or drunk... who wan't born last night, seriously want to argue that Kevin Williamson, Larry Kudlow, Steve Moore, and Erick Erickson, (just to name a few economic Conservatives opposed to President Trump's "state capitalism") are (as Rik Schneider said yesterday) radical Hippies or flaming Socialists?
Seriously, I challenge anyone who currently meets the mental condition that I just laid out, to try to argue that these men are radical Hippies or flaming Socialists. And no, your word alone won't be good enough on that. If you think you can, feel free to comment on this post on The New Democrat's Blogger or WordPress pages, or reply to us on our Threads and Twitter pages.
Again, The New Democrat is a center-right, classical liberal (if you don't like liberal) JFK Democrat blog, in philosophy. That's what my personal politics are as well. So of course we're not fans of socialism, or what the Nazi-Right would call "state capitalism". But if our word is not good enough, you should listen to real-life Conservatives who oppose this as well. Unless you are currently drunk, high, institutionalized, or off your medication. For competent, sober people, who are open to President Trump's "state capitalism", but are open to another viewpoint on this, listen to the Conservatives on this.
You can also see this post on WordPress.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All relevant comments about the posts you are commenting on are welcome but spam and personal comments are not.