Fascism, Anyone?

In a recent article, I wrote that Donald Trump would not be a President who restored capitalism and individual rights, but would be a President who would initiate fascism. 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. He wants a 25 percent tax on all products and services that come from China. Who does this punish? People who want

products and services from China. Who does this reward? People who will have to work less hard to charge more for items that China can no longer sell in the U.S. What seems on the surface like it’s harming a fascist country — by making America more socialist and fascist itself — actually hurts consumers in the free country. If Trump wants to hurt China, he shouldn’t hurt the American consumer. He should lift all the taxes, regulations and other socialist policies hampering American business. Restoring capitalism in the United States is the way to defeat the fascist-socialist Chinese.

Donald Trump says that protectionism is the solution to the exploding federal deficit. He doesn’t care about cutting programs the government has no business funding. He does care about restraining trade with other countries because, in his mind, this will improve the economy and eliminate the need to cut spending. 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.”

Donald Trump personally likes and gets along with liberals such as Senators Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, and John Kerry. He expects Republicans to view this as a good thing. If he can get along with such people, then “things will get done.” But what exactly will get done? The kind of things that John Kerry, Chuck Schumer and John Kerry want to get done? Things like trying terrorists in civilian courts, raising taxes, using the FCC to restrain freedom of speech, and socializing medicine? These are the sorts of things these men strongly and seriously support. What does it say about Donald Trump that he personally likes and enjoys spending time with such men? By the way, public records indicate that 60% of Donald Trump’s campaign donations go to Democrats. If their views are his views, what do people who support opposite policies have to gain by supporting Donald Trump?

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? In fact, pro-choice is one of the only issues about which Democrats are right. How does it benefit a rational voter — who wants freedom in the bedroom as well as in the bank account — to support a man who reversed course in the wrong direction, on this issue? What does this say about how seriously he takes the principle that church and state should be separate?

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.’ For his entire adult life, Trump has operated in the private sector of business. He has accomplished a great deal, and made a lot of money. Doesn’t this suggest the private sector is where the best, brightest and the most capable flourish? Well, for him maybe. But not when it comes to any future growth. In the past, a private sector was needed so that Donald Trump could flourish under capitalism. Now that Donald Trump is to be our leader — well, the public sector is all we need to rebuild roads and airports. The government sector is infamous for its inefficiency, bureaucracy and lack of incentive due to the absence of profit and loss. Somehow, with Trump in charge, all will be different. The nature of the public/government sector will magically become different from what it inherently is — if only Trump is in charge. Like Hitler and Mussolini, the planes and the trains will run on time. That is, once the great Donald Trump controls everything.

Trump says: “When this country becomes profitable again, we can take care of our sick; we can take care of our needy. We don’t have to cut Social Security; we don’t have to cut Medicare and Medicaid. We can take care of people that need to be taken care of. And I’ll be able to do that.” With whose money, Donald? If you mean your own money, you don’t need to be President to take care of people. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are bottomless pits. The more free money the government sends out, the more demand there is for still more. The demand for entitlement programs exceeds demand for anything private business could ever produce. Yet it’s the private and productive sector that subsidizes this endless and bottomless pit. Many Republicans and even a few Democrats understand this. If Donald Trump doesn’t, then how can he expect to lead Americans in facing the reality that entitlement programs are by their very nature unsustainable?

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.