President-elect Donald Trump's victory has resurfaced accusations that he is a fascist. Some even worry that he will try to create his own dictator for life.
That idea misunderstands the danger posed by President Trump. He is not aiming to recreate Nazi Germany, nor is he likely to recreate it. Medieval Germany is closer, a collection of unaccountable fiefdoms where local nobles were free to abuse their subjects.
The main theme of Trump's coalition is a yearning for an ineffective government, which is good news for closely connected private interests who want to harm people without getting in the way of authorities.
The accusation of fascism is stated briefly Former chief of staff John Kelly describes the “far-right authoritarian and ultra-nationalist group characterized by autocratic leadership, centralized authoritarianism, militarism, coercive repression of opposition, and belief in natural social hierarchies.” Nationalist political ideologies and movements…these are such things.” It's something he thinks would be a better way to run America. ” Mr. Kelly reported that Mr. Trump often spoke admiringly of Hitler. President Trump regularly deploys fascist rhetoricsummons a group of demonic enemies that only he can resist. And, of course, there are Nazi overtones in President Trump's plan to build camps to detain millions of illegal aliens and his multiple proposals to shoot peaceful protesters. .
However, the Nazis were united by a consistent ideology. unequivocally and unashamedly rejected democracy. Trumpism is just a personality cult, and Trumpworld is full of hero-worshippers, opportunists, zealots, fraudsters, and responsible politicians who are openly despicable in front of him because it is their only hope of having influence. It is a messy collection of people.
There are many atrocities, but the purpose is not to concentrate power in the hands of leaders who are vain infants who cannot care about details. He simply likes wealth and power, and his decisions are likely to be shaped primarily by the last person he spoke to. as kelly vinegargingestedTrump has only a vague understanding of who Hitler was and what he did.
If there is a single theme that unites Trump and his followers, it is not tyrannical government but a desire to paralyze government. He proposes eliminating civil service protections for officials responsible for policing pollution, financial market fraud, dangerous or ineffective medicines, workplace safety, and dangerous consumer products.
He particularly despises environmental regulations. his first government abandoned Climate policy and clean air and water protection. The Environmental Protection Agency has been working on deregulation efforts. drafted by lawyers and lobbyists They are employed in regulated industries without even consulting the scientists on staff.
Overregulation is a legitimate concern, and mechanisms exist to ensure that the costs to citizens and businesses are justified. Since the Reagan administration, federal regulation has been subject to cost-benefit analysis. Further adjustments may be necessary. However, the first Trump administration focused solely on regulatory costs for businesses. ignoring the benefits Or try to hide them. Led the industry in its continued efforts to end funding for scientific research that could embarrass the industry. Towards a systematic reduction of expertise throughout the federal bureaucracy.
As I argue in the book, “Burn down the house” The ideology of small government attracts two very different groups. It is principled ideologues and malicious predators driven by misguided philosophical commitments. As libertarian talk becomes more common, the second group increasingly prefers to pose as the first.
This deception succeeds because many people are concerned about massive inequality and poverty, crumbling infrastructure, environmental pollution, dizzying economic cycles of boom and bust, job-killing financial crises, commercial fraud, and unsafe workplaces. and consumer products, rampant discrimination, untreated disease, premature death, and climate change if governments are left unchecked.
Serious liberals are appalled by President Trump's abuse of power, theft, and proposed massive deportations and tariffs. But libertarianism remains important because most of President Trump's policies are dismantling the modern administrative state, watering down protections for public servants, eliminating regulations, destroying the government's ability to monitor and respond to climate change, and cutting taxes. . Its agenda reflects the ideology held by many educated and idealistic people.
This is not populist: None of these measures will benefit working-class Americans, Mr. Trump's core constituency. It's certainly not neoliberalism. It is the product of a bad philosophy that confuses freedom with paralysis of state capacity. (My book aims to be a remedy for anyone seduced by the ideas of Ayn Rand or Robert Nozick.)
Brilliantly, classic paperPhilosopher Samuel Freeman has argued that libertarianism envisions feudalism rather than freedom, in which political power is not an instrument of the common good but rather “an individual political system based on a network of private contractual relationships.” “It's a system of dependence.” This vision is perfectly embodied in the opinion of President Trump's first Supreme Court nominee, Justice Neil Gorsuch. In a case that upheld a boilerplate arbitration clause barring employees from an effective remedy for wage theft, he said: explained The issue is whether it is permissible for employees and employers to agree to “individual arbitration procedures of their own design.” In reality, the employer designed it and the worker signed it.
Do workers want to be at the mercy of their bosses without some dastardly state intervening? After all, the lords of this principality can do whatever they want with their serfs. The same goes for other regulations that protect ordinary people from big corporations.
This is not Nazi Germany. But it's pretty scary.
andrew koppelmanJohn Paul Stevens, professor of law at Northwestern University, said:Burning down the house: How a libertarian philosophy was destroyed by delusion and greed”
