This isn't going to be one of those dispassionate analyses of the reality what the Republican Party has become. Statisticians and sociologists are doing a fine job of painting that picture. The 2024 election made clear that there is lots of realignment going on in post-America. There's a swath of the electorate that spans a lot of demographics, but has in common a feeling of being unsettled by the vast economic and cultural changes of the last several decades. It wants stability and familiarity.
But the truths of economics do not change. The free market, as described and defended by the great thinkers known well to all actual conservatives - Adam Smith, Bastiat, William Graham Sumner, Mises, Hayek, Hazlitt and Milton Friedman - has proven that it is the only kind of economic system compatible with the other levels of human freedom. In fact, it's really not proper to speak of it as an "economic system." It's the absence thereof. It's the way human beings naturally transact in the absence of an externally imposed system. It's the sum total of millions of agreements reached daily between buyers and sellers of goods and services as to the value of each.
The 2024 Trumpist Republican Party gives not the first flying f--- about it.
Exhibit A is this social media post by the Very Stable Genius:
I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan. Through a series of Tax Incentives and Tariffs, we will make U.S. Steel Strong and Great Again, and it will happen FAST! As President, I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!
Donald Trump Truth Social 09:21 PM EST 12/02/24
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318.5K
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Excuse me, but it is not any of the federal government's business who buys US Steel. This is blatant, vulgar pandering to those who, for emotional reasons, bristle at the thought of a foreign company owning a manufacturer of one of the world's most basic manufacturing materials with the words ""United States" in its name. This is what the yay-hoos mean by "America First." The government is not there to guide the economy's dynamics in one direction or another.
Exhibit B is the bringing back of one of the most shameful hucksters from VSG 1.0:
President-elect Trump on Wednesday named his once-jailed former aide Peter Navarro as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing to the incoming White House, picking a loyal ally to help implement broad plan for tariffs.
Navarro served as White House trade adviser in Trump’s first term. That eventually led to Navarro serving a a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Just hours after Navarro’s release from prison in July, he got a roaring reception by Republicans during his prime-time speech endorsing Trump for a second term at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“I am pleased to announce that Peter Navarro, a man who was treated horribly by the Deep State, or whatever else you would like to call it, will serve as my Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing,” Trump posted on Truth Social in announcing Navarro’s new role. “During my First Term, few were more effective or tenacious than Peter in enforcing my two sacred rules, Buy American, Hire American. He helped me renegotiate unfair Trade Deals like NAFTA and the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), and moved every one of my Tariff and Trade actions FAST….”
The president-elect added that the senior counselor position will allow Navarro to use his experience and “his extensive Policy analytic and Media skills” to push forward the Trump trade agenda.
Implementing tariffs were a key part of Trump’s reelection campaign. He threatened last week to impose steep 25 percent tariffs on all goods from U.S. allies Canada and Mexico and ramp up tariffs on China with an executive order signed on Day 1.
The president-elect went on to praise Navarro in the Truth Social post.
“Peter is not just a superb, Harvard-trained Economist, he is a noted author of more than a dozen bestselling books on strategic business management and unfair Trade. He did a superb job for the American People in my First Term,” Trump said, “Peter will do even better as Senior Counselor to protect American Workers, and truly Make American Manufacturing Great Again.”
Navarro was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress — one for failing to produce documents related to the Jan. 6 probe and another for skipping his deposition before the now-defunct House committee that was investigating the riot at the Capitol that day.
So the VSG means business. He's showing his collectivist impulse. He has a vision of what American economic activity should look like and will use public policy to shape it accordingly. The stinking president of the United States is not supposed to have a vision of what American economic activity should look like.
Didn't conservatives oppose FDR for grand-scale government economic interference? And those of Johnson, Carter and Obama?
Post-America is in no position to claim it sets an example for less-developed countries that want to up their prosperity and liberty levels.
Someone has to say so.
