Can Trump Turn the Tide of History? - Are Trump's Threats Wise? - Threat Ideology and the US Dollar Empire - Are Followers of Leo Strauss "Straussians" Responsible for the Mess?
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CAN TRUMP TURN THE TIDE OF HISTORY TOWARDS PEACE? -- TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY HAS UNFORTUNATELY ALREADY DEVOLVED TOWARDS THREAT IDEOLOGY
Donald Trump’s first Presidency was marred by his poor selection of personnel. He appointed people to positions of great power who appeared willing to sabotage the Executive Office. Some were eventually revealed to be openly hostile to him. For Trump, the solution always seemed to be decisive and simple -- “You’re fired” (!) -- which was the phrase he used in his reality TV Series, The Apprentice. Look strong, look confident, look decisive. Don’t bother with careful selection policies.
BOOM would humbly suggest that a better course of action in the Oval Office would have been to take more care in the selection of key personnel and key advisers BEFORE appointment.
Trump’s second Presidency appears to be once again marred by poor judgement in the selection of advisers. It seems to be headed towards an excessive influence from a group of unelected, technocratic billionaires ensconced in Silicon Valley which is a very long way from Washington DC. The risk here is Technocratic Fascism – the merger of State and Corporate interests – for the Greater Good, of course, and driven by a blind faith in technology. The interests of 330 Million Americans can be easily forgotten in such a fervour.
BOOM has pointed out previously that these Technocratic people in Silicon Valley seem more preoccupied with influencing the US Government to their own benefit rather than acting to benefit the well-being of their fellow Americans. Keep in mind that BOOM is happy to be proved wrong in this regard.
Then there are the threats …. which appear to have become Standard Operating Procedure even before Trump’s second Presidency begins.
Over the last 2 weeks, Trump has used blatant threats to “Make America Great Again”, to “Put America First” and to make the “Free World more secure”. He is yet to be sworn in as President but he has already issued threats to Panama (to seize the Panama Canal), Mexico (to secure the border, or else and to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America), Canada (to buy the nation or to make it the 51st State), Greenland (to buy the island), Denmark (to raise huge trade tariffs against it if it won’t relinquish Greenland), Iran (threatening military action if it opposes Israel’s military actions), China and Russia. And, late last week, he threatened all the other nations in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – by insisting that they raise their military budgets to 5 % of GDP.
So, before becoming President, he has threatened 40 nations in total (32 in NATO). He has not ruled out military force in regard to Panama and Greenland. And he hasn’t yet considered North Korea, India, South America or South East Asia.
His most ardent followers say that “this is just his style of seeking to always negotiate from a position of strength and authority” or “he is often joking when he says such things” or “he doesn’t really mean what he says” or “he is bluffing”.
BOOM would suggest that the great nation of the United States, based upon the great US Constitution, should not have to resort to bluff or threats or jokes to exert its very significant influence on the Globe. It should diplomatically seek to use its influence for peace and good relations. It is unwise in the extreme to do otherwise and displays a belligerent view.
This has been a problem for America for a very long time and has led to less peace, less prosperity (for the majority of Americans) and less harmonious foreign relations. It is the manifestation of the theorem that “America is the exceptional nation”. Americans seem blissfully unaware what that slogan means to other nations. That theorem insults and leaves all other nations unexceptional by definition. “We are exceptional” does not win friends and influence people around the Globe where over 7.5 Billion Non-Americans live.
THE TECHNATE OF NORTH AMERICA – WHAT IS IT? IS THIS WHAT INSPIRES TRUMP? – HOW IS ELON MUSK CONNECTED TO THIS CONCEPT? AND HIS MATERNAL GRANDFATHER?
This map, labelled the TECHNATE OF NORTH AMERICA – was published in 1936 by Technocracy Inc., a US company founded in New York in 1933. Its non incorporated Canadian branch involved Elon Musk’s maternal Grandfather, Joshua N. Haldeman who was jailed during World War 2, in October 1940, for “belonging to an illegal organisation”.
Note that the map includes Canada, Greenland, the USA, Mexico, all of Central America to Panama, Columbia, Venezuela and Cuba. The Technocracy plan included using Canada's rich deposits of minerals and hydro-electric power as a complement to the United States's industrial and agricultural capacity.
BOOM suggests that readers should independently investigate Joshua N. Haldeman, Elon Musk’s maternal Grandfather and his various political actions. Haldeman purposely moved his family from Canada to apartheid South Africa in 1950. Apartheid was a formal system of racial separation policies begun in 1948 by the white minority South African government. Apartheid dictated where South Africans, on the basis of their race, could live and work, the type of education they could receive, and whether they could vote. Whites and Blacks were effectively separated by law. That tyrannical, divisive world attracted Joshua N. Haldeman.
The company, Technocracy Incorporated, was established In New York in 1933 by the Malthusian geologist, King Hubbert (the “Peak Oil” panic man) and an engineer, Howard Scott. They were inspired by the concept of Technocracy as a form of government in which the decision-makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. Technocracy is based on a belief in Engineers and Scientists to rule our nations, rather than representative politicians.
Wikipedia sums it up well here -- This system of Government called Technocracy “explicitly contrasts with representative democracy, the notion that elected representatives should be the primary decision-makers in government, though it does not necessarily imply eliminating elected representatives. Decision-makers are selected based on specialized knowledge and performance rather than political affiliations, parliamentary skills, or popularity”.
It all sounds appealing, especially to engineers and techicians. But it is essentially non-democratic and, by design, must move nations slowly but surely towards either Dictatorship or Fascism – the merger of Corporate and State interests. In other words, it is the blueprint for potential Tyranny or Technocratic Fascism.
TECHNOCRACY INC
BOOM suspects that the TECHNATE of North America was suggested to Trump and that this underlies his recent statements and threats concerning Canada, Greenland, Mexico and Panama. Poor advice from poor advisers is occurring again early in a Trump Presidency.
A President of the United States should not be suggestible. He should be hard-headed and always sceptical of his advisers. He must be independent of suggestion. Only then, can good decisions be made without regret.
THREAT IDEOLOGY AND THE US DOLLAR EMPIRE
BOOM has written about Threat Ideology in the past. The comments were not specifically aimed at the US political class.
From BOOM Editorial June 30th 2024 – on Threat Ideology:
“(Almost) all politicians now use Threat Ideology to subdue and control the voting public. They see the People as the enemy and they seek to control that enemy. Why?
In BOOM’s view, this has happened because politicians who stand for nothing and who have no coherent philosophy of thought and coherent plan for the future must ultimately stand for only one thing and one thing alone – and that is their quest for power above all else. But they must hide this quest because it is too hideous, too embarrassing to admit. They pay lip service to political ideology but that is becoming rarer over time. And so, almost ALL of them have decided that their power is best achieved and maintained by keeping people (the voters) fearful, anxious, uncertain and thoughtless. This is a clever strategy, carefully conceived by their handlers.
Their Modus Operandus is to endlessly identify threats and bring them forward to the public one after another. They do not allow a pause for calm reflection or reasoned debate.”
Threat Ideology, if used frequently by a President or Prime Minister in a series of seemingly uncoordinated actions, will leave the populace confused, fearful, anxious and divided. It will also have the same effect on any targeted nations and will ultimately leave the individual (or the targeted nations) with a single choice – “Are you with us or against us?”. In other words, “are you our friend or our enemy?”
Such an ultimatum can only lead to a lack of trust with the perpetrator – regardless of whether the target agrees to be a “friend” or if they decide to be classed as an “enemy”. Lack of trust is a poor basis for foreign policy or for sustained world peace. It will work until it doesn’t. It is the exact opposite of strategic cooperation which is endlessly emphasised by the rising BRICS group of Nations. BRICS currently includes nine member countries: Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, India, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. On January 1, 2025, the bloc will expand further by incorporating nine new countries. The new partners will be Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. The BRICS Group of nations is rapidly accumulating the majority of people on Earth into its fold. That is also a very large economic group when measured in GDP.
THE ROMAN EMPIRE COLLAPSED DUE TO LACK OF TRUST AND THE FAILURE OF THREATS
Let’s look at the greatest empire in history – that of ancient Rome.
After 4 centuries of appeasing Rome, the Visigoths, who first appeared in the Balkans East of Italy, eventually realised that the Romans could not be contained or ignored. The threats and the violence would continue unless it was subdued. Thus, they attacked and conquered Rome in the famous Sack of Rome on the 4th August in 410 AD. This was the first time the city of Rome had been sacked in almost 800 years. The Roman Empire staggered on for some time afterwards but eventually, and inevitably, it failed.
History teaches us that all Great Empires come to an end, some faster than others. The US Dollar Empire is only 78 years old, having begun at Bretton Woods in July 1944. Will Trump seek to prolong its survival or hasten its decline?
LEO STRAUSS – CLOAKED IN VIRTUE – ARE THE “STRAUSSIANS” RESPONSIBLE?
The personal pursuit of excess fame, fortune and enemies is a peculiarly American quest in the modern world. Of course, it exists in other nations but not to such a great extent as it does in the USA. Trump personifies that quest. Not many people would argue with that statement.
Some observers have blamed a philosopher, Leo Strauss, for American foreign policy belligerence and what has become known as “Neo-Conservatism”. Strauss died 50 years ago, in 1973, so it is convenient to blame him. However, BOOM suggests that the phenomenon is far more complex and buried deep in America’s history of almost endless warfare since 1776. Followers of Strauss are called “Straussians”.
Leo Strauss was an American scholar of political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. He received a Rockefeller scholarship in 1932 and promptly left Germany just before Hitler took charge. He spent much of his career as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he taught several generations of students and published fifteen books. The University of Chicago was founded and principally funded by John D. Rockefeller and the Baptist Church.
Shadia Drury, a Canadian Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at the University of Calgary, published a book on Strauss in 1999 titled “Leo Strauss and the American Right”. In it, she claimed that Strauss inculcated an elitist strain in American political leaders linked to imperialist militarism, neoconservatism and Christian fundamentalism. Drury argues that Strauss teaches that "perpetual deception of the citizens by those in power is critical because they need to be led, and they need strong rulers to tell them what's good for them".
BOOM cannot agree to lay all of the blame for that at Leo Strauss’s feet.
Nicholas Xenos, A Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts and author of the book “Cloaked in Virtue, Unveiling Leo Strauss” argues that Strauss was "an anti-democrat in a fundamental sense, a true reactionary". He went on to say "Strauss was somebody who wanted to go back to a previous, pre-liberal, pre-bourgeois era of blood and guts, of imperial domination, of authoritarian rule, of pure fascism.”
Again, BOOM cannot agree that Neo-conservatism and a belligerent foreign policy can be blamed on one man. Such a stance belittles all of the history of struggle since John Smith landed in 1608 and the Pilgrims arrived in 1620 and certainly since 1776.
Thus, BOOM sees Strauss as a convenient scapegoat, a distraction from the real truth that America was actually founded on belligerent violence, conflict and conquest.
THE PROBLEM OF STRUGGLE IN THE USA AND THE USE OF VIOLENCE
The problem of struggle and the use of violence as a means to render order has existed ever since the shores of America were invaded by European settlers.
In previous editorials, BOOM has been shocked to list the wars that the US has been engaged in since 1776 – the total numbers 119 conflicts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States
Then there is the Timeline of US Covert Operations which can be found here --
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-covert-actions-119012884/174608.html
Then we must also consider Clandestine operations (which are separate from Covert operations). These can be discovered by reading a report titled -- Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community: Framework for Congressional Oversight In Brief. That report was produced in 2019 by the Congressional Research Service and is certainly worth perusing.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45196
It is estimated that the US spends approximately US$ 90 – 100 Billion per year on these Covert and Clandestine “activities”. Very little is accounted for to the Congress. US political representatives and citizens have very little idea of where these monies are spent each year.
The US maintains hundreds, if not thousands, of military bases inside and outside of their borders. At least 800 such bases are maintained in 70 nations. Readers can examine a list which also begs the question — why? Does the US have that many enemies?
American Military Installations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_military_installations
A past National history of belligerent violence, conflict and conquest does not justify its continued use. We need to move beyond ancient, imperial Rome which subdued enemies viciously with violence and enriched a small group of Roman Senators and Citizens. The US Constitution promises much, much more than that.
THE TRUMP CHALLENGE
BOOM is hopeful for the second Trump Presidency. BOOM was content to see Trump depose Biden and challenge the Democratic Party’s status quo. However, the empire of the United States Dollar must tread carefully here in regard to making threats and pursuing violence as a well worn pathway. 7.5 Billion people on Earth are not Americans and they are watching closely. The USA needs to temper its actions, not inflame further conflicts. More chaos, conflict and confusion is not required in the present circumstances. Exporting inflation to other nations through “Strong Dollar” policies is fraught with risk and future uncertainty.
Wise, ethical leadership is the way forward to help ensure a peaceful, prosperous future for the USA and the planet. BOOM is hopeful that Trump and the Republican Party can rise to that challenge over the next 4 years. But The TECHNATE and Technocracy is not the way forward. The State must stand apart from the interests of its Corporations.
In economics (and finance), things work until they don’t. Do your own research. Make your own conclusions. BOOM does not offer investment advice.
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