Politics is not about ideology. If it were, there would be no such thing as “Big-tent Republicans”, or “Big-tent Democrats”. It is all about power. The parties will accept anybody who votes for them. Policies put in place will sacrifice one group of voters if it attracts a larger group of voters. Some Senators and Congressmen probably start out believing that they are in DC to fulfill a purpose, but the need to raise money for the next election soon diverts them from their course. All too soon, they compromise their principals so that they can get re-elected so that later they can really work on what they came to DC to do. Later never comes.
I don’t believe in the vast majority of government conspiracy theories. I say that as a retired federal worker who spent 30 years working within the intelligence community and who held very high security clearances during that time. My rationale is that we Americans just aren’t that good at keeping secrets. The scope of most conspiracy theories requires a multitude of people to support their supposed activities. With all the government’s security vetting and power to punish leakers, we still have details of critical operations being leaked to the press. A voting machine conspiracy, for example, would require so many people to execute it that it would inevitably include at least one person who believes it is wrong and who would take measures to expose it. All it takes is one person.
The “system” really is biased in favor of the rich. Once, individual contributions to political campaigns still carried weight. However, the Supreme Court’s decision in “Citizens United” declared that corporations had the right to freedom of speech, and that included the right to make campaign contributions. Corporate funding quickly eclipsed that of individuals, muting their voice. This has caused an explosive increase in the importance of money in politics. Money buys media, and media gets votes. Politicians spend half their working day glad-handing and vote trading to seek donations. This significantly decreases the time available to actually understand the laws they are voting on. Our Senators and Representatives don’t have time to write the laws, that’s done by their staffers. Staffers also read the bills written by others and then write an “executive summary”, which is all the Senator or Representative ever reads.
So, we have a system driven by money. What effect does this have on society? Let’s talk immigration. Many corporations (especially in the agriculture and construction industries) have a vested interest in maintaining illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants don’t have any employment rights, so their pay is often below minimum wage. They can’t organize for better wages or working conditions, so they are routinely exploited. If we actually stop illegal immigration, prices will go up. Federal law requires that permitted, legal immigrants or workers on visas receive at least minimum wages, plus social security and other taxes will be applied. The price of domestically grown produce will go up substantially. The cost of new construction will also rise. We will eventually have about the same number of foreign workers in this country, but they will be better paid. This will cut into corporate profits. This is an internal tension/inconsistency within the MAGA world. It will be interesting to see how it explodes.
The revolution is coming, but it will be the MAGA-ites who start it.
Tech worker visas. Trump has said he loves them, as does Musk. Why? Because they are cheaper labor. The American Public School system was created to support the need for factory workers. Companies needed people with basic education. In addition, as the need for people with advanced skills, it was the corporations who funded many of the universities. It wasn’t altruism. They invested in educating the workforce because they needed the workers. Globalism has expanded educational opportunities across the world. Now, workers, often educated at US universities, are available from other countries. They usually work for lower salaries. Because of tech worker visas, companies are no longer compelled to invest in US education, and they get their workers for lower wages. It’s a win-win, for the corporations. Meanwhile, the types of jobs that used to fuel the expansion of the middle-class in the US are no longer available to US workers.
Globalism is another scam on the people. Globalism allows for the outsourcing of labor to the country where the workers will do the job at the lowest rates. Those foreign workers may be putting in 80 hr weeks just to get enough money to survive, but the companies get their products made cheaply. The money saved through cheap labor translates directly into corporate profits. Sure, the product may be somewhat less expensive to buyers, but that is not the corporate motivation. It’s all about maximizing profits. Economics says that moving production to the most efficient (i.e. cheapest) producer maximizes the global wealth. That is true. But what it leads to is concentration of that wealth into the hands of the few (corporate owners). Wealth is maximized, but its distribution is reduced. Movement of jobs overseas means that there are fewer jobs in the US, which decreases competition for labor and decreases wages. The savings you get at Walmart does not balance the wages lost because of jobs moved overseas.
Let’s talk about Walmart and their wages! The American Taxpayer is subsidizing Walmart. Walmart wages leaves their workers below the poverty level. A full time worker at Walmart, on average, qualifies for federal assistance programs. Thus, we taxpayers are paying the difference that it takes for these people to live. But wait, there’s more! Most Walmart workers are kept below full-time status, so Walmart doesn’t have to pay benefits. They work 32 – 35 hours, falling just short of receiving benefits. This leaves the taxpayer on the hook to subsidize their health care coverage, as well. Note, I am using Walmart as a target, but these practices are common across many companies, particularly in the retail sector. How do you solve this issue? It’s actually simple. Benefits, like health care, shouldn’t “switch on” at a specific number of work hours each week. Rather, they should be graduated. If you work 10 hours, you should get 25% 20 hours, you should get 50% benefits. This would remove the incentive for companies to load up on part-time workers. It would also allow someone forced to work multiple part-time jobs to accrue full-time benefits if they work full-time hours across multiple jobs. I believe that anyone working full-time hours should receive pay sufficient to cover living expenses for their location, regardless of the type of job. I’m not saying that all wages should be equal. I’m just saying that anyone giving up 40 hours of their life each week should be compensated enough to survive, without being subsidized by the government (i.e. all of us).
China and Russia have no interest in attacking the US directly. Right now, we are a divided country. We are close to the point at which our internal conflict may render us impotent at the international level. China could attack Taiwan and it is doubtful that the US would attempt a meaningful defense. Russia could drop a Nuke on Ukraine and it is unlikely that the US would respond with direct military intervention. Our political divisions are so severe that it would be difficult to gather a majority in the House and the Senate to authorize a response, and Trump would not be inclined to try to create that consensus. On the big issues of the day, we are effectively neutralized. So, why would a foreign power want to change that? The one thing that would have a chance of uniting this country in a meaningful way would be a direct attack on the US. The September 11 attacks caused a terrible loss of life, but the physical damage to the US was almost trivial. Ukraine suffers that much damage almost every week. Still, the US rallied and responded with great force. How much more would the people of the US pull together and respond most ferociously to a physical attack on the homeland by Russia or China? Most people are oblivious to the daily attacks by both Russia and China (and others) in cyberspace, because they don’t see it directly affecting them (the operative clause being “they don’t see it”). A major physical attack could not be ignored, and would change the direction of this country. Our enemies are quite happy for us to continue in our current direction.
What is the MAGA administration’s end game? Trump admires the “emperor-for-life” status enjoyed by Xi and Putin. That would be his ideal end-game. I don’t believe he can achieve it, and I don’t think he does either. Changing the constitution to allow him additional terms is just not achievable. Trump’s number one goal was to not have to pay the penalty for his previous crimes. By returning as President, he has achieved that. Sure, there are a few financial penalties, but those are minor and mostly being paid by others. Meanwhile, Trump will more than offset those losses through contributions from MAGA world and selling worthless swag. Trump’s number two goal is to ensure that when he leaves office he won’t be prosecuted for any new crimes. The Supreme Court has already handed him much of that. However, his current efforts are aimed at dismantling those offices and processes which attempted to hold him accountable in the past while intimidating any that might seek to do so in the future. His third goal is to enrich himself as much as possible. He doesn’t need more money, but it feeds his ego. Last, he seeks the esteem of others to feed his ego. MAGA world is very effective at this. He will fight any efforts to separate him from his acolytes. Thus, he will forcefully respond to anything that would expose his followers to information not in accord with his sculpted narrative. This will likely result in work to control the media and attacks on non-compliant media and personalities. Freedom of speech will only be tolerated if it is his speech. Fact checking may become traitorous. If this is successful, it will play into goals 2 – 4 by ensuring a compliant successor.
Rich people don’t need government; they can buy what they need. They don’t go to national parks, they buy their own retreat. They don’t need protection from law enforcement, they have security and body guards. Besides, they don’t live in “those” neighborhoods. Of course the Trumps and Musks of the world want to minimize government; they don’t need its services, and it costs them money (taxes) and (somewhat) regulates their businesses and activities. Government tries to somewhat level the playing field. However, when you have the advantage on an unlevel field, why would you want to level it.