Rule One with Trump. He gets a piece of every pie that’s going on in every decision he makes. He’s a transactionalist in every sense of the word. Nothing, but nothing happens with him unless it benefits his ego or his wallet…..usually both.
marketrent on
The Guardian text by Callum Jones:
*[…] While Chairman Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic of China, had been fundamentally opposed to free markets and capitalism, Reagan argued that societies which enjoyed “the most spectacular progress” were the ones where people had been “permitted to think for themselves, make economic decisions, and benefit from their own risks”.*
*What would Reagan make of a country that, in a matter of weeks, became the largest shareholder in a microchip manufacturer; demanded a cut of firms’ overseas sales in exchange for export licenses; and fired a statistics official after government data embarrassed its ruling party?*
*In just the past week, senior government officials in the country have pushed to exert control over its central bank; ordered a tech giant to strike a deal with a supportive media conglomerate; and successfully urged a restaurant chain to reverse a rebrand.*
*This is not China. It is the United States, under a Republican president, in 2025.*
*Donald Trump, rather than adhere to the principles of free markets, small government and unbound capitalism that his party championed for a generation, is making his influence felt in every corner of corporate America. The commander-in-chief is also chairman of the economy.*
*[…] No issue is too small for Chairman Trump. He waded into the debate over the mid-sized casual-dining chain Cracker Barrel’s changed logo earlier this week, dispatching his deputy chief of staff to speak with the firm and ultimately helping convince it to reverse the decision – weeks after pushing Coca-Cola to launch a drink with cane sugar, rather than corn syrup.*
*All the while, Trump’s Republican party continues to accuse political opponents of trying to erode capitalism, pursuing socialism and threatening to undermine free markets. The president’s supporters and officials deny his policies do any such thing.*
*A proposal by Zohran Mamdani, Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, to create five city-owned grocery stores, is “straight out of the Marxist playbook”, according to the Republican congressman Mike Lawler. “New Yorkers deserve solutions, not socialist fantasies that have failed spectacularly every time they’ve been tried,” Lawler argued last month.*
*[…] Such arguments miss the point, according to Tad DeHaven, an economic and fiscal policy analyst for the libertarian Cato Institute. There’s no little gold book for Trump to rival Mao’s little red one.*
*“We’re so focused on isms: communism, socialism … and they’re not,” he said of the administration. “There’s no strategic plan here. There’s no guiding philosophy, other than Donald Trump’s in charge.”*
lurksAtDogs on
Fascism is a far-right, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, and the forcible suppression of opposition. It emerged in early 20th-century Europe and stands in opposition to democratic liberalism, communism, and socialism.
Key characteristics often associated with fascism include:
* Obsessive focus on national decline and the need for a national rebirth.
* A belief in natural social hierarchies and the importance of unity within the group.
* The suppression of dissenting voices and organizations, including political parties, labor unions, and intellectuals not aligned with the state narrative.
* Intense nationalism, often accompanied by a desire for territorial expansion.
* A cult of the leader and a powerful, often militaristic, state apparatus.
* The potential use of violence to achieve political goals, along with a disdain for human rights.
drangundsturm on
to the extent this is true it is only true because of the lack of opposition to his blatantly illegal paragraphs, specifically at the highest levels of the Democratic Party and among corporate leaders
janethefish on
All the focus in the twentieth century about socialism vs capitalism missed the bigger picture of democracy vs dictatorship.
First, pure socialist and pure capitalist economies *do not work*. Some services need to be provided by the government. At a minimum the government needs to provide/control *security* and *roads/waterways*. Whoever provides security essentially *is* the government. Roads/waterways are almost as important. (Roads in particular should be considered a means of production.) Black markets prevent pure socialism.
Secondly and more importantly dictatorship is anathema to both. Private property is a fiction when the dictator can just claim it. Putin throws oligarchs out of windows. At best people are allowed to use something as a reward/incentive or investment. Similarly social control is a fiction; the dictator controls it all. Socialism, Marxism and Capitalism are nothing more that decorations or pet projects to a dictator.
So the article has it right. We are moving away from Capitalism to Trumpism.
5 Comments
Rule One with Trump. He gets a piece of every pie that’s going on in every decision he makes. He’s a transactionalist in every sense of the word. Nothing, but nothing happens with him unless it benefits his ego or his wallet…..usually both.
The Guardian text by Callum Jones:
*[…] While Chairman Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic of China, had been fundamentally opposed to free markets and capitalism, Reagan argued that societies which enjoyed “the most spectacular progress” were the ones where people had been “permitted to think for themselves, make economic decisions, and benefit from their own risks”.*
*What would Reagan make of a country that, in a matter of weeks, became the largest shareholder in a microchip manufacturer; demanded a cut of firms’ overseas sales in exchange for export licenses; and fired a statistics official after government data embarrassed its ruling party?*
*In just the past week, senior government officials in the country have pushed to exert control over its central bank; ordered a tech giant to strike a deal with a supportive media conglomerate; and successfully urged a restaurant chain to reverse a rebrand.*
*This is not China. It is the United States, under a Republican president, in 2025.*
*Donald Trump, rather than adhere to the principles of free markets, small government and unbound capitalism that his party championed for a generation, is making his influence felt in every corner of corporate America. The commander-in-chief is also chairman of the economy.*
*[…] No issue is too small for Chairman Trump. He waded into the debate over the mid-sized casual-dining chain Cracker Barrel’s changed logo earlier this week, dispatching his deputy chief of staff to speak with the firm and ultimately helping convince it to reverse the decision – weeks after pushing Coca-Cola to launch a drink with cane sugar, rather than corn syrup.*
*All the while, Trump’s Republican party continues to accuse political opponents of trying to erode capitalism, pursuing socialism and threatening to undermine free markets. The president’s supporters and officials deny his policies do any such thing.*
*A proposal by Zohran Mamdani, Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, to create five city-owned grocery stores, is “straight out of the Marxist playbook”, according to the Republican congressman Mike Lawler. “New Yorkers deserve solutions, not socialist fantasies that have failed spectacularly every time they’ve been tried,” Lawler argued last month.*
*[…] Such arguments miss the point, according to Tad DeHaven, an economic and fiscal policy analyst for the libertarian Cato Institute. There’s no little gold book for Trump to rival Mao’s little red one.*
*“We’re so focused on isms: communism, socialism … and they’re not,” he said of the administration. “There’s no strategic plan here. There’s no guiding philosophy, other than Donald Trump’s in charge.”*
Fascism is a far-right, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, and the forcible suppression of opposition. It emerged in early 20th-century Europe and stands in opposition to democratic liberalism, communism, and socialism.
Key characteristics often associated with fascism include:
* Obsessive focus on national decline and the need for a national rebirth.
* A belief in natural social hierarchies and the importance of unity within the group.
* The suppression of dissenting voices and organizations, including political parties, labor unions, and intellectuals not aligned with the state narrative.
* Intense nationalism, often accompanied by a desire for territorial expansion.
* A cult of the leader and a powerful, often militaristic, state apparatus.
* The potential use of violence to achieve political goals, along with a disdain for human rights.
to the extent this is true it is only true because of the lack of opposition to his blatantly illegal paragraphs, specifically at the highest levels of the Democratic Party and among corporate leaders
All the focus in the twentieth century about socialism vs capitalism missed the bigger picture of democracy vs dictatorship.
First, pure socialist and pure capitalist economies *do not work*. Some services need to be provided by the government. At a minimum the government needs to provide/control *security* and *roads/waterways*. Whoever provides security essentially *is* the government. Roads/waterways are almost as important. (Roads in particular should be considered a means of production.) Black markets prevent pure socialism.
Secondly and more importantly dictatorship is anathema to both. Private property is a fiction when the dictator can just claim it. Putin throws oligarchs out of windows. At best people are allowed to use something as a reward/incentive or investment. Similarly social control is a fiction; the dictator controls it all. Socialism, Marxism and Capitalism are nothing more that decorations or pet projects to a dictator.
So the article has it right. We are moving away from Capitalism to Trumpism.