We are installing an oligarchy.
The "Trump Tariff Whacks Trump Voters" editorial calls out Trump's hypocrisy in claiming to help people the tariff will, in fact hurt, writing "The President also professes to love American farmers, but he apparently loves tariffs more." It concludes by saying "Mr. Trump’s tariff spree is the triumph of ideology over, well, common sense. Let’s hope the President soon comes to his senses." Harsh words.
The JD Vance editorial looks at how Vance attempted to walk back his insult of the UK and France, and concludes that those allies, not Vance, are correct.
The Zelenskyy editorial credits Zelenskyy's "grace note" of apology but openly questions whether Trump will have the intelligence to take the win and do what is right for America, Ukraine, and the world.
The fourth editorial continues the critique, saying that the court that Trump created is failing to do its job.
We see a split between populist Fox News and corporatist WSJ. It is a split between people who watch news and people who read news. It is a split between the "forgotten American" and the people who forgot them. Rupert Murdoch owns both properties. Fox News viewers insist on a cheerleader, not information. The Wall Street Journal readers tolerate a little truth, so long as it is pro-business and useful.
The claim that prior to Trump there was only one party -- a status quo corporate party -- had some truth to it. The parties divided on issues like abortion, race, gender, unions, whom to tax, and how generous to be with a safety net, but the mainstream establishment of American businesses work with both parties. That system wants stability and predictability through rule of law. That system responded to the push and pull of appeals from advocacy groups from all sides, liberal, conservative, pro-gun, anti-gun, Planned Parenthood and Right to Life. Legislation emerged from that mix. The WSJ had influence in this system.
The 2010 Citizens United decision set off an avalanche of money in politics. At first, it empowered the "donor class" of both Republicans and Democrats. Now Citizens United disempowers them, because the scale of money in politics changed. A few mega-billionaires replaced mere multi-millionaires and single-digit billionaires.
In 2016 Trump said he didn't need other people's money. He would drain the swamp. Now he welcomes the biggest creatures in the swamp and allies with them. Oligarchs have giant fortunes and are willing to put them to use to win favor with Trump. Trump rewards friends. He isn't coy about that. Trump sent a message when multi-billionaire Jeff Yass, who owns a significant stake in TikTok's parent company, made multi-million dollar gifts to Trump and other Republican candidates. Trump promptly switched positions on TikTok, and is refusing to enforce the law that requires it be shut down. People get the message: Trump will break the law to help his friends.
We have entered a new era of quid pro quo. Businesses wised up. The ABC television network let Trump win on absurd defamation claims. It isn't a bribe, not exactly. It's a $15 million settlement of a made-up claim.
We have a new form of government: oligarchy. A few powerful business people work in cooperation with government, each giving the other what they want. Oligarchies are unstable. It is never really clear if the political leader leads the oligarchs or that the oligarchs lead the politician. People see the exchange of influence, and if they are happy with their circumstances, the form of government might persist. But eventually, amid some moment of war or recession or pandemic, the public rises up in revolution.
We have not yet established a full-on operating oligarchy, but we are watching one get established. If Murdoch wants to stop that, The Wall Street Journal is the wrong medium. Few MAGA voters read it. They watch Fox.
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3 comments:
As Mark Twain said, we have the best government money can buy. The only thing that’s changed is the amount of money, and the fact that at least one of our major political parties has given up any pretense of adhering to the Constitution.
I thought the Supreme Court decided what they can or cannot do? Oops.Never mind.
The Space Merchants is a science fiction novel about a future in which we have the Senator from GM, the Senator from Ford, the Senator from Coca-Cola, etc.
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