The supposedly "realist" right will pretend to have these hard Schmidtian ideas of the true nature of power... That They're the ones who have seen through the illusions... They're the ones giving the Voldemort speeches "Only power and those too weak to seek it"
As a (secretly-reactionary) member of the parasitic 6-figure salary government/NGO class, I say dead-on.
Though it would hurt me and mine greatly for it to happen, the country would benefit immensely from the complete destruction of my class and its institutions.
It is rather peculiar that I fervently find myself hoping for it, despite the consequences, for I wish better for my children than this horrifying clown-world dystopia they have been brought into.
Our intelligence agencies are out of control. People in Congress and other high bureaucratic positions are controlled through blackmail and threats if they don't go along with the program.
I feel like we're living in the old days of the German Stasi or the Soviet Union.
There are other enemies: Left Wing Hollywood virtue signallers, Black Rock capital, Warren Buffet, most of the large family foundations, umpteen billionaire woketards, the invaders crossing our border.
Make them pay for the federal government. Raise their taxes. Bigly. Tax them hard enough to do a George Harrison and complain about taxes.
Other than inheritance/estate taxes, the progressive income tax has always been far less progressive than advertised. And even on estate taxes, the super rich could maintain their political power by putting their money in "charitable" foundations they continued to control.
Even in the days of 90% top tax brackets, the top bracket did not apply to capital gains. The 90% top bracket clobbered those who were *getting* rich, not those who were already were rich.
This is why we have this weird system of a Gilded Age wealth gap and an oppressive welfare state at the same time. We have a caste system in the making.
Cut a trillion from the federal budget. Double the taxes for Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Sean Penn, and Taylor Swift. Tax the "non profit" foundations which are "educating" the country. Get another half trillion/year via tariffs. Charge admission at the border. U.S. citizenship should be worth at least $200K.
A balanced budget would cut the profit margin of passive capital significantly. Deficit spending is a price support program for the already rich.
It is a known fact that the members of the US Congress and the State Legislatures do not read or debate the particulars of the Legislation they vote on.
They cannot read or debate the issues because the Laws and Bills approach 2000 pages each. And they do this every five minutes, 100 times per day.
During the 1992 Presidential campaign Ross Perot called attention to this by observing that "a general lack of accountability among elected officials and those in the bureaucracy was the one specific reason that the people in America suffered".
Mr. Perot then suggested that the best and perhaps only way to make government officials accountable was to include the citizens in the decision making process - every hour, every day.
He went on to note that this can easily be done with computers and called the proposed mechanism
THE ELECTRONIC TOWNHALL.
With this computer program every interested citizen can indicate whether or not they agree or disagree with every line item of every law, policy and program on the books or that was being advanced. It can be used at every level of government and in every jurisdiction.
To prevent chaos, the basic law, our Constitution and Bill of Rights, would be exempt from review.
Mr. Perot speculated that the Founding Fathers would probably have done the same had the technology been available. He referred to it as the Fourth Branch of government; The Citizens Branch / The Electronic Townhall.
If the government is truly of the people, by the people and for the people then what better way is there to perfect every section of the various laws and policies that do effect each and every one of us every single day?
It would not be difficult to expect at least 500 thousand qualified citizens to read four pages of law or proposed law and get their "Ratify" or "Annual" input every day the congress is in session. The results could be aggregated, made known and we would all be better off.
I think the only possible way "out" (in lieu of collapse of the dollar and fedgov) is to repeal the 16th Amendment. Watch how quickly the UniParty finds "bipartisanship" to claw back the lost revenue. If a convention of states were smart, they could cripple fedgov and then cream off a little for their own coffers. And if they were really smart and not greedy... (LOL!) they would let the people keep most of it and bask in the glory of a balanced state budget and a crumbling fedgov. (While they're at it, they should also repeal the 17th - that would help the cause a LOT, as well.)
Excellent article. Revolution is unlikely, so for now put all efforts into getting law passed that requires balanced budgets annually without exception, and watch how many of today's issues will improve and the all powerful Federal government has to focus its effort on internal fighting for limited funding.
This is why Trump was opposed at every step by Democrats and Republicans. The Swamp does not mean to be drained.
A French Revolution is hardly the answer. The same folks benefiting from the current grift would end up leading the tumbrels containing the enemies of the state to The Lady. Nothing would change except the Trotskites would be identified and killed off. Back to business.
It's really amazing how much the new "Schmidtian Right" resembles the old OWS "anarchists in favor of more government spending" left. In fact this "Schmidtian Right" happened to just show up out of nowhere right after the Democrats definitively threw OWS under the bus, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
The main issue I see with this approach, of course anarcho-libertarian true believers shouldn't give up merely out of practical considerations, is that the most valuable territories in the country are lost to the right arguably far more aggressively than the Federal government is.
Kill the Feds and Cali still rules over Tech, NY still contains the stock exchange and banks. I believe you've written before on how The Soviets could run a truly batshit insane system only to still pose a serious challenge in the space race. San Fran has gone to total hell, and history's most powerful bug-men largely remain there. Any right-wing movement with the ability to kill the Fed, has at least some chance of taking it over. Mass firing and replacing employees, with replacements hired with on the spot IQ tests and a 2/3rds reduction in size - then using the de-facto abolition of restraints on Federal control to smash Democratic strongholds seems far more plausible. You don't even need new IQ tests. Just use SAT to IQ conversion as your guide, and have someone leak/emergency eminent domain seize the college board database. Send emails with the job offers.
Crazy people on the train? It's a civil rights violation - trains are state property after all!, call in the new based feds; begin mass arrests.
Trump would be disqualifying of this approach had he tried any of it. He didn't, not really.
-
But yeah the 'we should be more socialist plan' of the Banonite and post-liberal Cath types is insane.
As a (secretly-reactionary) member of the parasitic 6-figure salary government/NGO class, I say dead-on.
Though it would hurt me and mine greatly for it to happen, the country would benefit immensely from the complete destruction of my class and its institutions.
It is rather peculiar that I fervently find myself hoping for it, despite the consequences, for I wish better for my children than this horrifying clown-world dystopia they have been brought into.
Our intelligence agencies are out of control. People in Congress and other high bureaucratic positions are controlled through blackmail and threats if they don't go along with the program.
I feel like we're living in the old days of the German Stasi or the Soviet Union.
There are other enemies: Left Wing Hollywood virtue signallers, Black Rock capital, Warren Buffet, most of the large family foundations, umpteen billionaire woketards, the invaders crossing our border.
Make them pay for the federal government. Raise their taxes. Bigly. Tax them hard enough to do a George Harrison and complain about taxes.
Other than inheritance/estate taxes, the progressive income tax has always been far less progressive than advertised. And even on estate taxes, the super rich could maintain their political power by putting their money in "charitable" foundations they continued to control.
Even in the days of 90% top tax brackets, the top bracket did not apply to capital gains. The 90% top bracket clobbered those who were *getting* rich, not those who were already were rich.
This is why we have this weird system of a Gilded Age wealth gap and an oppressive welfare state at the same time. We have a caste system in the making.
Cut a trillion from the federal budget. Double the taxes for Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Sean Penn, and Taylor Swift. Tax the "non profit" foundations which are "educating" the country. Get another half trillion/year via tariffs. Charge admission at the border. U.S. citizenship should be worth at least $200K.
A balanced budget would cut the profit margin of passive capital significantly. Deficit spending is a price support program for the already rich.
Who believes all of these things?
Boooooooommmmmmm.
The Electronic Townhall
It is a known fact that the members of the US Congress and the State Legislatures do not read or debate the particulars of the Legislation they vote on.
They cannot read or debate the issues because the Laws and Bills approach 2000 pages each. And they do this every five minutes, 100 times per day.
During the 1992 Presidential campaign Ross Perot called attention to this by observing that "a general lack of accountability among elected officials and those in the bureaucracy was the one specific reason that the people in America suffered".
Mr. Perot then suggested that the best and perhaps only way to make government officials accountable was to include the citizens in the decision making process - every hour, every day.
He went on to note that this can easily be done with computers and called the proposed mechanism
THE ELECTRONIC TOWNHALL.
With this computer program every interested citizen can indicate whether or not they agree or disagree with every line item of every law, policy and program on the books or that was being advanced. It can be used at every level of government and in every jurisdiction.
To prevent chaos, the basic law, our Constitution and Bill of Rights, would be exempt from review.
Mr. Perot speculated that the Founding Fathers would probably have done the same had the technology been available. He referred to it as the Fourth Branch of government; The Citizens Branch / The Electronic Townhall.
If the government is truly of the people, by the people and for the people then what better way is there to perfect every section of the various laws and policies that do effect each and every one of us every single day?
It would not be difficult to expect at least 500 thousand qualified citizens to read four pages of law or proposed law and get their "Ratify" or "Annual" input every day the congress is in session. The results could be aggregated, made known and we would all be better off.
This is the only way forward.
The Electronic Townhall
The best, most acute, take on the US published so far in 2024.
I think the only possible way "out" (in lieu of collapse of the dollar and fedgov) is to repeal the 16th Amendment. Watch how quickly the UniParty finds "bipartisanship" to claw back the lost revenue. If a convention of states were smart, they could cripple fedgov and then cream off a little for their own coffers. And if they were really smart and not greedy... (LOL!) they would let the people keep most of it and bask in the glory of a balanced state budget and a crumbling fedgov. (While they're at it, they should also repeal the 17th - that would help the cause a LOT, as well.)
Excellent article. Revolution is unlikely, so for now put all efforts into getting law passed that requires balanced budgets annually without exception, and watch how many of today's issues will improve and the all powerful Federal government has to focus its effort on internal fighting for limited funding.
This is why Trump was opposed at every step by Democrats and Republicans. The Swamp does not mean to be drained.
A French Revolution is hardly the answer. The same folks benefiting from the current grift would end up leading the tumbrels containing the enemies of the state to The Lady. Nothing would change except the Trotskites would be identified and killed off. Back to business.
It's really amazing how much the new "Schmidtian Right" resembles the old OWS "anarchists in favor of more government spending" left. In fact this "Schmidtian Right" happened to just show up out of nowhere right after the Democrats definitively threw OWS under the bus, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
The main issue I see with this approach, of course anarcho-libertarian true believers shouldn't give up merely out of practical considerations, is that the most valuable territories in the country are lost to the right arguably far more aggressively than the Federal government is.
Kill the Feds and Cali still rules over Tech, NY still contains the stock exchange and banks. I believe you've written before on how The Soviets could run a truly batshit insane system only to still pose a serious challenge in the space race. San Fran has gone to total hell, and history's most powerful bug-men largely remain there. Any right-wing movement with the ability to kill the Fed, has at least some chance of taking it over. Mass firing and replacing employees, with replacements hired with on the spot IQ tests and a 2/3rds reduction in size - then using the de-facto abolition of restraints on Federal control to smash Democratic strongholds seems far more plausible. You don't even need new IQ tests. Just use SAT to IQ conversion as your guide, and have someone leak/emergency eminent domain seize the college board database. Send emails with the job offers.
Crazy people on the train? It's a civil rights violation - trains are state property after all!, call in the new based feds; begin mass arrests.
Trump would be disqualifying of this approach had he tried any of it. He didn't, not really.
-
But yeah the 'we should be more socialist plan' of the Banonite and post-liberal Cath types is insane.
Because they have - and serve - different constituencies.
Is this some kind of pathetic fedposting to give the feds another J6?