The robber-barons are back. They are the Kochs, the Trumps, and the billionaire class who crave another tax cut for themselves, and more budget cuts for anything that helps the rest of us. These men pine for the days when industrialists were masters of the universe and the rest of us lived off the scraps from their table.
Most of us figured out that we don’t want the America they want. But, that didn't stop them. They are using every possible trick to recreate themselves as kind and caring men who are ushering a new kind of America.
Trump upped the ante by running for president on the basis of his single-handed ability to Make America Great Again. In his hands, we'll be rich, powerful, and tired of winning. How that will happen is a mystery. Fear not, the great and powerful Trump will handle everything.
David and Charles Koch take a different approach to grabbing more power. Listen to the barrage of Koch Industries ads and the commentary of the fawning chattering class. According to them, David and Charles are single-handedly building a new kind of America – full of freedom and progressive policies. And, by their testimony, this new utopia is being created through their business. They call this effort their higher purpose.
Both Trump and the Kochs claim they aren’t in any of this for the money. Trump won't admit that his tax policies will make him another fortune. And the Koch Brothers insist that they are above greed.
No, indeed. these billionaires are spending their time and gigantic sums of money selling their version of libertarian-infused conservatism because it will be so excellent for Americans, especially poor Americans.
According to billionaires, the key to their vision is simple. Good businesses making huge profits, while paying only the teeny, tiniest of taxes, will translate into astounding economic growth for everyone. This result is guaranteed because of liberty and a really small government. This is the libertarian reinvention of trickle-down economics.
The language may be different but the reality is the same. Trickle-down never trickled-down with anything but pain for most Americans.
Radially Changing America
The push for this “new” kind of government has been years in the making. Donald Trump is late to the political domination game, but he's building on core concepts from the Koch-founded and Koch-funded think tanks including the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and Americans for Prosperity. With their huge mostly-tax free contributions, David and Charles have funded most of the right-wing organizations determined to change America in ways most of us would not like.
Here are a few goals of “libertarian-infused conservatism:”
- Dismantle the social safety net
- Roll back regulations on industry
- Smash what’s left of unions
- Eliminate the minimum wage
- End healthcare reform
- Repeal corporate and income taxes and eventually eliminate all taxation
- Sell public lands to private interests and privatize the inland waterways
- End the FDA, the FAA, the Department of Energy, the EPA, the Department of Education
- End federal contributions to any infrastructure development
- Abolish the post office.
If that wish list ever became reality, image what the United States would look like.
But Libertarian Sounds So Free
Americans love the sound of “libertarian.” How great to be free to do whatever you want without any interference from the government. Smoke that joint, yeah! Pay no taxes, yeah!, Carry your gun anywhere, yeah! Liberty, yeah! Who can possibly argue with that?
To understand libertarianism, we have to look past the bumper sticker slogans. Let’s take a few minutes to dig into its history.
The libertarian movement in the US was invented just after World War II when a group of industrial and financial giants founded the Foundation for Economic Education. The FEE is viewed as the first think tank promotion a pro-business ideology called libertarianism.
Take a look at those facts again:
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Libertarianism is a pro-business ideology made up by rich men.
- The FEE’s board included the future founder of the John Birch Society, Robert Welch among other prominent right-wingers.
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Milton Friedman, another god of the libertarians, was a real estate lobbyist in Chicago
- The Austrian School of Economics became the totally unregulated free market economic model.
- These became the key players in what the Kochs call “libertarian-infused conservatism.”
But that’s not nearly the end of the sordid tale. Charles Koch realized that the baby movement needed a strong base of support. He and his good friend, Murray Rothbard, organized the Cato Institute. Koch has been funding the Cato Institute ever since.
Meet Murray Rothbard
When you read the history of the Libertarian movement and dig into the writings of its founders, it’s hard to ignore the hard-edged, cruel ideas they promote. One example is the Libertarian economist, Murray Rothbard, who sold the idea that a parent “should not have a legal obligation to feed, clothe, or educate his children, since such obligations would entail positive acts coerced upon the parent and depriving the parent of his rights.” Just to be clear, Rothbard goes on to explain that a parent therefore may not murder or mutilate his child, but the parent should have the legal right not to feed the child, i.e., to allow it to die.”
In his book, Ethics of Liberty, Rothbard explained his idea for a “flourishing free market in children.” He thought that parents should have the right to put a child out for adoption or sell the rights to the child in a voluntary contract. He wrote that selling children as consumer goods in accord with market forces, while “superficially monstrous”, will benefit “everyone” involved in the market: “the natural parents, the children, and the foster parents purchasing”.
Please remember this: Rothbard is not just some wack-a-doodle who gave himself the L label. He was a tenured professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He’s considered the founder of the Austrian School of Economics and a major influence on all libertarian principles. Rothbard is the thinker behind the anarcho-libertarian movement. That label gives away what the movement really is: a totally unregulated market and no government.
Ayn Rand
Rothbard was a close associate of the queen of the libertarians, Ayn Rand, who became a sensation when she wrote the long – 500,000 word long – novel Atlas Shrugged. Rand’s novel has become the best-selling novel of all time. The Tea Party and many prominent Republicans including have claimed inspiration from Rand. Here are a few of her big fans:
- Ronald Reagan said he admired Rand
- Alan Greenspan (former chairman of the Federal Reserve) was a member of Rand’s inside circle
- Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Atlas Shrugged inspired him to go into politics
- Ron Johnson (R-WI) called Atlas Shrugged his foundation book
- Ron Paul (former congressman from Texas) and his son Rand (R-KY) call rand a major influence
- Clarence Thomas (SCOTUS) applauded Rand
Rand preached that selfishness is the greatest virtue. She labeled self-sacrifice or altruism as evil. According to Rand, “a person who is weak is beyond love.” She abhorred any government programs to help those weak people. If someone wanted to give them a handout – well, that was okay. But nobody could be forced to contribute to those in need. Rand makes selfishness heroic.
Ironically, Ayn Rand, an atheist, is applauded by politicians who run on their Christian values. In a nationally televised interview with Mike Wallace she said this, “I am against God. I don’t approve of religion. It is a sign of a psychological weakness. I regard it as an evil.”
Atlas Shrugged is the story of producers (including the long sought John Galt) being set upon by moochers and looters who turn the country in a wasteland of giveaways and handouts. In response, the producers go on strike.
After all kinds of subplots taking up most of the endless prose, the producers come out of hiding to reclaim the ruined world. The last two sentences sum up the whole story, “The road is cleared,” said Galt. “We are going back to the world.” He raised his hand and over the desolate earth he traced in space the sign of the dollar.”
If we want to understand the unbridled free market – and it’s real purpose, there’s the key – MONEY. Money for the producers. If we want to understand Donald Trump, the Koch Brothers, and most of the GOP, it’s simple — money, money, money. Money flowing to the top and staying there.
That’s the great hoax of the libertarian movement: the rich get richer, and the rest of us get nothing.
Listen to Ayn Rand on Mike Wallace. She talks about her views of government, why selfishness is a virtue, and why she does not believe in helping those in need. She is in favor of a totally free, absolutely laissez faire economy with no taxes, no regulations, and no social welfare legislation.