CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM, AND TRUMPISM

This tome is dedicated as an attempt to describe Capitalism, Socialism, and Trumpism.  I  had the misconception that Capitalism and Socialism was on a continuum with the center being a fulcrum and then if you mix in politics you have balance. A balance that has certain expectations.

 The expectation that capitalism in its purist form, is a system that puts the onus on the individual to choose the risk, knowing that corporations have winners and losers, is paramount.  The private ownership and control concept of capitalism dictates private ownership without government involvement.  

Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization that, in its purist form states, the means of production, distribution and exchange should be regulated by the community as a whole, and not individual political leaders.

The United States has previously relied on a teeter-totter, with the fulcrum somewhere in the middle depending on the political party swings to one side then the other.  Trumpism is a mishegas of misguided combinations. It’s as if he has broken the see-saw in half and combined the worst of both systems. 

Corporate welfare is anathema to Capitalism, yet Trump embraces and even promotes socialistic capitalistic behavior in his bailouts.  Two thirds (2/3) of the first bailout went to publicly traded corporations. This action is the ultimate interference by the government. The same type bailout for the Automobile industry by Obama, was vehemently objectied to by the corporate champion republican party, even though Obama’s bailout was a loan and not a grant and was paid back.  These publicly traded corporations have assets that they could have used to retain employees, not depending on taxpayer dollars.  Combining Socialism and Capitalism in excess is a system that could be described as autocracy.

The method Trump has used to direct production and procurements, wreaks of cronyism.  He is able to do this by eliminating Senate confirmed Department Secretaries and department heads. With the elimination of these confirmed positions and by placing acting appointments to head the departments, has the effect of the executive having the ability to direct all procurements and approve sole and single source procurements.

Confirmed department heads had the independence to let the lower level civil servants, that are a-political, make the decisions.  The civil servants, which he calls the “deep state” (this is so he can vilify them so he can direct and deflect), are the individuals that actually run the department and make evaluations and recommendations to the department heads, in a normal administration.  Without a department head, the executive makes and directs the decisions, which in most cases are contrary to the recommendations of the civil servants.  The singular power point picking winners and losers shows the Autocratic nature of Trumpism.  His system promotes the division between rich and poor. 

The virus, with its unemployment and restructuring of the economy, will soon feel the pressure of the lack of medical insurance, as a result of the insane method of tying health insurance to employers.  Medical costs for anyone that gets the virus without insurance will soon get the bill and there goes the house. The call for universal health care will be loud and the naysayers will argue there is no money for a program yet they are willing to spend trillions of dollars on corporate socialistic welfare.  The argument Trumpism is choice, yet anyone that goes to an emergency room is given care by law, and the taxpayer or the people who buy their own insurance, pay through higher taxes and insurance rates.  Trumpism has medical security as a choice, with corporations profiting on misery.  Every other developed country has social medicine with better results and at lower overall costs. The socialist would say it is a right to have medical security and no one should profit from misery.