The Decline of the American Empire
The indictment of former president Trump will lead to political blood sport when the Republicans regain the White House. There is a cultural war between two ideologies - capitalism vs socialism.
Thank you, Fred, for expressing your insights into what's happening to our once-great country. Trump tried to drain the swamp and was vilified by the deep state and the beneficiaries of the growth-killing and pay-to-play corrupt swamp. Our country is becoming a banana republic and the massive deficit spending and debt may be the tipping point that transforms our country into a socialist dystopia. Increased crime, homelessness, and poverty are the byproducts of the irresponsible and dangerous spending by Obama, Biden, and the Democrats. While it’s true that the Republicans contributed to the out-of-control spending, their profligacy pales in comparison to the Democrats’ social spending. Because social unrest will result if social spending is cut, taxes will have to increase significantly – and perhaps both will occur. Regardless, social spending cuts and taxes will reduce GDP growth and result in a lower standard of living for most Americans.
The elites and political class will benefit, and everyone else will pay for the high cost of a government now too big and powerful relative to the private sector. Too many people are on the public dole and this has resulted in many dropping out of the labor force. If my calculations are correct, almost 6 million have dropped out of the workforce, which started with Obama and Obamacare.
The Biden administration has become authoritarian, weaponizing the administration against its political opponents and their supporters. The indictment of Trump by the NY DA's office is evidence of the weaponizing of politics in our country.
The incompetence and corruption of the Biden administration have accelerated the decline of the U.S. and no country can survive without borders and an ever-expanding welfare state. A woke government hires based on quotas, not merit, and a meritocracy has become a mediocracy. This is why our government is incompetent.
The progressives in charge of government care only about power, and the division between the haves and have-nots will deepen under their governance.
There is a cultural war between two ideologies - free enterprise capitalism vs socialism - that cannot coexist in a free democratic republic. If the Democrats win the White House in 2024, I fear that we will have a one-party rule for our lifetimes. The US, as we once knew it, will no longer exist. Capital flight will occur and this too will accelerate our country's sleepwalk into chaos and perhaps more violence.
LinkedIn has restricted my account without notice or reason – no doubt for my political views. Censorship continues against conservative voices unabated on social media, except Musk's Twitter which has exposed massive collusion between Democrats, left-wing media, Big Tech's social media, various government agencies, and Biden’s administration. The undeniable and verifiable objective is to censor conservative voices and rig a presidential election.
It's vital to have a respectful and fact-based conversation on these complex issues to find the best solutions for our country. Thank you for contributing your well-argued opinion to our national debate.
Vaughn
It is truly a terrifying time in our collective histories. Empires eventually collapse and fade away, generally because the ruling class becomes complacent and/or authoritarian. And the people blindly follow because, like the frog in a pot, they are boiled to death slowly and unwittingly.
I have sensed for a while that the Left truly wants to precipitate a civil war, especially since they are in power and believe that they control the military, the police, and the courts. I doubt that they have 100% support in all of these areas. I’m not even sure, if push came to shove, that they would have majority support. But the Left is delusional. I truly hope the Right does not take the bait and engage in any violent acts. They definitely should protest the indictment, but peacefully to highlight that they are not thugs and dangerous like Antifa and the BLM rioters and soon the trans rioters.
The indictment is a farce and makes the US look even more foolish in the eyes of all countries, especially in Europe. The Europeans have had penis envy of the US for decades, nevertheless, they also are arrogant, believing they are superior to the average American. Even if President Trump committed a crime, which he did not, he did not imperil the country. He did not imperil anyone. He did not engage in a corrupt act, which jeopardized the security of the country, unlike Biden and his family of crooks, or the Clintons before him. Everyone outside the US must be looking at the US and saying “really?”
If President Biden had any decency, self-respect, sense of history, or love for the country, he would immediately call off Bragg, and if this failed, he should direct the DOJ to challenge the legality of the indictment in the courts. Obama and Clinton should do the same. But I suspect there is no real leadership among the Democrats, only egotists.
Otherwise, the gulf between the Left and Right will continue to expand and the government will become a hostile and vengeful environment, and this will help no one except for some crazy so-called “progressives”. Those around Biden must realize that inaction on his part will lead to at least 10 years of tit-for-tat revenge. Biden and his cronies will be indicted when the Republicans take control of the Presidency. So too will the Clintons and the list goes on. While this blood sport might be entertaining, it will only accelerate the decline of the US empire. As I suggested in a previous document I sent to you, the US policy against Russia has set the stage for a dramatic realignment of geo-political relations, which only will disadvantage the US. Harris’s visit to Africa will not help reverse this realignment.
Covid made me fearful because it showed how easily people could be frightened and hence accept stringent government controls without any questions. Covid and the resulting government policies brought us close to the creation of a Stasi state. The rise of Hitler was not a historical anomaly. It can happen again, as Covid demonstrated. The climate change fanatics, following in the footsteps of Covid, will double their efforts to create the Stasi state. They are doing this using the boiling frog process.
The Left must be fully exposed. Dark money sources must be exposed. The sources and flows of money supporting all of the idiotic “progressive” movements must be exposed. The real objectives must be exposed. Otherwise, the decline of the US empire will commence.
Not since the 1960s, in the midst of the Cold War, have I had such fears about the future. The last three years have been truly distressing.
None of the clowns who came up with the absurd policies, and none of the politicians who followed their idiotic advice during this time have come forward to apologize for their gross mistakes and try to make amends to the countless people around the world whose lives they have destroyed. There is no accountability.
I have taught for 50 years, and I have seen the fanatics on the Left at universities become increasingly more insane. But at the same time, they have become increasingly more powerful. They got involved in university politics; whereas, academics like myself were more concerned using our knowledge outside the university. We had common sense and demands for our services. Those on the left had neither, so internal politics was their only salvation.
The Club of Rome with their Malthusian nonsense inspired many on the Left, and they still had the Soviet Union as their role model. The Club of Rome faded away as did the Soviet Union, so the fanatics on the Left had to search for other causes to support their idiotic Marxist ideology. We had Occupy Wall Street, the One Percenters, and I am sure I have missed a few others. But these movements have morphed into Climate Change, BLM and transphobia.
Conservatives, others on the Right and everyone else with any common sense must start using their collective economic and political clout and boycott every woke company. There are alternatives. If not, alternatives will be created. They must band together to vote against the woke Left in all elections, even for dog catchers. And they should not enroll in the military or the police until the entire leadership of these organizations is terminated. Term limits should become mandatory for politicians and all bureaucrats at all levels of government. Drastic actions are necessary – not violence or protests, but voting with our feet.
As a footnote, Canada is not a real country. We are governed by clowns and the population accepts this because they have been bought. Were it not for the US and its implicit protection, Canada would have disappeared a long time ago.
Sorry for my rant. But I never thought that in my lifetime I would see the lunacy that has happened since 2020 and the threats to our civilized and free society. I truly fear for the future of my children and grandchildren.
Fred
Fred Lazar
One of Canada’s leading experts in Economics, Fred Lazar, has been an Associate Professor at York University since September 1972. This role includes the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, as well as the Schulich School of Business.
Lazar has a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics from the University of Toronto (1965-69); he furthermore has a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from Harvard University for Economics (1970-78).
Lazar worked as a government advisor through the 1970s-80s. Most notably, while working in the Prime Minister’s office in 1982, he was involved with economics and policy work that included trade negotiations, pension reforms, industrial policy, taxation, competition policy and deregulation.
I am currently reading "The End of the World is Just Beginning." by Peter Zeihan. I highly recommend it. I started following him on YouTube for his "geopolitical" reports on world affairs, particularly the war in Ukraine.