So, is Trump an inconsistent combination of “left-wing” policies on most issues with “right-wing” racist politics? No. On the contrary, Trump is a completely consistent collectivist. Not to put too fine a point on the matter, racism—or tribalism, if you will—is not a conservative ideology; it is collectivist ideology. It is the oldest, most powerful, and lethal collectivist ideology, because it is based on primeval animal instinct. By using xenophobic agitation to mobilize mob support for socialist policies, unlimited government, and strongman rule, Trump has embraced a political methodology clearly identified seven decades ago in “The Road to Serfdom.”
In short, Trump is a national socialist. To be sure, he is not a Nazi, but he has rallied the alt-right “white identarians”—another species of the same genus—to his banner. He also has close relationships with foreign national socialists, notably the Putin regime, which uses extreme nationalism to secure mob support for an unlimited government that serves the interests of those who control it, or those who can pay enough to influence it.
In the Putinite world, no laws effectively restrain the strong or protect the weak. The government is all-powerful, and its bias is available for rent. It’s not about whether your case is just or unjust; it’s about who you can buy. It’s not that the system is corrupt. Corruption is the system, and everyone knows it. Sound familiar?
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