Over reaction on my part. I will not give up but I do believe we will have a fight of historic proportions the next time the leftist gain power. I am not singing hosannas for the coming 20 - 30 years of SC rulings favoring conservatives because of Trumps picks, solid as they have been. All of the flowering praise about how wonderful it would be if Trump has one or two more picks is nonsense. The left will undo it.
Trump will not effect a recovery like Reagan did. Trump is winning a pragmatic populist rearguard action. As welcome as it is the electorate is not being won over to principles of freedom and less government.
“Trump will not effect a recovery like Reagan did. Trump is winning a pragmatic populist rearguard action. As welcome as it is the electorate is not being won over to principles of freedom and less government.”
I’ve been pondering this question of what Trump’s legacy might be - but I’m coming to a more optimistic conclusion:
I think when we discount Trump as merely ‘pragmatic’ or ‘populist’, and therefore not ‘principled’, like Ronald Reagan, we forget that limited government conservatism is based on pragmatism.
Pragmatists insist on retaining the right and means to defend themselves, while idealists give up that right when they can see no immediate threat.
Pragmatists insist on retaining the right and to enter into transactions (or not), as they see fit, while idealists trade away that right for the fools gold of collectivism, as if some committee of ruling class experts can direct capital to its best use better than the marketplace.
Pragmatists respect the rights of individuals because they see that if they coerce their neighbor with a multitude of laws, those same laws can be used by the neighbor to coerce them in return. Idealists do not respect the rights of individuals because they are not PRAGMATIC enough to weigh the consequences.
If Trump is as pragmatic as I think he is, he will seek to limit the power and scope of the federal government per the constitution.
The Founding Fathers were the ultimate pragmatists, and if Trump is populist enough to make pragmatism popular again, that would be a huge sea change indeed.
Imagine it being popular again for people to be pragmatic about life - pragmatic enough to defend themselves, - pragmatic enough to prevent obvious sexual deviants from sharing public bathrooms with small children. - pragmatic enough to fight for their liberty. - pragmatic enough not to enter into transactions or associations unless they see fit - including employment - and under prices an terms acceptable to both parties. To the pragmatist, liberty is fundenental - to the Leftist, liberty is a threat - and so is pragmatism.
Trump does not articulate conservative principles the way Reagan did, but he sees the damage being done by this oversized monster state we call the federal government. He may turn out to be a far more powerful force for the conservative movement than any of us dared hope.