First of all, I love Mark Levin. Years ago, I adopted his use of the term “Statist”, because it is the best “-ist” name yet for describing those who prescribe big overreaching government. Big overreaching government is exactly what the constitution was intended to protect us against.
Other “-ist” names, communist, socialist, populist, nationalist, protectionist, even capitalist (especially when prefixed with the word “crony”), are bald attempts to describe something wrong, something anti liberty, something that in one way or another requires a transfer of power and control to central government, a loss of liberty. Unfortunately, these names become blurry and vague from overuse and misapplication.
IMHO, only Statist and perhaps Constitutionalist remain clear and useful as terms to describe political movements that promote a bigger overreaching central government, and abrogation of the constitution. I largely thank Levin for coining these terms or at least keeping these terms alive.
Having said all that, and having listened to Levin’s piece, I remain unconvinced regarding whether a) the agrarian movement begat the populist movement, or the populist movement caused nationalism, which begat progressivism, socialism, etc.
I don’t doubt the movements have common elements or common champions or that one followed the other or influenced the other. I simply doubt the usefulness of conflating them and creating the tautology of “Trump is popular there for a populist, wants America first, therefore nationalist, wants free but fair trade, therefore protectionist, therefore progressive, therefore what, socialist? These terms are too hackneyed so I don’t buy the guilt by association.
Levin’s most compelling points are made without the use of these terms: Trump wants to force Apple to move manufacturing back to USA, by what power? Trump wants to slap a 45% tarrif on imports.
I wish Trump would talk about lowering corporate taxes and eliminating punitive regulations (which he plans to do) rather than import taxes, as a way of rebuilding manufacturing base. I wish he would say a bunch of conservative things Ted Cruz says.
Unfortunately, the left has successfully corrupted the language with a PC culture wherein they get to dictate what is OK to say out loud. This means conservative ideas and principles will be understood as racism, selfishness, bigotry, hate and xenophobia. Defense of liberty is seen as lack of compassion for fellow man. Until this PC poisoning of the language is addressed, no outspoken conservative can be elected.
Oops. “Bald” = “valid”
Unfortunately, the left has successfully corrupted the language with a PC culture wherein they get to dictate what is OK to say out loud. This means conservative ideas and principles will be understood as racism, selfishness, bigotry, hate and xenophobia. Defense of liberty is seen as lack of compassion for fellow man. Until this PC poisoning of the language is addressed, no outspoken conservative can be elected.
But you do see how Trump has woken up all of the America that isn’t racist and is sick of being called racist because they like actual sovereign borders and don’t like paying half their salary to illegal alien welfare of one kind or another. This is how we beat down that PC gate. No one else has slammed the statist control of us through PC.
Ted Cruz is now statist. I know it is hard to see because he has espoused conservative principles. But look closely. He has been forced to align with the Uniparty. Thus he is statist now, even if he wasn’t before. He was not independently resourced enough to avoid it. He wanted to be President more than he wanted to get us back our Constitution. He’s made some compromises with his morality and beliefs, if he did have them, and I’ll assume he did.