Are We Moving Towards a New Libertarianism?

WSJ Editor Gerard Baker Pens Piece Lambasting Government Mission Creep Were you forwarded this email? [Sign-up to Rude Awakening here.]( [Unsubscribe]( [The Rude Awakening] It’s come to our attention that you might be missing out on extra benefits exclusively for Rude Awakening subscribers. Check out our website where you can find archives, updates, and everything else included in your subscription. You can access it by [clicking here now](. Are We Moving Towards a New Libertarianism? - WSJ Editor Gerard Baker wonders aloud about libertarianism. - Apparently, the “legacy media” didn’t outlaw the word. - “If people of this caliber had been in charge in 1942, we might all be speaking German.” Recommended Link [Silicon Valley insiders are delighted about WHAT?]( [Click here for more...]( What if I told you… That in Silicon Valley, DONALD TRUMP will one day go down as one of the greatest Presidents of all time? Sounds crazy. [Until you see this.]( [Click Here Now]( Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening A good Tuesday to you! As I was working out this morning, I checked my WSJ app between sets. It’s the only legacy media property I subscribe to. I refuse to pay for the Pinko Paper - that’s the Financial Times - or The Economist, which Oxbridge PPE (that’s Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) majors write for the amusement of their masters in Brussels. That’s a 3-year university degree in three subjects. Just enough to make them dangerous. Though Gerard Baker himself is a PPE major from Oxford, he lurched to the right after getting out into the world and paying taxes. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for most of them. But I do need to keep one ear to the mainstream ground, so to speak, and today I was pleasantly surprised when Baker popped a stitch over American… um… leadership. Since he’s the former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, I suppose he’s got a large amount of leeway from his publisher, or at least tolerance. Still, to see such a hatchet job on America’s current situation is, well, refreshing. There’s just not enough criticism, ridicule, and humiliation going around these days for my taste. And the “leaders” deserve it. Let’s get into it. Intentions are Fine, But What About the Results? Credit: [Thomas Sowell]( Yes, yes, I bashed Twitter yesterday, and I’m posting something from it. But this is from the one and only Thomas Sowell, so there. And he gets to the crux of the matter in three sentences. It’s all about intentions and not about results. American democratic government, which has already morphed into American socialism, and is dangerously close to American communism, holds no one accountable for its poor performance. Of course, Sowell follows on with [this gem]( It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. And please don’t say, “Well, we threw out Trump and got a new man in.” Or, “Come this November, they’ll pay for what they’ve done.” I just don’t buy it anymore. “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss,” as Roger Daltrey once sang. That’s why although I think Baker is incorrect, [his piece in The Journal]( yesterday was brain candy to me. The Preface Baker hits the nail on the head with these two paragraphs: It’s an unease rooted in the historic reality of one of the most powerful laws of human governance: the ratchet effect. Once introduced, rules almost always get more expansive, seldom more limited. Taxes levied for a temporary exigency become perpetual obligations. Government agencies built to administer some specific function are absorbed into the permanent bureaucracy. When a crisis is over, authorities may relinquish some of the powers they assumed during the emergency, but you can be sure that the government’s writ will run permanently larger than before. Wars, depressions, public-health emergencies lead to bigger government, more rules, more-onerous regulations. I lived in England for almost ten years. I’ve never heard a Brit - other than my good libertarian friends (maybe 5 of them!) - utter such words. The thing about Brits is this: they loved to be ruled. Ruled by their Queen; ruled over by their Parliament; ruled by their media and universities. They have been anesthetized to what freedom means. So when a Brit like Baker writes such words, frankly, it’s a shock. But a welcome one! As an aside, I loved when Trump started to rip up the Federal Register and its insane amount of rules and regulations. It was a good omen. Recommended Link [1992 Book Reveals: The Next Big Tech Obsession]( [Click here for more...]( Silicon Valley insiders have spent the last 30 years passing a “secret playbook” around their inner circles. This “secret playbook” ([which I reveal right here]( has pointed the world’s biggest tech moguls to major breakthroughs that have helped disrupt entire industries... Now, for the first time ever, tech billionaires are set to reveal the “final chapter” of this mysterious book. And I’ve secured you special access to a full rundown of this little-known breakthrough. [Click Here For The Full Story]( Whether intentional or not, Baker alludes to what Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote in Democracy in America: Tyranny in democratic republics does not proceed in the same way, however. It ignores the body and goes straight for the soul. The master no longer says: You will think as I do or die. He says: You are free not to think as I do. You may keep your life, your property, and everything else. But from this day forth you shall be as a stranger among us. You will retain your civic privileges, but they will be of no use to you. For if you seek the votes of your fellow citizens, they will withhold them, and if you seek only their esteem, they will feign to refuse even that. You will remain among men, but you will forfeit your rights to humanity. When you approach your fellow creatures, they will shun you as one who is impure. And even those who believe in your innocence will abandon you, lest they, too, be shunned in turn. Go in peace, I will not take your life, but the life I leave you with is worse than death. Do you think de Tocqueville an alarmist? Probably not after what we’ve witnessed since the beginning of the “unknown virus of unspecified origin” allowed an opening for The State to invade our lives. If you’re still unsure, ask Joe Rogan. Or Robert Malone. Or anyone who dared question the flip-flopping narrative of Tony Fauci. The Mentions Baker mentions a few goings-on that we should be happy about. - Virginia’s new Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, is in a classic struggle with overweening bureaucrats desperate to maintain their reign of pointless mask-mandate authority. - Ron DeSantis appears to be cruising to re-election on a record of actively resisting the authoritarian demands of experts, Democrats, and the media. - A solid conservative majority on the Supreme Court struck down the Biden administration’s legally baseless mandates requiring private employers to compel employee vaccinations and landlords to let tenants live rent-free. He even cites [Bill Maher poking fun at California regulating wood dust]( as a cause for optimism. But Baker saves his KO punch for last, and it’s a beauty. It’s hard to see how the current crop of government leaders can make similar claims. Instead of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur, we have Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Anthony Fauci and Rochelle Walensky. If people of this caliber had been in charge in 1942, we might all be speaking German. Wrap Up As thrilled as I am to read such excellent and appropriate writing, I don’t think we’re quite there yet. Even as Canadian truckers line up to blockade the US border. Even as Baker’s causes for optimism are beyond dispute, we haven’t reached the tipping point. Alas, I think that the tipping point will be untold economic pain. Americans and other Westerners simply don’t learn until they pay the consequences. And by “pay,” I mean “pay.” With their stock portfolios, houses, and currency. When that pain sets in, when there are consequences to bad decision-making, I’ll be more sanguine. I’ll leave you with one more de Tocqueville quote: I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run. Maybe one day. Until tomorrow. All the best, Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening [Whitelist Us]( | [Archive]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Unsubscribe]( Rude Awakening is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your Rude Awakening e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from Rude Awakening, feel free to [unsubscribe](. Please read our [Privacy Statement.]( If you are you having trouble receiving your Rude Awakening subscription, you can ensure its arrival in your mailbox by [whitelisting us.]( © 2022 Paradigm Press, LLC. 808 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21202. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. 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