“No new taxes” was the rallying cry of George H.W. Bush’s successful presidential campaign. It was a promise to continue the Reagan legacy. But a few years later, then President Bush repudiated this fundamental promise of his campaign. Thus began yet another “dangerous flirtation” with ever bigger and ever more socialist government. Bush lost his next election thanks to Clinton’s “Its the economy, Stupid” slogan.
This “dangerous flirtation” became the essence of government policy through the next three presidents. It expanded the US budget and exploded the welfare state. It relegated American citizenship to lesser status and placed American interests around the world second to global socialist desires. The situation became so dire that Donald Trump was elected as President based upon returning America to Americans or, as he said, “Make America Great Again”.
It is quite obvious at this juncture that an America First presidency has not sat well with the global socialists in both parties. Clinton sold American technology and business opportunities to the highest bidder anywhere in the world. Bush 2, focused on 9/11 and its aftermath, was quickly co-opted by the siren song of a world where multiculturalism and welfare were the obligations of government. Obama was so socialist in outlook that he viewed America and Americans as an impediment to success in world affairs.
The GOP establishment still believes that global socialism done right will lead to a better America. Thus, the GOPe fights tooth and nail against virtually every aspect of Trump policy. Both John McCain and George W. Bush have condemned nationalism and nativism as if valuing citizenship is somehow wrong and distasteful. (Former President Bush, in an unprecedented attack on the Trump presidency, took him to task over his America First policies– something he did not do during the entirety of the Obama presidency.)
The Democrat Party has fully embraced the global socialist perspective and agenda. Democrats think the European Union is on the right track even in the face of the multicultural disaster of open immigration with its drain on an already teetering welfare state. The “resist” movement is filled with Democrat supported radical leftists who advocate for anti-constitutional violence and even for the assassination of President Trump.
To me, globalism was to be limited to economics and trade among nations. However, as time passed, it became the basis for much more – with entire governments, military affairs, cultural activities, living environments and societies based upon utopian socialist principles that have failed in the past and have no hope of succeeding in the future. Global socialism, unfortunately, promises a substantial likelihood of plunging the world into disaster.
Nations exist for a reason. Unlike the past where conquest and plunder was the basis for obtaining resources to fuel an expansionist power, the world is now much more stable and civilized thanks to nationalism and populism. The danger lies in global socialism, and the citizenry of many nations, particularly in Western Europe, are now realizing that the solution is a return to concepts of patriotism and citizenry that are inherently nationalistic.
