A Radical, Populist Manifesto.

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  • 09/21/2022

For decades, conservatives plodded vacantly towards their own extinction, as establishment Republicans whispered that the culture war was lost. The only means of the right’s survival, insisted duplicitous careerists, was to focus on ‘economic issues’.

The fusion of Trump’s combative instincts with Bannon’s radical application of political theology ensured the voice of America could at last be heard in the corridors of power.

In other words, the continued enrichment of the few at the expense of the many.

Finally, following years of exhausting betrayal on Capitol Hill, grassroots conservatives took a stand.

The fusion of Donald Trump’s combative instincts with Steve Bannon’s radical application of political theology ensured the voice of the average American could at last be heard in the corridors of power.

Since then, the Trump administration has done some great things, not least the valuable legacy secured by the President’s judicial appointments. Too often, however, it has felt like GOP business as usual.

[caption id="attachment_175800" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Trump in the Oval[/caption]

As a result, Trump faces a tough battle if he is to be re-elected in 2020.

The Democrat base is terrifyingly energized, their Party machine oiled by the gargantuan wealth of big business mega donors. Demographic changes mean Trump’s path to 270 gets narrower by the day.

Even if Republicans wanted to abandon conservative values and return to the moral cowardice of libertarianism and vacuous virtue-signalling of ‘bipartisan electability’, it is far too late for that.

Disgusted by the President’s appeal to identity, community and family, the wealthy, individualist voters have deserted the GOP. Twenty-one of the nation’s 22 richest districts are now represented by Democrats.

Thankfully, as in 2016, the next election will not be fought in the coastal mega cities of the liberal elite, but in the towns and fields of heartland America.

Only by offering a radical new social and economic settlement can conservatives create the blue collar, working class coalition required to permanently smash the Democrats’ Mid-Western ‘blue wall’.

[caption id="attachment_175807" align="aligncenter" width="687"] The Blue Wall[/caption]

Below, are 10 foundations for a truly popular, populist policy agenda:

1. END THE MIGRATION CRISIS

A society without shared values and common identity is without the means of survival. As vividly illustrated in the work of Human Events editor, Raheem Kassam, mass migration from culturally incompatible nations has resulted in destructive and damaging fragmentation within Europe.

Yes, Mr. President, that means finishing the wall. It also means starting it.

Like much of the lefts nefarious ideological crusade, their concerted plan to ‘rub the rights nose in diversity’ finds its roots in economic self-interest. Able to purchase their separation from undesirable consequences, the elite perceive immigrants as convenient, low-cost providers of economic services.

For greedy big businesses, what could be more attractive than a readily exploitable, replaceable pool of cheap labor, poorly equipped for collective bargaining, already accustomed to substandard working conditions and prepared to settle for low wages?

Ted Cruz is spot on: ‘The politics of immigration would be very, very different if a bunch of lawyers and bankers were crossing the Rio Grande’.

Yes, Mr. President, that means finishing the wall. It also means starting it.

Legal, low-skilled immigration must also be drawn down.

American citizenship is an enormous privilege, it should be earned and respected. With this in mind, birthright citizenship cannot go on. First generation citizens convicted of a serious crime should have their citizenship revoked.

2. TAX THE GLOBALISTS, BREAK MONOPOLIES, FUND SMALL BUSINESSES 

Convincing conservatives that ‘greed is good’ and that vas disparities between rich and poor are the mark of a successful nation is the greatest achievement of the libertarian nihilists.

Contrary to Marx’s categorization of man as an economic animal, human flourishing will never be found in a boardroom, no matter how big. The lavish lifestyles of coastal speculators are an affront to those families struggling to feed their children.

Tight knit families dedicated to faith and community don’t spend money in soulless corporate malls – atomized individuals do.

Big corporate businesses despise traditional morality. Tight knit families dedicated to faith and community don’t spend money in soulless corporate malls – atomized individuals do. Perhaps unsurprising therefore that 851 corporations vigorously supported the redefinition of marriage in last year’s Australian referendum.

Similarly, national borders serve as an obvious impediment to the never-ending lust for growth that defines supranational corporations, who stand to benefit immensely from the global alignment of capital, governance and workers. 

Presented with any political challenge to the consumerist status quo, big business closes ranks. Following the ‘Sleeping Giants’ campaign to obliterate Breitbart’s advertising revenue, 2600 companies leapt at the chance to single their virtue by blacklisting America’s most popular grassroots conservative news outlet.

Hillarie Belloc, among the most prophetic conservative minds in history, predicted the emergence of a collection of hegemonic private monopolies, so powerful that they eliminate choice; so big they dwarf the power of the democratic state.

His vision is now our reality.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the private monopoly of speech and expression assembled and captured by big tech. If we do not confront tech companies, conservative philosophy may well be deleted from mainstream discourse. The revelation that Paul Joseph Watson – a thoughtful, mainstream and moderate conservative to the left of many elected politicians – has been banned from Facebook should act as an urgent wake up call. Any private monopoly so big that it can disregard basic freedoms and trample national sovereignty should be broken up immediately.

One solution is simple, but will enrage the pseudo conservatives of the GOP establishment – raise taxes. A targeted ‘elite tax’ on multinational corporations and hyper-wealthy individuals could raise much needed revenue for small and medium sized businesses.

[caption id="attachment_176227" align="alignnone" width="4928"] Secretary of Defense Ash Carter gives Jeff Bezos, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Amazon.com a tour of the Pentagon during a visit May 5 , 2016. (DoD photo by Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz)(Released)[/caption]

Cooperatives and mutuals – owned by their members – are the economic embodiment of Christian fellowship and communitarian empowerment. Liberated from the control of faceless venture capitalists, capital is reinvested in those local communities in which it is created.

Without the adversarial battle between ‘boss’ and ‘worker’, all employees can work together for the widest possible distribution of profit and private property.

For decades, the GOP was the mouthpiece for globalist business. No longer.

3. EXPAND MEDICARE FOR ALL

When asked, voters increasingly rank healthcare as their highest priority.  Worryingly, nowhere is the disconnect between the Republican establishment and conservative voters more pronounced.

Fifty-two per cent of Republican voters support Medicare for all.

Listening to the GOP commentariat, one could be forgiven for thinking that ‘right of center’ voters are universal in their condemnation of ‘socialized medicine’. The reality? 52 per cent of Republican voters support Medicare for all.

Universal Medicare is the Democrats’ most potent policy message. It carries understandable emotional resonance, impossible to rival. When someone you love is seriously ill, everything else goes out the window.

Why, when America spends an astonishingly high 18.2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare, are so many people without coverage? Why are so many drugs, needed for people’s survival extortionately priced by pharmaceutical companies making millions in profit? Why should ordinary families have to pay $700 for lifesaving EpiPens, when I can pick them up in London for £9?

The United Kingdom spends 9.8 per cent of its GDP on an overwhelmingly popular National Health Service, rooted in the belief that it is right and desirable for society to contribute to the care and rehabilitation of those brothers and sisters experiencing unimaginable hardship and suffering.

Republican strategists be warned, universal Medicare has the greatest appeal among those whose support we need most. The Democrats won hundreds of thousands of their votes in the midterms and, unless things change, will do so again in 2020.

[caption id="attachment_176212" align="alignnone" width="5616"] Medicare for All protest (CC Molly)[/caption]

4. SPEND LESS ON WARS, MORE ON TROOPS

The era of Neocon warmongers and liberal interventionism is over.

The blood of brave Americans stains the deserts of the Middle East – a region decimated and destabilized by the incalculable arrogance and stupidity of George Bush Jnr. Instead of bolstering the security of the American people, billions of dollars have been wasted, radicalizing a generation of Muslims and displacing tens of millions of refugees, who now pour across Europe’s porous borders.

The U.S. already has the capability to destroy the world numerous times over, yet, as veterans go without a bed, the self-perpetuating military complex is handed $700 billion a year.

We all hope that our loved ones can live their lives without the threat of war, however if we are to face future conflict it must be both morally justifiable and in the indisputable interests of the nation.

Instead of further spending on frivolous posturing, our heroic soldiers should be rewarded with improved pay and conditions. As previously considered by President Trump, redirecting some of the military budget to pay for the wall would be a shrewd investment.

5. MORE TARIFFS, MORE MANUFACTURING, BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE

The Coalition for a Prosperous America has shown tariffs are bringing meaningful jobs back to America, but much more must be done to ensure those with traditional skills are not paralyzed by automation and artificial intelligence.

We must resist the compelling deception of Andrew Yang and his ‘expert class’, who seek to placate the workless with ‘Universal Basic Income’.

The instability and uncertainty generated by the gig-economy decimates the permanence and place that families require to prosper.

Only meaningful careers that contribute to societal good can deliver purpose and belonging – cornerstones of human existence. Likewise, self-sufficiency is the only way to deliver sustainable national security.

The instability and uncertainty generated by the gig-economy decimates the permanence and place that families require to prosper. Vulnerable members of the community such as the disabled, who take longer to find their feet in a place of work, will suffer most from transience and expendability.

Much of America continues to crumble. Ambitious infrastructure programs in poorer states would pay long term economic dividends, redistributing advantage from the coasts to ‘flyover country’ and creating hundreds of thousands of good jobs.

6. REFORM HIGHER EDUCATION

Educational achievement is no longer measured in knowledge, but by a student’s ability to regurgitate the political orthodoxies of teachers and peers.

A truly enlightened education in the ‘liberal arts’ remains desirable, but elite institutions are committed only to the dissemination of cultural Marxist propaganda.

A university education is now the only way to enter the ranks of the elite. On campus, the privileged are schooled in political correctness and the new civility that will mark them out from the ‘bigoted’ and ‘poorly-educated’. It was once manners that defined social status, today it is a complex code of forbidden phrases and correct pronouns.

[caption id="attachment_176145" align="alignnone" width="1024"] School lecture hall.[/caption]

It is essential to smash the hegemony of status accumulated by universities. Twenty-three elite universities now possess $250 billion in endowment assets. Redistributing this wealth for the common good is the only option.

Practical skills are infinitely preferable to a degree in ‘gender studies’. As such, investment in local training programs designed to equip individuals with a meaningful trade can help rebalance the education system.

Those universities that remain should be compelled to enroll 90 per cent of their students from the local area, preventing the magnetic pull of elitism that draws the well-healed from across the country to a few square miles of institutional leftism. 

7. GET TOUGH ON VICE 

Many decent, ordinary Americans are imprisoned by vice, enslaved by illusory ‘freedom’ at the primary point of decision.

Pornography has become a new drug, the ultimate self-medication for the lonely and isolated, tearing marriages apart, commercializing and monetizing the bodies of individuals, driving men from women and desensitizing a generation. Elevent states have now passed resolutions declaring porn a public health issue. 

We need to revisit the spirit of Wilberforce, urgently.

The confrontation of criminals living misery-funded lives of luxury can begin the crucial reestablishment of objective moral authority, with a coordinated assault on those modern slave traders trafficking people. 200,000 women – mothers, daughters, sisters – are trafficked in to the sex trade each year in America. We need to revisit the spirit of Wilberforce, urgently.

8. CHAMPION THE FAMILY

Motherhood is the most precious and important role in society – the foundational pillar of civilizational survival.

It is heartbreaking that so many women who want to have children feel financially unable.

The societal benefits of cohesive and happy family life are infinitely greater than any economic impacts delivered by forcing women into the workplace. Financial support for large families and women who chose to stay home should be generous and joyful. 

A renewed legislative commitment to marriage as the lifetime union between one man and one woman would restore the bedrock of the nuclear family.

Most pressing and urgent of all is the defense of objective good and the defeat of objective evil. The increasingly mainstream Democrat belief that it is acceptable to abort children up until the point of their birth is among the most heinous opinions in human history. It is not morally legitimate and should not be given the legitimacy of debate.

[caption id="attachment_176228" align="alignnone" width="2048"] A family in Florida, picture by Dennis Bernhard (CC)[/caption]

9. RECLAIM ENVIRONMENTALISM

The left have stolen the issue of environmentalism, twisting and distorting it into a campaign for global governance.

In reality, what we preserve and conserve is at the heart of the conservative contract between the living, dead and yet to be born. Environmental protection is the mission of every Christian ‘steward’ – tasked with taking care of God’s creation and the duty of every patriot – committed to ensuring the protection and continuance of the nation.

This means protecting and expanding areas of beauty and tranquillity...

Instead of flying first class to globalist warming conferences in Geneva, we must champion quantifiable local action. This means protecting and expanding areas of beauty and tranquillity - green spaces, parks and national parks, buying local produce from American farmers, investing in public transport and ensuring our air is clean by forcing polluters to cut toxic emissions.

10. RENEW CIVIL SOCIETY

Fragmented civil society leads to loneliness and despair. Devolving further powers to local communities would enable decisions to be made in keeping with the wishes of residents, empowering and including the isolated and voiceless. 

A revival in American literature, art, history and architectural beauty will raise spirits, lifting hopes and aspirations.

Ultimately, it may be too late to save America from cultural Marxist philosophy and the destruction of globalism. If current trends continue, Texas will be a blue state within two decades, ensuring perpetual liberal dominance of the Electoral College.

Is some of this radical? Certainly.

Uncomfortable reading for establishment political strategists? I hope so.

Truthfully, it is no longer enough to play the political game more effectively. To win in 2020, we need to change the rules.

David Sergeant is a conservative researcher in the UK House of Commons and a Fellow at the Bow Group think tank. He writes an opinion column in the Spectator Australia. The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of Human Events.

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