By David Robb ——Bio and Archives--February 28, 2025
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The current activities of Donald Trump, MAGA, Elon Musk, and other conservatives, is more than just a struggle to root out corruption and lift the burden of government from the backs of the people. It is simply the most current battle in a centuries-old war over who governs. Should it be some aristocratic elite, a single ruler, the people themselves, or ....
This is to say that our current issues with an overbearing administrative state are not new, but rather have been brewing as long as US has been in existence, with roots even deeper, reaching back to Plato. They are not just a current problem due to one party. Indeed, it is a global issue resulting from the aftermath of World War II and the subsequent Cold War.
The United States was founded on the radical idea that people did not need a king, an emperor, or grand panjandrum or any other all-powerful centralized government. The idea that government should belong to the people and serve them rather than some ruler was truly revolutionary. Even the democracies of ancient Greece did not go that far.
The idea of Progressivism is really a step backwards to a time when serfs were property of the elite landowners and had no rights, only what was permitted. The Magna Carta, which was hailed as a great step toward constraining the power of a central government, was simply the aristocracy wanting a piece of the power pie. The commoners were still peasants whose voices didn't matter.
Following the Socialist developments In Europe prior to the Second World War, governments looked around at the massive destruction WWII had brought, and said "never again". In seeking a cause for the war, the idea that the combination of nationalism with populism was put forth as responsible. After all, if there were no nations, there could be no conflict between them, and if there was a rational, elitist, strong central government, the enthusiasms of populism shown by the Nazis in Germany, and the Fascists in Italy could be avoided.
Consequently, global Socialism, embodied in a strong centralized government, was seen as the solution to all problems political, economic, social, and otherwise.
Capitalism with its inherent disruptive innovation and competition was seen as a threat to good order, and had to be eliminated. Likewise, individual rights, and especially natural rights that were not bestowed by the State could not be tolerated, lest the authority of the State be questioned and undermined.
Progressivism was the pathway to the global State, where its very name suggested a continuous process leading to the perfection of humanity and to a perfect State. For Progressives, democracy meant the ideal condition where all were truly equal; there was no individualism because every person was subservient to the State and always put the good of the State before their own.
Many in this country saw these as ideals to be sought. There was no problem so large that more government could not solve. If only people would put the good of the country ahead of their own and support the noble aims of equality and fairness and justice and equity and give up the obsolete ideas of individual rights and participatory government, the ones who knew better could shape things for the good of all.
There were just a few problems with that.
One of the most fundamental was that the raw material from which this ideal state was to be fabricated was humans. These flawed, imperfect, irrational, emotional, aspiring, sometimes great and noble humans are far from the stuff of perfection. We may try hard, work to improve, and sometimes exhibit superlative qualities. But perfect? Not a chance.
Concentration of power attracts those who seek power. Power seekers come in two flavors: naive and ruthless. The naive seekers see all the wonderful things that could be done if only they had enough power to direct things as they "should" be. Climate could be stabilized, the hungry could be fed, the poor could be distributed the wealth of all those greedy capitalists, there would be no crime or war or injustice, and there would be true equality for all.
While one might start with the best of intentions, no one can guarantee that those intentions will persist forever. Naive power holders will be displaced over time by the ruthless seekers who will do anything, say anything, commit any betrayal, and adopt any position necessary to acquire the power they crave. Once that power is obtained, they will fight to keep it and will use it to serve their own interests, regardless of the cost to others. Even though Wilson, FDR, and even LBJ may have started with benign intentions, their heirs of the administrative state see the citizens as useful only for what they provide; as sheep to be shorn rather than equals to be respected.
Power is preserved by many means. Intimidation and threat of imprisonment or punishment is widely used, and has been employed here in attempts to maintain control. The FBI "shock and awe" raids, persecution of J6 protesters, financial ruin of any who run afoul of any of a myriad of obscure regulations, and other tools of the state are examples our administrative state has employed.
Given the number of people employed by the Deep State, one can ask how it can be said that there is centralization of power. Another way power is preserved is by passing out favors and patronage to those who implement the system so that the minions have a vested interest in preserving and promoting the power of their superiors.
Over the years, I have had occasion to work with and observe some of the Deep State representatives. Aside from a near-universal deep contempt most hold for the citizens outside the Beltway, there is a sharp awareness of status and "pecking order.”
In DC, status has been determined by three factors:
Hence, the IRS has higher status than Education, DHS more than DoE. This is perverse, but the way things have operated for years.
Now, with the election of Donald Trump and through the efforts of DOGE, that system is being overturned. Money has always been the lifeblood of power, and Elon Musk and his team are actively working to stop the hemorrhaging of tax dollars into the Deep State system of control through patronage. Of course, this will generate opposition!
This isn't the first time in history that a people has had to confront an entrenched bureaucracy, but it may be the first time that it can be eliminated without destruction of the nation.
Elon musk is a wild card the Deep State hadn't counted on. The ability of his team to deploy financial network tracking in short order appears to be entirely unexpected. Without it, investigations would have taken months or years, even if it were possible at all. With it, Trump has been able to identify and pull the plug on Deep State funds before they could implement counter-measures. The best they have now is a network of corrupt courts, and feeble attempts to block access and destroy records before exposure.
Exposure, though, is just part of what needs to be done. In order to pare government back to a manageable size consistent with defined Constitutional powers, the organizational structure must be dismantled. The responsibilities of most agencies must be returned to state and local control where they can be addressed in ways that reflect individual needs.
The states were intended to be independent but cooperating, each with its own way of doing things that reflected the culture and values of its citizens. Different ideas could be tried and best practices exchanged so that the nation could be continuously improving. This process of adaptation, of innovation, and free exchange of ideas is impossible under a system that concentrates power in the Nation's capitol.
Despite all critics, the brilliance of the Founder's Constitution and its provisions for change within a stable framework endures. This great experiment in self government is proving its resilience once again, although the challenge is great and the outcome still not certain.
We now have a situation of a Nation divided. Not rich against poor, or black against white, or even Republican against Democrat. Rather, it is the old struggle reawakened - the struggle of a strong central power that sees the value of citizens in terms of how they support the State, or a smaller decentralized power that serves to protect and defend the individual rights of its citizens.
On one hand, Progressivism with its ever increasing, never satisfied State power. On the other, a dynamic Republic of limited power, dedicated to serving its individual citizens with liberty and justice for all, not just the powerful few.
To borrow from and adapt the words of one of our most famous Presidents:
Our house is divided. Can we mend the rift and restore the fruits of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, or must we go the way of so many in the past to expire in the fires of conflict ending in the ashes of history?
Should we live as free individuals, or submit to the tyranny of an all-powerful State. This is our time. This is our struggle to win or lose. This is our moment to decide.
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David Robb is a practicing scientist and CTO of a small firm developing new security technologies for detection of drugs and other contraband. Dave has published extensively in TheBlueStateConservative, and occasionally in American Thinker.