Americans will never accept the Democratic party’s slide to the left, or so desperate Republicans are hoping.
asserted
Republicans → accept → left
With the midterm elections fast upon us, Zohran Mamdani’s promise of a few city-run bodegas in New York City will scare the bejeezus out of middle America.
asserted
promise → fast → America
Disgust over the democratic socialists’ unicorn-and-puppy promises of a world without capitalism will keep the Republicans in power.
asserted
Disgust → keep → power
Leading the charge against the new reds-under-the-bed is Donald Trump.
asserted
Trump → lead → bed
“Together, we will defeat communism,” Trump promised in his recent TV ads.
asserted
Trump → defeat → ads
Trump’s supporters might be surprised to discover that the United States is, indeed, sliding in the direction of a command and control economy.
uncertain
States → discover → economy
But the state takeover of the means of production is not being driven by the left.
asserted
takeover → drive → left
The grab for the US’s productive resources is the project of none other than Trump – who, it’s a fair guess, has never read Lenin.
asserted
it → ’ → Lenin
The latest evidence comes in data crunched by the V-Dem project in Sweden, which measures the erosion of democracy around the world.
asserted
which → come → world
It built a scale to gauge “state ownership of the economy”.
asserted
It → build → economy
As noted by Cullen Hendrix from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, from 2002 to 2024, the US ranked among the four countries with the least state control.
asserted
US → note → control
In 2025, the first year of Trump’s second term, it dropped from second place to 16th.
asserted
it → drop → 16th
By November of last year, the Trump administration had spent more than $10bn taking stakes in companies he deemed essential for national security, from Intel to a range of ventures mining for critical minerals.
asserted
he → spend → minerals
It also acquired an option to take a stake in Westinghouse, which makes nuclear reactors.
asserted
which → acquire → reactors
And it blackmailed Nippon Steel into granting Trump’s Washington a “golden share” in exchange for the go-ahead to purchase US Steel.
asserted
it → blackmail → Steel
, the US is not even close to flirting with the flavor of socialism favored by the Soviet Union and its satellites in the second half of the 20th century.
asserted
US → flirt → century
Government-run companies are a standard feature in many market economies.
asserted
companies → run → economies
The Norwegian government has a majority stake in its massive oil company, which puts the country in 18th place.
asserted
which → have → place
Even “communist” countries are pretty capitalist: private companies contribute 60% of China’s GDP.
asserted
companies → contribute → GDP
And in a geopolitical landscape shaped by competition with China, there is a reasonable case to be made for Washington to take equity stakes in industries that are critical for American leadership and security, and which might not develop autonomously in competition with rivals heavily subsidized by Beijing.
Yet Trump’s wanton lunge for private assets lacks the discipline required for this kind of strategic positioning.
uncertain
lunge → shape → positioning
The president’s statist leanings mark a dramatic break with the market-focused presidencies of his recent predecessors, Democrat and Republican.
asserted
leanings → mark → predecessors
The question is, what motivates him?
asserted
what → motivate → him
His appetites are embedded in a body of thought that is skeptical, if not outright hostile, towards essential building blocks of the global market economy.
asserted
that → embed → economy
He has pushed back against globalization since his first term in office, seemingly drawn to the Marxist-inspired dependency theory, which washed across Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s proposing protectionism and state industrial policy as a path to economic development.
asserted
which → push → development
His lust to control the economy is there for all to see.
asserted
all → control → economy
Though the supreme court already slapped down his attempt to take over trade policy from Congress, he is still threatening to “STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT”.
asserted
WE → slap → DEFICIT
His promise to give $5,000 to every American if Republicans maintain control of Congress in November’s elections underscores how he views the state’s coffers as his private piggy bank.
asserted
he → give → bank
Even his commie-bashing ads were paid for by taxpayer dollars.
asserted
ads → bash → dollars
Still, he clearly has no interest in the dictatorship of the proletariat, caring little if at all for the fate of the downtrodden.
asserted
he → have → downtrodden
His preferred flavor of redistribution takes from those on the bottom to give to those on the top.
asserted
flavor → prefer → top
If anything, Trump reminds us that socialism is not the only ideological justification for state projects to take control over resources and wealth.
asserted
projects → remind → resources
Watching the US president bow to Xi Jinping last week, it’s tempting to think that Trump wants to emulate China’s leader.
asserted
Trump → watch → leader
Xi gets to rule unimpeded over more than one billion Chinese.
asserted
Xi → get → Chinese
He gets to shape China’s society and economy at will – purging this rival, raising that sycophant to power.
asserted
He → get → power
But Xi’s China is too disciplined for Trump.
asserted
China → discipline → Trump
The Chinese leader still relies on hordes of technocrats to execute a coherent strategy aimed to achieve technological superiority.
asserted
leader → rely → superiority
The US president doesn’t have the attention span for this kind of thing.
asserted
president → have → thing
Rather, Trump’s model might be Vladimir Putin, who rules Russia like a fiefdom.
uncertain
who → rule → fiefdom
Or maybe one of those dictators the US used to support in Latin America during the cold war: Haiti’s Papa Doc Duvalier or Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua, who saw government as a tool to enrich their families and cement dynasties in power.
asserted
who → use → power
If nothing else, Trump’s dealings with crypto suggest he views his administration as a road to family riches.
asserted
he → suggest → riches
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
