… is from page 222 of Johan Norberg’s superb 2023 book, The Capitalist Manifesto:
One-man rule limits the amount of knowledge that reaches the top, and leads to yes-men, paranoia and purges. Major mistakes can be made when witless loyalty is rewarded.
DBx: Indeed.
Norberg here is writing about one-man rule in today’s China. But the logic applies generally, including to the United States. Although we in the U.S. are still far from the authoritarianism and dysfunction of China’s political system, we have moved in that direction for quite some time – a movement that has accelerated following the subprime crisis and, again, under Trump 2.0.
With his flood of executive orders, Trump reigns very much like a dictator surrounded, as all dictators are, by yes-men and yes-women. Trump’s rule ignores and overrides the vast amount of knowledge that must be accessed and used if the economy is to continue to grow – and the society to continue to be free.
I fear that the courts will, in the end, do almost nothing to rein in this unconstitutional abuse of executive authority. Too many jurists on the right are under the delusion that the Constitution requires almost complete deference of the courts to legislative and executive action. Too many jurists on the left are under the ‘progressive’ delusion that effective governance in the modern world is impossible when constrained by those old and out-of-date 18th-century notions of checks-and-balances and separation-of-powers.
Congress is and will remain largely supine. And the courts will stand by and – although occasionally reminding Congress of its Constitutional duty – decline to do their Constitutional duty.
We Americans now seem destined to have an elected monarchy.
But, hey, it’s an elected monarchy – democracy in action, so nothing whatsoever to worry about! Right? Right?? Through the coming succession of elected monarchs who will reside in the palace at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, it will – we are assured – be the will of The People that reigns in the person of the current king or queen. What could possibly go wrong?
