Will Corrupt Regime And Falling Innovation Signal The End Of American Greatness?
President Donald Trump, the would-be monarch
Bribery, inflation, plagues, crumbling trade links, stalled innovation — all these negatives helped bring down the once-mighty Roman Empire. But Rome needed centuries of bad leadership to collapse.
Donald Trump seems to be undoing American greatness at warp speed. Sure, the United States possesses strengths that will maintain an aura of power for some time to come. But Trump has turbocharged the kind of destructive governance that could undo us.
Start with bribery, gifts that buy special deals and access. Witness the bags of money going into the Trump family's crypto schemes. Also, Qatar's handing Trump a $400 million jetliner for his eventual personal use. A smaller but astounding act of submission was Amazon's $40 million "investment" in a Melania documentary, most of which goes to her. Grab some Tums as companies needing government favors hand over millions for a White House ballroom, bearing Trump's name.
Such a blatant grift recalls the Emperor Commodus (180-192 A.D.), who turned his palace into a marketplace for selling political payoffs or protection. Consulships and governorships were hawked openly. Roman historian Cassius Dio described Commodus' court as a "shop for offices."
Trump is supercharging inflation, thanks in part to his price-raising trade wars and his spending — the highest peacetime spending outside pandemic disruptions. Add in his tax cuts, which drain the money to pay for the spending, and debt as a percent of GDP is at or near 100 percent.
High tariffs on China led that country — the American farmer's biggest customer — to go elsewhere for corn, wheat, and soybeans. China has already turned to Brazil and Argentina for these commodities.
Trump's response is to call for funneling $12 billion to the suffering farmers. But that's a one-time handout. His unhinged trade policies are fraying long-nurtured trading relationships that could hurt American agriculture for years.
Plagues are not hard to imagine, given Trump's choice of lunatic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead Health and Human Services. A lawyer who made money suing drug companies, RFK Jr. is determined to sow distrust in vaccine safety and seems to be succeeding.
Take the measles vaccine. Lacking serious scientific evidence, RFK Jr. falsely claims that the vaccine may cause autism in children. That has convinced a growing number of parents to withhold measles shots from their children. This rise in "vaccine hesitancy" is behind several measles outbreaks. Before that, the United States enjoyed official measles-free status. It's about to lose that.
Ancient Rome lacked the medical advances we enjoy today but offers examples of what that means. The Antonine Plague (A.D. 165-180), believed to largely be measles, killed as many as 10 million people across the empire.
Kennedy has overseen mass layoffs and buyouts at HHS, and his ignorant attacks on medical expertise have set off resignations of leading scientists. HHS had been a crown jewel of public health and medical research.
Which brings us to stalled innovation.
Especially jarring is the resignation of the top drug regulator Richard Pazdur — the fourth to bail — one month after he was appointed to the FDA. Such turmoil has reportedly made investors wary of backing cutting-edge treatments.
The National Institutes of Health is funding fewer grants. But so is the National Science Foundation, and in areas such as computer science, engineering, math, and physics. No surprise that top researchers are fleeing the U.S. for institutions in other countries.
Commodus, again. He dismissed senior scientific advisers and replaced them with entertainers. Domitian (A.D. 81-96) executed senators considered too educated.
To distract us from governmental chaos, Trump is building gilded ballrooms and staging colossal spectacles, seen in videos of missile attacks on boats that may or may not be carrying drugs.
Wherever he is, Caligula must be enjoying the show.
Froma Harrop is an award winning journalist who covers politics, economics and culture. She has worked on the Reuters business desk, edited economics reports for The New York Times News Service and served on the Providence Journal editorial board.
Reprinted with permission from Creators.
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