MAGA is Maoism. They low-key despise most good things about Western civilisation: freedom of thought, rule of law, presumption of innocence, trial by peers - they want goon squads and struggle sessions against political enemies. They think the sayings of Dear Leader, and the knowledge that you're part of the Revolution are superior to affordability and availability of goods. They prioritize commodities, resource extraction and the nobility of working in agriculture over scientific research and advanced manufacturing.

MAGA is not Maoism. Stop.

Steve Bannon disagrees. He's also wearing an oilcloth jacket symbolically as a Mao suit.

Who cares what Steve Bannon thinks?

He's the ideological founding father of MAGA?

Does that mean he is right or that he knows what Maoism is?

Why are you a 'former libertarian', and - I presume - not one 'now'. And do you own a tesla?

I stopped being a Libertarian around 10 years ago. I could write whole essays about, but it started when I realised that the world was already anarchist and if Libertarian societies were superior then they would naturally outcompete other societies and we would all live in an Libertarian utopia right now.

> [...]if Libertarian societies were superior then they would naturally outcompete other societies[...]

Not for the lack of trying. There have been more than a handful of Libertarian city takeovers and sea-steading projects, and they all end in similar, predictable ways. The sea-steader/new country declarations fail to defend "their" territory against an actual military, and the libertarian towns run out of money and/or people willing to live in a free-for-all society without common services.

Tariffs are an instrument in a trade flow process that can be used in many ways that can be contextually good or bad.

The deal with these tariffs is the flip flopping, the high rates, the probable corrupt behind doors and under the table deals on where they are applied and where they aren't, etc.

This might be of interest:

Why Trump’s tariffs are better than you think — and much worse

subscribe! https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/03/06/donald-trump-tariffs-im...

or read now, maybe subscribe later: https://archive.md/H46RG

Yes, here's an old ad from Canada's Liberal party using NAFTA to attack the Conservative party:

  https://youtube.com/watch?v=eBcRYmk88jw

That said, most people, in any era, on both the left and right, probably agree that 'sudden tariffs for no reason whose details change every few weeks' are a bad thing.