The publication of the budget is a good moment to revisit my personal opposition to Trump. If you have read my draft book “World After Capital” you know that I want a lot of change. Much of the changes that I am looking for are more radical than anything in the Trump budget. And yet I supported Hillary who was a status quo candidate. Why? Because even though I would love to see a smaller federal government there is always a price of change. And I was not and am not willing to pay the price of intolerance, nationalism, post-truth propaganda, and anti-science politics.
I should maybe also clarify what I mean by a smaller federal government. I am not talking about the budget. I am talking about the scope of government activity. For instance, I don’t believe that there should be federal education regulation. Nor did I ever believe in a National Endowment for the Arts. One of the reasons I was and continue to be excited about Kickstarter, Patreon and other platforms like them, is that I believe they are a far better funding mechanism for creative endeavors. Even something like Meals on Wheels seems to me like it should be handled at the state or possibly even local level. The federal government should deal with truly national and international issues such as defense, air and water pollution (which cannot be handled at state level), national transport, financial regulation. Even with financial regulation I believe in a dramatically different approach that would emphasize transparency requirements over behavioral rules.
So you won’t find me objecting to certain aspects of this budget that draw the ire of many others. But I also will not praise any aspect even one’s I happen to agree with. My continued opposition to Trump and his government is about fundamentals. It is about the price we are paying for change. For me there are some things that are non-negotiable and they include tolerance, science and global cooperation on issues such as climate change.
