Is Trump Populating the Valley?

Posted by ScaryBlackRifle 8 years ago to Politics
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It occurs to me that Trump, in his cabinet picks, is choosing extremely qualified individuals from among those he either knows personally or have been recommended by those he knows personally. Some of his picks, however, make little sense unless he is deliberately populating The Valley ... in which case, they make eminent sense.
Can it be that, rather than retreating to build a Utopian civilization, Trump is attacking the old civilization and taking all who are willing to come along with him? Rand's heroes built their new society in hiding in the hope that others would like what they saw. Trump is doing it in plain view: hiding, as it were, in the open.
I'm old enough to be cautious about hero worship and realistic about the ups and down of "regime change" right here in the US, but this analysis is the only one that seems to fit the pieces of the puzzle I actually know.
There were negatives about John Galt and others have voiced them. Some are voicing negatives about Trump (morally, how is he so different from Rearden?). But both men seem to be driven by a vision of the way the world ought properly be run.
Like I said, I'm still cautious and I know that I am only seeing what I am being shown, but this is what I think I am seeing.

And you?


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  • Posted by $ Radio_Randy 8 years ago
    John Galt did not retreat to build a Utopian civilization (The Gulch was, actually, relatively primitive). He had every intention to return to the world and rebuild it. People went to Galt's Gulch to prevent being made into slaves or killed, out of sheer jealousy, by their inferiors.
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  • Posted by andrewtroy 8 years ago
    I'm not sure that I see a "crony" angle in the Carrier and Rexnord announcements. I simply do not have enough specific information, but even a "deal" does not a crony make. Rearden and Dagny made deals despite the doubts and resignations of family, friends, other business owners, academia and government officials. Could they be considered "crony's" in this light, or rational businessmen making decisions in their own best interest?
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    • Posted by $ CBJ 8 years ago
      It's a precedent, but for what? If it leads to many more one-off "deals", it's crony. If it leads to tax and regulatory relief for all businesses across the board, it's not.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 8 years ago
    So far, before he's even in office, he has done better than any president-elect within recent memory. What that portends - I'm not sure. But it is encouraging. Yes, I can still find lots to criticize, but it is mostly pretty insignificant stuff. The tweets? Who knows? This may be opening the door for politicians to realize they no longer need the mainstream media to defend themselves, to get their points across, and just plain communicate directly with the people. It is swimming at the deep end of the pool, which most politicians fear to do.
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  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 8 years ago
    It is clear that Trump is not building Utopia in hiding, and for the most part, neither are we. He is not dumb, and I sincerely hope he grasps the gravity of his situation, surrounds himself with smart, competent people, and stop the blustering that is inappropriate for the office.

    I don't know the Carrier deal specifics, but I do think we need to have manufacturing in the US and we can not continue to reward other countries with lower costs controlled by inappropriate human rights, like China. We have made them strong, and we didn't have to. I hope Trump takes a reasonable position on this subject.
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  • Posted by term2 8 years ago
    It seems to me that we should give Trump a chance to do what he said he would do during the campaign. We sure know what would have happened if hillary got in- she would simply serve her contributors and clinton foundation donors- at OUR expense.

    Trump offered to drain the swamp. Lets see if he can do it. Micromanaging his actions before he actually gets into the white house doesnt seem to be a great way to help that.
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  • Posted by Esceptico 8 years ago
    Compare the picks by Trump with what would have been picked by Hillary. So far, I think they are great. I am concerned about the rumored SOS because 3 of the 4 have been outspoken in their anti-gun stance --- which with the anti-gun UN treaty signed by Obama is dangerous.
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  • Posted by $ BLaramie 8 years ago
    Atlas Shrugged is not real. It's a novel. What Trump is trying to do is reality. Give him a chance. He's onto something in his attempts to "drain the swamp" and with any luck, it'll at least move things in the right direction. My only concern is that he never read Atlas Shrugged. He's not known for reading and has even bragged about it. It's not very likely that he actually has taken the time at any point in his long life to actually try to plow through what most concede is a difficult read.
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  • Posted by Tbird7553 8 years ago
    Rand's heroes went to the gulch to leave the rest of the corrupt world to collapse due to the lack of thinkers. Hopefully Trump is collecting thinkers to save the rest of the corrupt US.
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  • Posted by chad 8 years ago
    I am still very skeptical of Trump that he will be any less of a Wesley Mouch than any other elected official. He has behaved badly when it came to property rights of individuals as a businessman and I don't think he will behave any differently as president.
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  • Posted by Blanco 8 years ago
    I'm still very excited about Trump's victory - partly because I'm so very relieved that the Hildebeast didn't win. To me he'll be a success if he ends up appointing one or more originalist justices to the Supreme Court. Anything else in the way of achievements would just be bonuses to me.
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    • Posted by RevJay4 8 years ago
      Absolutely agree. At my age, its a relief to not have to think about where I can go to get away from the Clintonista storm troopers. If she would have won, I was thinking that is what we would have faced. 01/20/17 is the date on which I will take a deep breath of relief. There is still time for Oblamo to pull some shenanigans where that day never comes. Maybe just me.
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      • Posted by Blanco 8 years ago
        Yes, I have no doubt that Hussein will make some last minute secret deals and moves before he slithers out of the White House. Hopefully, Trump will be able to nullify most of them. Unfortunately, the damage he has done to our republic over the last 8 years will never be completely repaired. This is especially true vis-a-vis the disastrous national debt doubling.
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  • Posted by GaryL 8 years ago
    I think what we are seeing with his appointments so far is that Trump wants people with real brains to get this ship righted. Also possible he believes in the premise of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. If he picks Romney for S of S then I bet he gets to say "Your Fired" soon enough and there will be joy in the valley!
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 8 years ago
    Trump and Rearden do share several character traits, but Rearden didn't pursue the cronyism that Trump does. Other than that, I definitely agree with you about Trump populating the Valley.
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    • Posted by 8 years ago
      I am wondering (not settled in my mind at all) if appointments like Mnuchin's might be populating the valley or if they might be "business as usual". Trump knows these guys personally. I just know them from their CV.

      As for the "cronyism", that can mean nothing more than "Hey, I've known this guy for a while ... he's straight up and I want to have him on my team."

      In the end, even kids choosing teammates in little league baseball are involved in "cronyism".

      For me, the question is "in play", but I don't have enough information to actually come to a conclusion yet. Is he building a winning team or just ingratiating himself with the denizens of the swamp?
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      • Posted by $ jbrenner 8 years ago
        The cronyism for Trump is exemplified by Carrier and Rexnord.

        He is definitely not ingratiating himself with the Washington swamp's denizens, but he might be making an entirely new swamp in Indiana.
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        • Posted by term2 8 years ago
          Interestingly enough, for small businesses its local swamps that are more of a problem than federal swamps. For bigger businesses and anyone who makes reasonable money, its definitely more of a federal problem.
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  • Posted by Owlsrayne 8 years ago
    We are now seeing what would have happened if Ayn Rand continued with a follow-up of Atlas Shrugged. We now see the opposition beating their chests, gnashing of teeth and crying rivulets of tears. ScaryBlackRifle your premise make a lot of sense. Reading Trumps books, he is selecting cabinet positions as he did in running his corporation.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 8 years ago
    "Trump is attacking the old civilization and taking all who are willing to come along with him? "
    I think we're adapted to like the idea of a righteous power finding the entire world decadent and destroying it in a great calamity, with only the righteous saved. It's in Gilgamesh, the oldest story known, and the Bible. When people take real action to bring about the apocalypse, it's criminally insane behavior. I do not think President elect Trump is thinking this way.
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