I’m not sure how many people there are on LW who will say that they are generally Trump supporters and would vote for him again given the chance, but as one of them I wanted to chime in here. Most probably won’t agree with what I’m posting but I hope at least this perspective is new to some people.
I want to respond to two things in this post where @Bentham’s Bulldog did not include anything I felt represented my view.
The section on cutting USAID lists six different defences for cuts, none of which echo what I personally believe is the strongest reason for cutting USAID. Whatever good some of the programs may have done, much of the USAID funds were being used to set up sinecures and slush funds for my political opponents, and the corruption was so widespread throughout USAID there is a good argument for just cutting everything and rebuilding from the ground up. To me, my political opponents gaining power and money is a direct danger, and even if in the process of removing those instruments from them some damage is done (or just so it’s clear I’m not beating around the bush, even if people abroad we were taking care of die) it’s a worthwhile cost.
On MRNA vaccines in particular, I support the government pulling support from them. During COVID, not only the US government but a large portion of all governments across the world moved in lockstep in order to pressure or in some cases force, people to inject MRNA vaccines into their veins. This is an unacceptable encroachment on individual liberty. It must be responded to in such a heavyhanded fashion that in the future, anyone who thinks about using the government’s monopoly on violence for similar purposes again remembers the backlash and concludes it’s not worth it. Or at least it is only used even knowing the backlash is inevitable because the situation is that dire.
I’m not sure how many people there are on LW who will say that they are generally Trump supporters and would vote for him again given the chance, but as one of them I wanted to chime in here. Most probably won’t agree with what I’m posting but I hope at least this perspective is new to some people.
I want to respond to two things in this post where @Bentham’s Bulldog did not include anything I felt represented my view.
The section on cutting USAID lists six different defences for cuts, none of which echo what I personally believe is the strongest reason for cutting USAID. Whatever good some of the programs may have done, much of the USAID funds were being used to set up sinecures and slush funds for my political opponents, and the corruption was so widespread throughout USAID there is a good argument for just cutting everything and rebuilding from the ground up. To me, my political opponents gaining power and money is a direct danger, and even if in the process of removing those instruments from them some damage is done (or just so it’s clear I’m not beating around the bush, even if people abroad we were taking care of die) it’s a worthwhile cost.
On MRNA vaccines in particular, I support the government pulling support from them. During COVID, not only the US government but a large portion of all governments across the world moved in lockstep in order to pressure or in some cases force, people to inject MRNA vaccines into their veins. This is an unacceptable encroachment on individual liberty. It must be responded to in such a heavyhanded fashion that in the future, anyone who thinks about using the government’s monopoly on violence for similar purposes again remembers the backlash and concludes it’s not worth it. Or at least it is only used even knowing the backlash is inevitable because the situation is that dire.