Among the members of Donald Trump’s recently announced team of economic advisers is Stephen Moore, a distinguished visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and co-founder of the Club for Growth, which supports candidates who advocate slashing the tax rates of the top 1 percent.
Moore is particularly notable because he’s entertainingly honest about prioritizing money over Americans. In the 2009 documentary Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore said on camera that “Capitalism is a lot more important than democracy. I’m not even a big believer in democracy.” (I was research producer for the movie, which was directed by Michael Moore — no relation to Stephen.)
Stephen Moore is also, like Trump, a charlatan. After a guest op-ed under his byline in the Kansas City Star contained glaringly false statistics, the paper’s editorial page editor vowed that she would never run anything by Moore again, and that any other submissions by Heritage Foundation staff would be fact checked by the Star. (Moore’s errors were discovered by Star columnist Yael Abouhalkah, who is my cousin.)
But of course Trump won’t pay any price for choosing Moore as an adviser, since their mutual distaste for democracy and affection for general chicanery are shared by many other people at the top of the U.S. political system.
Here’s the transcript from the movie, with the segment below:
MOORE: Capitalism is a lot more important than democracy. I’m not even a big believer in democracy. I always say that democracy can be two wolves and a sheep deciding on what to have for dinner. … Look, I’m in favor of people having the right to vote and things like that. But there are a lot of countries that have the right to vote and they’re still poor. Democracy doesn’t always lead to a good economy or even a good political system.
Capitalism is bad.
Well, he’s certainly not wrong
In a true democracy, Trump would not exist, and Mr. Moore would not get paid. The Nstuk Bridge site has it right. We could be setting up the colonization of the Moon and Mars instead of killing each other.
The real reason Moore et al hate democracy is that it could be one hundred sheep deciding that they’d be better-off without a wolf.
“Democracy doesn’t always lead to a good economy or even a good political system.” …
… this putz thinks that just because someone calls a political system a “democracy”, that it immediately means that it’s a democracy …
… the idiot probably believes that the creeps that belong to the German National Socialist Party were “Socialists” …
… remember when we revered teachers and education in this country? …
… long ago in a galaxy far far away …
“any other submissions by Heritage Foundation staff would be fact checked by the Star”
@Jon,
So, the Star is admitting that people can provide statistics for their publications and that they aren’t ‘fact-checked’.
WOW, that is a glaring admission.
I definitely think you should go deeper on their involvement in disseminating untruthful statements made by their publication. There’s another story there, Jon.
Isn’t the Star concerned about misstatement by their publication? How many of their sources provide data that isn’t fact-checked? What is their process for checking facts and was it followed?
The problem with the “business model” of government is that a business is inherently undemocratic. An employer once told me when I was a union official, “We have a democratic factory here.” I said, Oh, so the workers elect their supervisors? He paled at the notion. I continued: You have a dictatorship here. It may be more or less benign, but as long as you can fire us and we can’t fire you it’s a dictatorship.
Capitalism, without strong regulation (like the New Deal) is un- and anti-democratic. Undoing those regulations has been bipartisan, which is why I cannot vote for either “major” candidate and will vote Green.
If you luve in a swing state but care more about being pure and making a statement than about the actual consequences of your actions, fine…but you lose a claim on adulthood.
One party have been enthusiastic and continual dismantlers of reasonable regulation; the other slower, not as universally so, and promulgators at times of newer regulation. You really can’t tell the difference, E. Warren us the same as T. Cruz or P. Ryan?
Capitalism is the largest perspective economic theory we’ve got on Earth when you consider the collective self interest of each human that benefits from owning their joys of life. When collective self-interest is harmless it becomes compassion.
We need only reflect compassion back toward and from the governments who are expected to act with more integrity when using our money to serve our societies. They have singular self-interests that debilitate their own power.
Check out my blog on Buying Power of the dollar for an idea.
http://www.libraaries.com/blog
http://Tinyurl.com/gwn6qqa
The current econo system in the US is NOT CAPITALISM.
It’s a criminal currency scheme designed to dead end a population while the money changers repo everything.
Very succinct.
Yes and no. It’s not exactly capitalism because a lot of corporate success comes from public investment (subsidies, bailouts, technology research, public education, etc.) On the other hand, that’s an inevitable result of capitalism. Concentration of wealth translates into political power.
It is Capitalism, as Caputalusm is not the Free Market, it’s a market embedded in a socio-political system that is designed to disproportionately benefit owners of large amounts of capital, e.g. by the creation of limited liability to shield corporate executives from the consequences of their actions, the crwation of artificial forms of ‘property’, and a legal system that allows men like Mr Trump (notably, Mr Trump) to short-change peiple without fear.
Government interference in the marketplace is the result of politicians, not capitalism. If politicians offer bailouts then people in the marketplace are going to compete to get a bailout. The problem is the politician offering the bailout, not a company competing in the marketplace.
Of course the current economic system is capitalism. Private ownership of the means of production with markets. That’s capitalism. It’s a terrible system, where an owning class gets to steal everyone else’s earnings.
Capitalism can exist under democracy, but we’re learning democracy can’t exist under capitalism
TrumpTrolls {when the supreme leader’s advisor is criticized}: what’s inherently wrong with bashing democracy?
TrumpTolls {when some middle eastern person bashes democracy}: those savages hate our way of life.
To The Intercept, whatever you guys are bringing to light against Donald/Clinton, whatever the angle, I’m all for it. Keep it coming. Criticism is healthy.and I think I can decide for myself if I agree with it, completely/entirely or not. I’m not against the Direct Democracy vs Republic debate. While there is some genuine insight to be gained from it and some good policy that can be enacted, I think there’s something to be said about the very clear possibility of TrumpTrolls commenting in all articles critical of Trump…I mean…it becomes especially clear when you hear emotional jibes being thrown out like “Clinton-run” or “Clinton supporter”. Totally unnecessary if you’ve got a non-partisan argument against the article’s premise. Though some of them seem to be catching on and have become more subtle. It’s just too hard to tell at that point what’s real and what’s BS. I just try to stay focused on the article and decide for myself. Don’t need a troll to do it for me.
So he’s a Hamiltonian and a ward of the not-necessarily-for-profit Forbes group. This should surprise no one.
To his credit, he seems to be off the cocaine these days. He used to not even bother hiding it, back when he and Robert Reich were Kudlow’s “Dynamic Duo.”
This is classic Neo-Liberal/Libertarianism
“Capitalism Is a Lot More Important Than Democracy,”
That idea has been outsourced for decades as US foreign policy, UK and other Western power policy. Is that what Trump means when he says he will put a stop to outsourcing and bring it all back home?
Democracy has been sacrificed, destroyed in many a country worldwide at the behest of and oftentimes by US and Western backed coup, even assassinations have played a part. Placing authoritarian Governments in charge, supporting dictatorial Theocracies, accepting, even encouraging and backing violence, repression and oppression has been a stalwart foreign policy since before colonialism carved up the world and people’s lives all in the name of Capitalism, which now hides under the cloak of Security & Stability.
John Bolton’s take on it for Iraq. We will eat cake. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/opinion/john-bolton-to-defeat-isis-create-a-sunni-state.html
Trumpzilla could have run to the center or even to the left of Hillary. Instead, he just took a hard right turn heading into the general election. This offers little to his base of support. I was considering voting Trumpzilla as a means of taking down the establishment, but this is beyond the pale.
Trump is making unforced errors like, attacking the Khan family and aligning with the worst cretins of the heritage foundation. I’ll listen to what he has to say but Stephen Moore is a real deal breaker, worse than Rubin and Geithner combined.
Trickle-down economics has a proven track record of failure. I may have to vote Hillary or go into the wilderness with Jill Stein.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl9Ok1KHDCg
My feelings exactly and don’t forget Arthur Laffer – who can take that clown seriously?
To: Silver1ock
It is a scam. They put up Trump to lose to Hillary. It is as fake as a World Wrestling Exhibition.
Could be. Or maybe Trumpzilla is getting advice from his business community friends. A lot of these folk hang out together at parties and on golf courses babbling Ayn Rand nonsense at each other.
And when it comes to babbling Ayn Rand nonsense, no one is a better babbler than Stephen Moore.
That man annoys me.
I also thought Trump would adopt Bernie’s economic populism, and destroy Hillary in the general. But he has proven to be a complete idiot. Perhaps he’s even throwing the election.
The founders would have agreed with him. So would the founders of demokritos, the greeks. Thats why they chose a republic with the people’s ability to fire the ruling class, which the process underway right now.
This shouldn’t be so controversial. As an anarchist, I consider democracy one of the worst forms of government and I brook no love for government democratic institutions. Capitalism – in the sense of free trade and voluntary exchange – has truly done much more for the world than democracy, but this nuance is likely to be lost on most people.
” Capitalism – in the sense of free trade and voluntary exchange . . .”
That’s not what capitalism is. It’s a system where trade, manufacturing, etc. are controlled by private owners, for their profit. When the wealth and power become sufficiently concentrated (a natural “feature” of capitalism), there is nothing “free” about trade or “voluntary” about exchange.
If you mean, and understand, what you write above, you are what is known as an “anarcho-capitalist.” The key fallacy of that school of thought is that there is any such thing as a “free market” or, indeed, any such thing as a “market” at all, other than a construct agreed by society.
In the magical world where you can reach consensus on the rules and conventions of your market, all may be rosy. In the world we actually live in, you get to choose between democratic rule, authoritarian rule, and Mad Max.
Yes, it is hardly free if you live on corporate welfare, and one example is the recent 17 trillion dollar bank bailout.
Wealth is only concentrated when competition is limited which only occurs via government regulation. The profit motive is what drives competition and causes resources to be used more effeciently overtime which allows standard of living to increase.
“Capitalism is a lot more important than democracy”
Hey look, another thing Clinton and Trump agree on! So glad the duopoly has given us such varied choices this year.
This has been U.S. foreign policy for decades. The entire purpose of the Vietnam War was to stop a democratic election because it would have ended capitalism in the region. No, they didn’t sink a boat; the president made that up.
Is the case for democracy being superior to capitalism so firmly decided that no one is even permitted so say otherwise, lest he or she be mocked?
Or is no dissent permitted, because Democracy Is Just The Best Thing Ever?
One is an economic system the other a form of governance. Are apples superior to baseball?
What, is he wrong? This little article makes no effort to demonstrate that he is. You just recite his position as if it’s self-evidently horrendous. “Can you believe this guy? The nerve!” Sorry, that’s not an argument.
This disdain for democracy has been part of the whole American tradition. It’s why the founders built a representative, federated republic instead of a direct democracy. Democracy is terrible, and not in the Churchill “except for everything else” sort of way. It’s just plain bad. Try Hans Hoppe’s “Democracy: The God that Failed” and see if you still like the idea of democracy.
Free trade and stable protection of private property is the only recipe history has yet to offer as a means for getting people out of poverty. Milton Friedman slammed that point home decades ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A
http://www.riosmauricio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Hoppe_Democracy_The_God_That_Failed.pdf
milton helped slam a lot of things home, latin america in the 70s and 80s, think chile. if uncle miltie is your source of for guidance you believe only what is convenient to believe. miltie was a stooge for the corporate world. so glad he’s dead.
if anything comes before democracy it would be education, quality public education. we’ve got neither in the usofa.
Oh the pubs are always this way, it will be fun to slaughter them in the fall.
” …honest about prioritizing money over Americans.”
What do you expect?
What a scam. By giving the American public a choice between two such deplorable Presidential candidates they try to fool everybody by picking one that is totally nuts and unelectable, thus enabling them to put in office the one the corporatocracy selected in the first place.
Putting these two circus acts against each other is as fake as a world wrestling championship.
“Stephen Moore is also, like Trump, a charlatan.”
Has the Intercept, or any other MSM press ever used the term “charlatan” with respect to a Democratic candidate? No, never!
I am extremely suspicious of anyone associated with the “Heritage Foundation”. I have never known anything from that group to be palatable.
Trump has to get elected within the two party system. Wallowing with the snakes is unfortunately a requirement.
How about an Intercept article on the Democratic snakes?
This article is another masterpiece like the Robert Mackey one. Get Charmin here to print these kind of articles on their premium rolls instead of wasting your talent in this hell hole.
This is a very strange, but definitely superficial, article. It is an attack on Trump, trying to accuse him of being ‘anti-American’ via rejection for democracy. The big problem here is that capitalism isn’t even possible without some sort of limited government. Only governments with elements of democracy (ie republics) have exhibited the necessary limits.
The article would have been much more useful if it could show Trump & co preferred Corporate capitalism over democracy. Corporate capitalism is of course made possible by large bureaucracy that responds slowly and minimally to democratic forces.
Note: this article also contributes to the 100-year terminology erosion being used against capitalism. Hardly a respectable use of space on this website.
Agreed. Democracy is mob rule. Capitalism is about self determination.
Your problem will then be that you are not alone in the world. Yoy are not free if you live in a dangerous neighborhood withnlotsof deserate people. Individual freedom must come with fair and equal opportunities; don’t worry, the results will still be different. A person who acts and thinks with no social responsibility is a sociopath and a danger to everyone around by the way.
Well, he is certainly right about one thing: having a democracy does not guarantee a good political system. As proof of that, all one has to do is look at the two candidates chosen by 9% of the US voting age population to represent the two wings of the Party. For further evidence one needs to look no farther than the US Congress or practically any state legislature.
Democracy fails when the electorate loses interest in educating itself on the issues, and in participating in the actual conduct of the nation’s business. We blame corporations and the 0.1% for our problems, but the truth is that we allowed them to gain the upper hand.
Democracy fails when rich people buy politics and media, dumbs down the debate and forces people to chose between the corrupt establishment and a fascist.
When are people going to have time and energy to get educated about the world if they work two jobs and have to dig through a pile of propaganda to get to the truth?
Blame the established order, not people. The environment brings out people’s potential for good or bad.
It’s not one or the other, it’s both. People with more money and power are more responsible for the problems, but everyone has to take SOME responsibility. You don’t get a free pass just because you’re not rich.
I agree with the comments in the thread. And it’s not one or the other, it is both. Citizens United certainly is a problem; and, folks ability to educate themselves and participate is another problem.
When was the last time you wrote a U.S. Certified Letter to your State Rep? Do people even know how to properly fill out the Certified receipt cards?
BTW: comment not directed at anyone, just a superficial thought/observation.