Is Trump Populating the Valley?

Posted by ScaryBlackRifle 8 years, 5 months 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?


All Comments

  • Posted by Owlsrayne 8 years, 4 months 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 RevJay4 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Ah, the Peter Principle. I applied that to some folks in positions they seemed to occupy when I was working. Amazing how clear it made some of their decisions. lol.
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  • Posted by Dobrien 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The optimism is a relief. Had HRC won we would have Had 20 years of a Kakistocracy and maybe
    The cancer would have been terminal. Time will tell how much Trump can heal this patient
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  • Posted by Herb7734 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    No doubt.
    It's interesting to me that the media has sort of followed The Peter Principle. (a person rises to the level of their incompetency.) They got away with their dishonesty either through omission or outright lies, for so long, that they became sloppy and obvious, even to the most casual observer.
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  • Posted by Blanco 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    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 RevJay4 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    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 RevJay4 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    And the media is scrambling to stay relevant. This past election has shown the media to be dishonest, at best, and corrupt in the extreme. Wikileaks revelations, anyone?
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  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Maybe. I never understood the Taiwan thing. Let's see if it was 1) just silly, 2) a real issue we stand on (like building them some submarines) , or 3) blustering.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 8 years, 4 months 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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  • Posted by $ CBJ 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I doubt that, after the past few days, China is treating Trump like a fat middle-aged irrelevant.
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  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Agreed, but I'd prefer simple, direct statements and consequential direct action to "blustering". A lot of bullies bluster. I'd like American policy to make the world respect us, like the power we are. Not treat us like fat middle-aged, irrelevants.
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  • Posted by $ CBJ 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    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 $ CBJ 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Judging by the past few days, Trump's tweets may become an effective foreign policy tool.
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  • Posted by $ CBJ 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I think a certain amount of "blustering" might be a refreshing change of tone in foreign policy. Certainly beats the Obamapologies.
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  • Posted by minesayn 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Or Mr. Thompson or actually more like Orren Boyle. He doesn't strike me as either a Hank Reardon or John Galt.
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  • Posted by Bethesda-gal 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Totally agree BLaramie !
    But I don't know that all knowledge must be acquired from reading. Some people know things instinctively and through experience.
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  • Posted by $ Radio_Randy 8 years, 4 months 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 $ BLaramie 8 years, 4 months 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, 4 months 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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