Are You Ready for Hillary?
By P.J. O'Rourke
Hillary Clinton is now the Democratic presidential nominee... and then some.
Not only has she pinned the nomination to the mat in the convention's delegate professional wrestling tournament, but she has also snatched her main opponent by the scruff of his neck and heaved him over the ropes with a resounding 13% victory in the California primary.
There won't be any "Feel the Bern" floor fracas at the Democratic convention. Sanders supporters will go back where they came from – "Occupy Your Parents' Basement."
Furthermore, as of this writing, Hillary holds a double-digit polling lead over Republican nominee-to-be Donald Trump.
I wouldn't say she's unstoppable, but I wouldn't place a large bet on stopping her. This means that as investors – and as citizens – we need to be prepared. We had better go into the "Clinton Crouch" and get "Ready for Rodham."
To be prepared, we have to understand Hillary and her politics. In one way, this is simple. With Hillary, there's nothing to understand except politics.
Yes, she was a lawyer. But a lawyer with political connections – partner in the Rose Law Firm and First Lady of Arkansas.
Yes, she has endured a difficult marriage. But she clearly stayed in it for political reasons.
Take away politics, and Hillary is the bossy girl we all went to high school with, full of lots of whatever opinions were in fashion at the time. She's the head of the Prom Decorations Committee, shrilly insisting, "This year's prom theme is Susan B. Anthony!"
For that matter, becoming head of the Prom Decorations Committee was political, too.
Every politician is political – by definition. But some politicians are "all politics, all the time." Having a politician like that as our national leader means politics will intrude – even more than it does already – on the parts of our lives that aren't political. Politics will continue its invasion of the private aspects of our lives, especially private enterprise.
You're probably wondering how much worse it could get. Political intrusion on private life has already gone so far that, with the transgender toilet issue, the federal government is telling people how to go to the bathroom.
But one thing we should never say about politics is that it can't get worse.
We have someone running for president who is wholly, completely, and entirely political. And her opponent, though he still maintains that he's a "political outsider," is making broad, sweeping political promises.
This is a good time to review what makes politics so dangerous.
Politics is the enemy of prosperity.
The secret to prosperity is that wealth isn't zero-sum. Wealth is not a pizza where if I have too many slices, you have to eat the Domino's box. We can make more pizza. Everybody wins.
But political power is zero-sum. There's only one winner in politics. We can't wedge the fat butts of two congressmen into one seat in the House of Representatives. And we can't – and wouldn't want to – build another Oval Office so that Hillary and Donald can both be president.
Politicians don't hate prosperity. It makes them popular. But politicians are prisoners of zero-sum thinking. This is why Hillary thinks she can achieve prosperity by soaking the rich, and why Trump thinks he can achieve it by clawing back dollars from the Chinese.
Politics is the enemy of merit.
Anybody can go into politics. There's no exam to pass, no board certification required. And you don't have to prove yourself by meeting a payroll, making a profit, or selling anything but a bunch of baloney to voters who aren't paying much attention anyway.
If you can put up with endless rubber-chicken dinners and spout the same babble of nonsense a dozen times a day in every Podunk where they'll let you stand on a stump, you'll do fine in politics. We often hear that "the best people don't go into politics." Of course they don't. They have jobs.
Politics is the enemy of freedom.
Government has a legal monopoly on force. All political power is based upon the fact that, with certain rare exceptions, the government – and only the government – is allowed to kill you. Even over a parking ticket. If you don't pay the parking ticket, you'll get fined. If you don't pay the fine, you'll get jailed. If you try to escape from jail, you'll get shot.
We don't want to go without a government. Places like Libya have tried that. But having a monopoly on force does not lead politicians to a mindset that celebrates individual liberty.
Fighting back against politics is hard. And perhaps it can't be defeated. But keeping those three precepts in mind can help us predict where politics is going.
For example, when facing a decision about an economic issue – such as deficits, debt, or entitlement spending – will politicians make a choice that benefits the economy? No. At least not on purpose. Politicians will always opt for whatever increases their power, no matter what the economic cost.
The good news: Gold prices should soar.
When politics impose or expand control over any business or enterprise, will that control be exercised by wise and intelligent people? No. Politicians and political appointees will exercise control. If any of them are wise and intelligent, it will be by accident.
The good news: Loopholes of stupidity will abound.
Will government regulatory agencies promulgate transparency, making sure we have all the information necessary to make individual choices? Like hell they will. Regulatory agencies will promulgate ever-growing lists of arcane rules and regulations. Rules and regulations are the Monopoly money of the monopoly of force.
The good news: The more rules the game has, the easier it is to game the rules.
More good news: Any reliable prediction means an opportunity for profit. Even a reliable prediction of doom. And Hillary is one.
Regards,
P.J. O'Rourke