Everyone likes to be flattered by being called “great,” especially Donald Trump. Equally as flattering is to have one’s entire country called “great” if not “the greatest,” “exceptional,” or “indispensable.” Or perhaps even “a shining city on a hill,” reminiscent of “The Emerald City” of The Wizard of Oz.
In the political world, however, there are different meanings of “great” or “greatness.” When the Cold War ended a group of influential, well-funded, and politically-connected pundits and political activists led by Bill Kristol labeled themselves “National Greatness Conservatives (NGCs),” sounding much like today’s “Make America Great Again” movement.
The NGCs announced that with the end of the Cold War Big Government must be employed to “physically and spiritually unify the nation” according to David Brooks in a 1997 Weekly Standard article. Brooks, Kristol, and other NGCs called for “grand federal crusades” that would divert peoples’ attention away from living their private lives to such “crusades” as compulsory “national service” for America’s youth, reminiscent of the notorious Hitler Youth; a “mission to Mars”; building a tunnel in the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Europe; and the military invasion of other countries in the name of asserting “moral assertiveness abroad,” said Brooks. Since then we have seen that “assertiveness” in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Needless to say, all of this is all un-American statist hogwash to freedom-loving Americans who do not want their children conscripted by the state for any reason and who do not want their lives planned for them by the likes of scribblers in the now-defunct Weekly Standard tabloid.
Then there is the Trumpian definition of “national greatness” that is sometimes not all that different from the thoroughly discredited neocon NGCs. President Trump apparently believes that continuing to send bombs, fighter jets, and other military technology to the governments of Ukraine and Israel to kill more Russians and Palestinians (mostly women and children) will somehow make America “great” or greater. He has floated the idea of importing some 39 million self-described Canadian socialists and making them American citizens to help make America great again. It would indeed be great for his opposition party which would secure a dozen or so additional senate seats and guarantee that there would never be another Republican elected president.
Raising tariff taxes and giving additional tens or hundreds of billions of dollars in tariff tax revenue to the federal bureaucracy –courtesy of already grossly overtaxed American taxpayers -- is also part of President Trump’s definition of American greatness although it flatly contradicts the stated purpose of his Department of Government Efficiency” in cutting back on bureaucratic power and influence. His “big, beautiful” pork barrel spending bill, gleefully supported by the Republican party, has been accurately described by Elon Musk as “a disgusting abomination.”
President Trump also seems to be adopting a Bill Clinton/Robert Reich style of “industrial policy” (a euphemism for fascistic central planning) that favors certain industries at the expense of others. A good example would be his recent attempt to impose 50 percent tariff taxes on imported steel. The steelworkers’ union is celebrating, and for the time being the stock prices of American steel manufacturers are rising, but what about American steel-using industries? The American automobile industry uses a lot of steel and aluminum and will be made less competitive and less profitable by the new tariff taxes on imported steel. Autoworkers’ jobs will be less secure so that steel workers and their employers can profit.
Then there’s the “deal” to allow Nippon Steel to essentially become a partner with and investor in U.S. Steel along with the federal government which gave itself a “golden share,” a pleasant-sounding phrase to describe the federal government’s veto power over ALL management decisions of the company in the name of “national security.” This is textbook economic fascism – allowing private enterprise to exist, but only if heavily regimented and controlled by the state.
On the other hand the Trump administration’s deregulation efforts, especially at the EPA, deporting illegal alien criminals, introducing border controls, ending Medicaid payments to illegal aliens, setting Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. loose on the public health bureaucracy, replacing race- and gender-based employment quotas with merit, reducing government funding of “higher” education (at least in a few universities) and cutting other kinds of taxes are all welcomed parts of the Trumpian national greatness agenda. President Trump is no Bill Kristol who, by the way, is one of the most rabid Trump haters in the land.
The Third Way
There is a third way to think of “greatness,” national or otherwise, and that is to make America – or any other country – free again. When politicians speak of “greatness” it inevitably means more great big things done to society by the state under its supervision. Freedom in the American tradition, on the other hand, means freedom to live one’s life in peace outside the control of politicians and bureaucrats as much as possible. Freedom from government allows all of us to pursue our own definitions of individual “greatness” as opposed to having it forcefully and coercively imposed on us by the state (and forced to pay for it under threat of imprisonment for tax evasion).
If government is to be our servant rather than our master, as everyone is taught in the government schools, then “greatness” should mean the greatest possible degree of personal freedom. That means the protection of property rights from regulatory and tax theft. Regulators essentially assume ownership over a part of everything they regulate, and no one in American truly owns a home as long as property taxation exists, for example.
Peace, not never-ending aggressive military conflicts and the intervention into foreign wars is what best allows the world to prosper under the international division of labor. War breeds isolationism, for no one wants to do business in a war zone. It is war that creates “isolationism,” not opposition to war, as the warfare statists claim.
Since God made everyone unequal in thousands of different ways, income inequality should be recognized as a natural human trait and not as an impediment to the latest version of communist Nirvana -- or a reason to construct a massive, vote-buying welfare state. It should be understood that successful people who have become wealthy through hard work and entrepreneurship incentivize others to do the same, pursuing what used to be called “The American Dream.”
Radical governmental decentralization, including restoring the rights of secession and nullification that the American founders believed in and valued, is also a key ingredient of a free society. Socialist central planning was the worst idea in world history, yet Americans cling to it with the Fed centrally planning the entire monetary system, the Departments of Energy, Education, Agriculture centrally planning energy, education, and farming, and dozens of other federal planning bureaucracies, all of which should be abolished. And that’s just at the federal level of government.
All of this and much more will be discussed at the Mises Institute’s upcoming October 16-18, 2025 Supporters Summit in beautiful Delray Beach, Florida. Speakers will include Mises Institute scholars and a keynote address by the great James Bovard, author of many books including his latest, Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty. Our theme will be how to resurrect American liberty and we look forward to seeing you in Delray Beach in October!
